The story is told about an American shoe company that decided to expand its sales overseas, building warehouses in new locations around the world to stock their supplies.
After shipping thousands of boxes of shoes to their newest location in Africa, their top salesman arrived to get things started. But within minutes of his arrival, he texted headquarters: “You have made a massive miscalculation here! The people here don’t wear shoes.”
The company’s top brass met to discuss the situation, calling the salesman back immediately while they thought through their next strategic step.
Convinced that the market was ripe, they dispatched their No. 2 salesman.
Within minutes of his arrival, he texted headquarters: “We need tens of thousands more shoes! We are totally understocked! No one here has any shoes!”
What does this have to do with Gen Z coming to faith?
The answer is simple: It all comes down to a matter of perspective.
Let’s start with the pessimistic perspective: “Gen Z is a mess and is turning away from God! Let’s throw our hands up in despair.”
In keeping with this, a January 2018 Barna headline announced, “Atheism Doubles Among Generation Z.”
The article noted, “More than any other generation before them, Gen Z does not assert a religious identity. They might be drawn to things spiritual, but with a vastly different starting point from previous generations, many of whom received a basic education on the Bible and Christianity. And it shows: The percentage of Gen Z that identifies as atheist is double that of the U.S. adult population.”
That was certainly bad news – very bad news.
Others have pointed out that Gen Z is the most depressed, medicated, lonely and suicidal generation in our recorded history.
This is truly tragic.
And when it comes to social issues, Gen Z is far more likely to identify with the ideology of the radical left than with the ideology of the conservative right.
Think Antifa and BLM and LGBTQ+, to the point that, according to a Barna survey conducted in 2021, “Nearly 40 Percent of U.S. Gen Zs, 30 Percent of Young Christians Identify as LGBTQ.” In stark contrast, only 3% of baby boomers identified as somewhere on the LGBTQ scale.
Or consider Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
According to a Dec. 17, 2023, poll – so, barely two months after the Oct. 7 massacre – a poll indicated that 51% of Gen Z respondents said that Israel should be “ended and given to Hamas.”
Words truly fail here.
But this is not the end of the story.
The optimistic, faith-filled perspective on Gen Z looks at this same data and comes to a very different conclusion: “Gen Z is a mess and is ripe for the Gospel and for a fresh encounter with God’s love!”
Lest you think that this is some kind of pollyannish pipe dream, consider this headline from the Independent dated Jan. 27, 2025: “Gen Z far less likely to be atheists than parents and grandparents, new study reveals.”
How extraordinary!
Just seven years earlier, a headline announced, “Atheism Doubles Among Generation Z.”
Now, in a stunning reversal, “Gen Z’s in their teens or in their 20s are far less likely to be atheists than their parents and grandparents, with many more identifying as ‘spiritual,’ a new study has revealed.”
As explained in an April 2025 story, and focusing on the U.K., “Generation Z is leading a turnaround in the popularity of Christianity and a rise in church attendance in England and Wales, according to research published today.”
In fact, when you look at the data from 2018 to 2024, Gen Z church attendance has increased by a stunning 400%, also increasing by more than 300% among those aged 25-34. At the same time, church attendance actually declined by 2% among those aged 55-64 and increased by 5% among those aged 65+.
Little wonder that other headlines announced, “Church Attendance Surges in England and Wales, Driven by Gen Z Revival.”
And in America, college campuses across the country are experiencing significant spiritual movements, with thousands of new converts being baptized every year. This has only increased since the Asbury Revival.
Could this be partly due to the fact Gen Z is the generation to learn by firsthand experience that woke doesn’t work? Could their spiritual hunger also be driven by the fact that they have learned firsthand that screens and online “communities” do not take the place of face-to-face friends?
When it comes to Gen Z and social issues, their strength is that they often side with those perceived to be underdogs and outsiders, hence their extreme solidarity with those who identify as transgender, to cite an obvious example. In the same way, when it comes to the Middle East conflict, their perception, fueled no doubt by social media, is that Israel is the giant monster and Hamas the defenseless victim.
But when we help Gen Z join empathy with truth, they will become truly compassionate. And when we help them unite their zeal for justice with a biblical worldview, they will become champions of kingdom values.
As a campus outreach leader told me recently, based on his own experience of sharing the Gospel at secular universities and on the streets, “They are so ready.”