By Kimberly Tan
“I don’t understand the younger Gen Zs,” my Gen Z volunteer, in her early 20s, told me.
I was intrigued. If a Gen Z herself finds it difficult to understand other Gen Zs, no wonder the older generations (myself included) struggle to engage with them.
To sharpen my own understanding to reach and mobilize Gen Zs, I connected with two Gen Z SYFC volunteers about their evangelism experiences.
Jareth Poh and Keanne Tan are fresh poly graduates serving in Poly Ministry.
Jareth, a grad servant, shared that even in his running community, one of his key friendship groups in which he feels most belonged, he faces unique challenges because of his faith. He says, “It wasn’t easy because people questioned my faith. They asked me why I go to church on Sundays and kept asking me to run on Sundays.”
On the other hand, Keanne, a volunteer, recalls his initial response to our challenge to share the gospel.
He reveals, “I was like ‘I don’t really subscribe to that … in terms of method, I’ll prefer lifestyle evangelism which is much more passive than what SYFC does.” He tried to leave PEP but a staff challenged him to study the Bible to see whether his beliefs about evangelism were backed up by it. Keanne begun a journey of allowing the Lord to reshape his perspectives.
Their struggles are not new. Every generation before had to grapple with the opportunity cost of living out a Christian life. Also, many would relate to their difficulties of intentionally evangelising friends.
What is different is the change in our social/cultural climate. A recent research on the intergenerational differences between Singaporean Christians found that Gen Z Christians had perspectives that make evangelism uniquely difficult for them. For instance, the inclination to question and challenge claims to truth is more pronounced among both Gen Z Christians and non-Christians. In particular, the Christians highlight that their non-Christian friends have a generally negative perception of the Christian faith.
Jareth and Keanne’s commitment to gospel-sharing is therefore particularly heartening.
When Jareth shared the gospel with his CCA friend through a letter, his friend made fun of him. Jareth was discouraged and became fearful of sharing more. Yet he continued to maintain the friendship. After eight to 10 months, Jareth felt prompted by God to find another way to tell this friend about the Lord. Using the Life in 6 Words app, Jareth shared the gospel again with him. The trust built over those months led to deeper conversations about family problems.
In Keanne’s journey, God was working faith in his own life and not just in his best friend’s. Speaking about evangelism effort with this friend, Keanne revealed, “there were a lot of instances … to weave in the gospel. But I wasn’t courageous enough to do that.” As God impressed his friend’s salvation on his heart, Keanne opined how prayer played a key role. “During this process, I often uttered, ‘Help my unbelief. Unbelief that you’re able to work in his life. Unbelief that he would be receptive to what I say.’” Keanne prayed with his parents and prayer buddy every time he engaged this friend in gospel conversations.
What stood out to me about Jareth and Keanne was their genuine reliance on the Lord. When evangelising their friends was tough, God’s Word and prayer kept them going. Also, both genuinely cared, evidenced in the risks they took to proclaim the gospel to them.
And through their testimony, I found courage. Yes, I might not fully understand the Gen Zs. Yet, my Lord who is sovereign and fully trustworthy, is the One who continues to do His saving work in their hearts. Would I care enough for this generation to keep sharing?
