Navigating Politics In A Boomer World-Is Gen Z Different?

“Gen Z, the generation that dreams of nostalgia.” Unknown

A couple of weeks ago, we attended a beautiful church in Asheville, North Carolina. As I scanned the room to take in the breathtaking architecture, I couldn’t help but notice that the room was filled with Gen Z kids. Gone were the sea of salt and pepper heads, in its place were young folks with piercings, tattoos, and varying colors of hair. There were some that were dressed in a more traditional sense to be sure. But more than anything; the room had a sizable demographic shift, which begs the question, why?

Can we understand Gen Z?

Generation Z, the group that causes some people to roll their eyes and think, “Those whipper snappers have no direction!” A good portion of them are choosing a direction, and it is decidedly more traditional than Millennials, Gen X and even Boomers. Why is that? I have a theory that I have been praying about for some time and would like to share it with you. We older generations in our rush to “stick it to the man” in our own unique way have caused the pendulum of socially acceptable life choices to swing into the territory of crazy. There is no rock of stability to look to see a beacon in the stormy sea of life. In the absence of these things, Gen Z is taking the pendulum and swinging it mightily back in the other direction. 

Gen Z is forging a different path

Gen Z, the generation that grew up with Youtube, cell phones and other electronic accoutrements. They saw what too much screen time did to their older counterparts in the Millennial generation, the who cares attitude to Gen X and the elite status of Boomers and said, “No thanks. We are going to forge a more faithful and conservative generation.” 

We have a house full of Gen Z kids

My husband and I have a unique situation in our home with 6 children. We have 2 Millennials and 4 Gen Z kids. Our house was always full of noise and young people when they were teens and young adults. It was a precious time in our lives that I will always cherish. After our visit to the church in Asheville, I decided to ask my Gen Z kids why so many of their friends have chosen to pursue meaningful faith in their generation. Here are a few of my questions and the answers that they gave me.

• Why do you think that so many kids your age are choosing to go to church? We are all a little more conservative because it seems like the world is getting more and more crazy. I think that a lot of people have lost their sense of meaning and faith helps you find it. 
• Why do you think kids your age are voting more conservatively than Millennials? I don’t think we necessarily say that we are part of a political “party” but we see that the right and the left are going crazy. One side is the party of rich elites who want to be moral police and the other embraces lawlessness and gaslighting. We want traditional and normal.
• What is normal to you? Normal is a meaningful job, a family and the ability to provide for my family. College is not really necessary except for a few professions. My college degree has not found me a job or a living wage. That is why I am considering going to trade school. We read physical books, knit, take time away from our phones and step away from the need for constant stimulation from technology.

• Do you think your generation can impact meaningful change for the future? Yes. There are times I wonder if we can but faith gives us meaning. Meaning gives us a direction and when our direction is positive and faith-filled we can change the world in a better way. Also, in our stepping away from social media, we are not inundated with negative comments and politics all the time. When we are searching for meaning we don’t want to question our gender or embrace being woke, we want true meaning in life. We are pursuing real human relationships rather than technology relationships. 
• Do you think that there are still progressives in your generation? Yes, there will always be progressives in every generation but at the moment they are becoming less at the forefront of society as a big social movement. God and traditional faith has taken its place.

Gen Z has given us a grand opportunity multi-generation faith

Seeing my children forge a new and better attitude gives me hope. When I started praying about this new faith generation, I remembered the book of Joel giving us a grand promise: I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people: Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters. Your old men will dream, your young men will see visions. Dear readers, we have been given a grand opportunity in this revival of young believers. If you are from a faith tradition, perhaps you were dragged to church each and every time the doors were open. I know I felt that way as a younger person, but now I appreciate it. We have a generation of young folks seeking God because they need him. God is pouring out His Spirit on Gen Z. Now is the time for older people in the faith to encourage them, work with them and help them to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Will you accept them even though they don’t fit the traditional faith norms? 

God is moving in all generations

We’ve seen the product of the pendulum swinging wildly into the territory of crazy, and when that happens humanity has shown us that there is a mighty swing in the other direction. Sometimes there is a huge overcorrection, other times the pendulum swings just right. God in His goodness has provided us with an opportunity to embrace one another with love, meaning, family and a faith that can move mountains. Will you listen and heed HIs call?