5 Ways Teens Can Change Society
One of the most important topics in NexGen is apologetics.
Apologetics is the defense and the definition of the faith. I truly believe that if your faith is valuable enough to have changed your life, then you will most likely give it away. A faith that has not changed me is not worth sharing with someone else.
The principles of one generation become the practices of the next. I believe the faith of a generation can change the future for the next generation.
Here they come. Millions of teenagers globally. The Gen Z population on the earth would be the largest country in the world at over 1.3 billion! And they are bringing change - good or bad.
Maybe you think that everything is out of control and our nation is in chaos right now as we begin 2021. That our future is bleak and this is the apocalypse. It may appear that way. But remember, looking at our nation’s history, some of the worst times of oppression and national crisis were followed by our greatest spiritual awakenings.
Here are 5 ways that teenagers and young people can change a society.
1. Family commitment - The family is the one unit that exists everywhere on the planet. There may not be a government, or business, or WiFi, or even a school. But there is a family. Healthy families are the key to healthy communities.
Practical: When teenagers live their faith in the home, they redeem unbelieving parents. Worship, pray, read, and serve in the home the way you would in the community.
2. Involvement in community - When students choose to get involved in their community they have a better concept of self. One of the characteristic traits of Gen Z is their cause orientation. They love to make a difference with an issue or problem.
Practical: That may be building water wells in Africa, fighting human trafficking in Europe, or stopping bullying at their school.
3. Personal formation (wellness) - Our personal formation consists of a commitment to the physical, mental, emotional, and relational quotients! Sometimes our problems are caused by circumstances and even chemical imbalances in the body make-up. But often, problems in our life are caused by a lack of sleep, diet, or even our words that we speak over ourself.
Practical: Our wellness would include exercise and sleep and eating and mentorship and relationship commitments that better our quality of life through a healthy physical, mental, emotional, and relational state.
4. Apologetics (faith) - How we manage our faith is the center of our life. Healthy Next Gen Leaders create healthy Next Gen Ministries that create healthy teenagers who create healthy societies!
There’s nothing more important in your life than your faith formation. And every NexGen leader must identify an apologetic path/strategy for their graduating students. There are five things that I wanted all of my students to know:
•The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament
•The Ten Commandments
•The gifts and the fruit of the Spirit
•The Beatitudes/Sermon on the Mount
•Apocalyptic and End time understanding
•Apologetics and Evangelism
This is critical content for every NexGen leader.
It is no secret that the faith of Gen Z has almost bottomed out (4% biblical worldview according to Barna). We must see a spiritual awakening amongst teenagers. And especially the Alpha Gen coming next.
Practical: This includes prayer, fasting, worship, reading, apologetics, and many other spiritual disciplines. Setting patterns of spiritual formation will assure that our practices protect our principles.
5. Purity - In the midst of the greatest sexual revolution our nation has seen, we need a counter-cultural sexuality movement of a biblical perspective. When students know their identity, they become dangerous. Because they are not intimidated by culture - they create it.
If a Generation is going to change their world, they must help solve the greatest of its problems. I believe the Sexual Revolution is one of the great problems in this generation.
Please visit our social media pages for the links to the new resource called GenSeXYZ coming out February 2021!
Finally
There are 27 million teenagers in America in our Junior and Senior high schools. And there are about 47+ million if we throw in the millennial young adults in college. But that influence is not just because of their volume - it is more so because of their virtue! Virtue is a great culture shaper.
Taking a look at 1 Timothy 4.12 is a great reminder of the power of youth.
“Do not let anyone look down upon your youthfulness. But rather, be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.”