Revival or not? Investigating Possible Misconceptions of Gen Z

Gen Z (born roughly 1997-2012) has been stereotyped and mischaracterized so much that it is hard to discern fact from fiction. 

They are sometimes seen as “fragile” and addicted to screens, but the older generations can be characterized as much by those descriptions (it does not take much to trigger adults on Facebook on both sides of the political aisle). 

They are seen to be immature. But is that a characteristic of Gen Z or simply a function of the fact that they are young? Much of what can be said about Gen Z now could have been said about Boomers when they were the same age (so we need to distinguish between life stages vs. what are truly generational characteristics). 

Or this: Gen Z’s mental health struggles (anxiety, depression, suicide) is well documented. But does that mean previous generations did not struggle with mental health, or was it simply that it was culturally unacceptable to talk about it and they thereby repressed it? If that’s the case, maybe Gen Z does not have the most mental health struggles, but they are simply the most honest about them. 

In addition, Gen Z is seen as the most diverse generation – so, as such, can we actually generalize about them with any meaningful certainty? But they are also called the most homogeneous generation ever, because they have shared experiences across the board, like ubiquitous internet connectivity in the palms of their hands, plus global crises affecting them like the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID pandemic. So which are they: extremely diverse or globally similar to each other? 

Finally, there has been much made of them being called “the Nones” (no religion). But also there have been so many recent reports of revival among them.

Two of these will be addressed in this article: diversity/homogeneity and religion, as well as how these two aspects are linked. 

First, their demographic: Gen Z is indeed the most diverse generation ever. However, they are what is seemingly paradoxically “diverse collectivists.”1 In reality, they are not more diverse than previous generations (at least not globally). But they have grown up with diverse others and therefore are more comfortable navigating differences. Their values, not their demographics, are different. Because of social media, they are collectivists. The word “social” is the giveaway: Though they are characterized as loners who just sit in their rooms alone with screens, what they are doing online is far from being alone – it is social. They are networking with people near and far, engaging with people (sometimes personally like their friends, sometimes impersonally like YouTube influencers). 

They desire to be with others, and as such they have developed something akin to Majority World cultures which are more collectivistic in nature. So, Western Gen Zers understand the idea of honor/shame2 more than older Westerners do. Perhaps understanding this is a key to reaching them. George Hunter posits that in Medieval Europe, there were at least two major Christian worldviews and concomitant ways of evangelism: the Roman way and the Celtic way. The former is presentation, decision, assimilation; the latter is fellowship, ministry, and conversation, then belief/invitation to commitment.3 In other words, the Roman way is “believing before belonging,” whereas the Celtic Way was the opposite: “belonging before believing.” Both are Western models, but one is individualistic while the other is collectivistic. Boomers will try to win over Gen Z with apologetics, but perhaps authenticity, hospitality, and invitation are much more effective.

At least one other major aspect of diversity and homogeneity needs to be explored: how screens and global crises affect Gen Z. Regarding screens, because Gen Z grew up along with the advent of the iPhone (invented 2007), not only do they hardly remember a time without smartphones, but they were parented by smartphones. Although some say that screens are the #1 influence on Gen Z,4 others argue that it’s actually parenting.5 In reality, it’s a combination of both: parents used screens to parent their kids, before the research was well-known of how it would affect them.6 However, just because Gen Z grew up with screens does not mean that they are necessarily homogeneous. 

The algorithm (i.e. whatever you click on, your feed shows you more of) is well-known and an insidious aspect of the internet.7 Therefore, men and women will have different experiences on screens, and different racial groups will have different experiences on screens, and Republicans and Democrats will have different experiences on screens. But the irony of such diversity is that the algorithm creates silos, as people’s online worlds become more and more narrow with each click. Soon, they only see people on their feed who agree with them and then they do not know how to navigate differences. So then it becomes the opposite of diverse collectivists: the algorithm makes them homogeneous individualists. Regarding global crises, how people experienced COVID varied greatly across different socioeconomic classes and racial lines.8 To put it another way, Gen Z did not all have the same experience even though they experienced the same thing. The diverse homogeneity seems to be a characteristic of this generation.

The second characteristic of Gen Z that will be addressed in this is religion. Although much has been made of this being the most irreligious generation, there is a difference between opposition and absence. Just as darkness is not opposed to light but rather is an absence of light (a crucial distinction), Gen Z may not be as opposed to religion as we previously thought but perhaps are simply unexposed to religion. While labels like “the Nones”9 makes them come across as rabidly atheist, the reality is that  “Young people are not leaving the Church in droves because they have first been convinced of bad arguments, but because the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christianity were never imprinted on their imagination in the first place.”10 That is, they are not anti-Christianity, they are just unchurched (and that is a crucial distinction as well). Part of the problem is that older generations frequently mix up Millennials and Gen Z, characterizing the latter with things that are more descriptive of the former. Millennials have more Nones; Gen Z are more of a tabula rasa.

