Today’s digital natives are experiencing an existential earthquake at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and the erosion of a shared social fabric. Recent years have been marked by social polarization, religious disillusionment, and lack of vocational opportunity. Many are wondering, What’s the point of all this?
Gen Zers and millennials are in a spiritual tailspin. In a world that runs on algorithmic fearmongering and mind-numbing engagement, objective truth seems inaccessible. The arts, once a haven for the distinctly human, feel fake and formulaic now with the advent of artificial intelligence. The basic rhythms of church and community—gathering at the same place and time to navigate the uncomfortable, pleasurable, and joyful exchange of thoughts, words, and care—now often cave to the impulses of isolationism and tribalism. The mental health of a generation is drifting toward a precipice that has been formalized with a warning from the United States surgeon general.
Despite all this, I am encouraged by this generation’s desire to transcend political and cultural divisions by connecting with one another through beauty, creativity, and authentic storytelling. While today’s digital generations are overstimulated, the “cracks in the matrix” of materialism allow them to glimpse the transcendent. We have seen evidence of what the UK’s Bible Society calls a “quiet revival,” with moments of renewal sweeping across college campuses. God is intimately responding to this generation’s needs as they leave adolescence and enter the fraught societal, spiritual, and financial state of the adult world.
Christianity Today can help younger believers remember that God is in control and that he meets his people when they seek him. Where there is anxiety, he brings deep peace; where evangelism has stuttered, he brings boldening voices and new avenues for the gospel to ring out. He meets the existential vacuum that lies at the heart of a generation.
I joined Christianity Today four years ago because of a small arts and literature magazine I started at the end of college. I had been through real doubt, pushing against the contours of my adolescent faith. But even then, beauty still called. I needed the arts to speak to the reality of something that went far beyond a materialistic worldview.
As my faith resolidified and the creative vision of my vocation came into focus, I received an email from the president of CT that felt like a dream come true. I will forever be grateful to an organization that seeks to raise up storytellers and invest in the next generation. With a renewed commitment to my faith and a deep understanding of the power of art and creativity to shape our inner lives, I set out with CT to help gather seekers and believers “to find the place where all the beauty came from,” as C. S. Lewis so tenderly put it.
In this moment, CT is uniquely able to serve this next generation. Stories matter; we are attracted to beauty and craft but often do not know their ultimate source. Through our Next Gen Initiative, we focus on the power of personal testimony, the necessity of rich community, and the strangely poetic nature of our current moment. For this younger generation, connection is paramount and excellent storytelling is a priority.
With younger generations representing 40 percent of our audience and with new offerings through Inkwell, the Christianity Today Story Fund, and our annual Young Storytellers Fellowship, we are well-positioned to reach more people and engage them more deeply than ever before. Already these efforts have formed new atmospheres of spiritual testimony, social dynamism, and vocational possibility.
Would you join with us to inspire and equip the storytellers of this young generation? To cultivate communities where they can share stories that illuminate the beauty and diversity of the church? In a world of chaotic crumbling and slick marketing, your partnership will enable young people to use their God-given gifts to elevate the stories of ordinary people who are faithfully following Jesus, inviting young and old alike to seek the kingdom.
Conor Sweetman is director of innovation and leads The NextGen Initiative at Christianity Today.
