Preacher: Joshua Paxton, Ed. D.,
Director of the Burnham Center for Global Engagement,
Calvary University
Text:
Thesis: Relational Partnerships for Mobilizing Generation Z
Notes:
Missions is the responsibility of the local church.
Relational Partnerships for Mobilizing Generation Z
-
- 3.1 Billion unreached peoples
- Why do the maps of where missionaries are going and where missionaries are needed most not the same?
- A number of factors, but a large factor is they don’t want us there
- Generation Z
- Born between 1995 – 2010
- First to grow up in a world where internet, computers, cell phones have always existed
- Virtual world shapes them as much as the real world
- Prefer andragogical to pedagogical teaching style
- More adult style, self-directed, hands-on teaching style
- Teachers are viewed more as facilitators rather than SMEs
- How do experiences shape them?
- Greater awareness of global issues
- Greater exposure to different cultures
- Greater preference for relational/face-to-face communication
- Recession minded
- Distrustful of future, don’t believe in security/safety
- Exposed to adult concepts early
- View financial success very important
- “Always On”
- Most diverse generation in history
- Ethnic / cultural diversity is a normal part of life–uniquely suited for missions
- Sexually fluid
- Individual freedom
- Personal achievement
- Where do they find their identity?
- Individualism–needs of the individual outweigh needs of the many
- We (the West) do not teach people their identity–we expect them to find it
- Collectivism–the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the individual
- More prevalent in Eastern & Mid-Eastern cultures
- Individualism–needs of the individual outweigh needs of the many
- Post-Christian
- 4% self report as Biblical worldview
- 34% self report as no faith
- What does Gen Z need from us?
- Real safety & security
- We need to point them to a relationship with Christ
- Real mentoring relationships
- Real safety & security
- Intercultural Appreciation
- Separate Biblical Christianity from its Western cultural form
- Install a Biblical worldview at home and at church
- Real Identity
- Ground them in an identity of union with Christ
- Grounding doctrine within a context of a real relationship
- A Sense of Mission
- Gen Z struggles less with faith than with experience at church
- We are not all missionaries, but we are all tasked with sharing God’s plan of reconciliation