However, caution also needs to be had about the much-ballyhooed recent revivals apparently sweeping Gen Z. Yes, there was an amazing Asbury revival in 2023. But – to misquote a popular phrase by Mark Twain – “the reports about Gen Z’s overall revival are greatly exaggerated.” Almost all of the literature about the gains in Christianity by young people have been coming out of the UK11 (or at least Europe: Norway and France, for example, have also contributed some data). And that is something to be thankful for! But it does not indicate that there is a parallel trend sweeping the United States. Not to mention, perhaps the data coming out of Britain is not being read wholly accurately either.12 Gen Z is not as religiously atheist as we thought. However, nor is it as religiously abundant as we are being led to currently believe.

Similarly, there has been much made about the return of men to church. This was first reported by the New York Times in 2024(13) and has been repeated in numerous media outlets. This phenomenon – that men, who historically and globally have lagged behind women in numbers in Christianity – are now trending in American Christianity, is well attested and the data does not need to be under suspicion. However, what does need to be called into question is the reasoning behind the swelling numbers. Are men outpacing women because they are growing more, or because women are leaving the church in historical fashion?14 (It’s probably both, but a disproportionate amount of attention has been on the male trend. Why aren’t more people concerned about female attrition and trying to do something about it?) Another major question is, of course, why are men returning to church and why are women fleeing? Some have suggested that perhaps it is not entirely for spiritual reasons, noting that it divides more along political lines. The Charlie Kirk effect15 is a clear example of this: Young men are becoming more politically conservative and young women are becoming more politically liberal.16 Ironically, in a country like the U.S. which prides itself on separation of church and state, it seems that politics and Christian faith have become “strange bedfellows.”  

Given that politics may be the reason for driving one group toward church and the other away from church, a third question that needs to be asked is, “Is that a good thing or not?” And finally, the question underlying it all is: why are men becoming more politically conservative, and why are women becoming more politically liberal? Is it because what the church was offering in years past was seen as anemic and young men are now finding Christianity in politics to be a more “muscular” version which is more appealing?17 And are women being turned off by the very same reason: what they liked about Christianity in the church (its relationality, its warmth) is now being co-opted by politics? Should America embrace a new Constantinianism or reject it?

What does all this mean? It is easy to want to have a “silver bullet” for ministering to Gen Z, but perhaps there is none. Gen Z is neither demonic nor angelic; they are – similar to all other generations – trying to find their way, and they need the hope that is offered by Christ. Some have found it, and others are perhaps still journeying. We need strategies, yes. However, strategies based on stereotypes are unhelpful. 

Gen Z is a complicated, wild, wonderful, amazing generation, and they deserve our prayers, our love, our attention, and our best efforts at discipling them in the Jesus way. Because they are – quite literally – our future. And they are our primary means of carrying the baton of faith forward.

NOTES

1. Corey Seemiller and Meghan Grace, Generation Z Goes to College (Jossey-Bass, 2016), 120.
2.  Jolene Erlacher and Katy White, Mobilizing Gen Z (William Carey, 2019), 130.
3.  George G. Hunter III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism (Abingdon: 2010), 42-43.
4.  Jean M. Twenge, iGen (Atria, 2017).
5.  Jason Dorsey, Center for Generational Kinetics
6.  Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation (Penguin, 2024).
7.  Netflix, “The Social Dilemma” (2020). As the adage goes, “if you are not paying for an online product, then you yourself are the product”!
8.  CDC report, “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Exposure, Disease Susceptibility, and Clinical Outcomes during COVID-19 Pandemic in National Cohort of Adults, United States (November 2022), https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/28/11/22-0072_article 
9.  Ryan P. Burge, The Nones (Fortress, 2021).
10.  Phil Davignon, “Misunderstanding the Rise of the Nones” (September 16, 2022): https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/misunderstanding-the-rise-of-the-nones/ 
11.  For example, from the Bible Society UK, “The Quiet Revival” (April 7, 2025): https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/research/quiet-revival 
12.  Pew Research Center, “Has there been a Christian revival among young adults in the U.K.? Recent surveys may be misleading” (January 23, 2026): https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/01/23/has-there-been-a-christian-revival-among-young-adults-in-the-uk-recent-surveys-may-be-misleading/ 
13.  Ruth Graham, “With Gen Z, Men Are Now More Religious than Women” in The New York Times (September 25, 2024): https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/23/us/young-men-religion-gen-z.html 
14.  Ryan P. Burge, “Are young men really returning to church? The data says not so fast” in American Institute for Boys and Men: https://aibm.org/commentary/are-young-men-really-returning-to-church-the-data-says-not-so-fast/ 
15.  Barna, “New Survey Reveals Spiritual Impact of Charlie Kirk’s Death” (December 4, 2025): https://www.barna.com/research/impact-charlie-kirk/ 
16.  The 19th, “Gen Z women are the most liberal group in the country”: https://19thnews.org/2025/10/gen-z-women-politics/ 
17.  Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne (Liveright, 2020).