Why the Gospel may not sound like good news to Generation Z

Not too long ago, a particular advert on the buses running through our town caught my eye. There, emblazoned across the back, I read these words, “For a sinful day out shopping, take the X5 to Oxford.”

When we first started working with young people in our community, we found very little residue of the Jesus story left among them. Several generations ago, the Christian faith was buried under a thick layer of cultural dust, along with any real awareness of our sin problem. What is sin for this generation? Sin is just a little guilty pleasure that we indulge in from time to time to blow off steam, boost our mental health and express our identity. As long as nobody gets hurt, pretty much anything goes.

So maybe it shouldn’t surprise us when many from this generation remain unmoved when we share the good news that “Jesus can forgive your sins”. Not only have key words lost their meaning, but the forgiveness facet of the gospel has lost significant value in the bank of Gen Z’s emotions. In short, they are not feeling particularly guilty and thus, not yearning to be made right with a holy God.

In 2024 Youthscape surveyed 1000 young people and released a piece of fascinating research titled, Translating God. Their findings matched much of what we have experienced.

‘We can’t assume that young people accept the idea of sin, repentance and the need for personal transformation. Gospel presentations often invite people to acknowledge a state of fallenness, but for many young people this is not a given.’ [1]

So how do we as parents and youth ministry practitioners present the gospel to a generation who defines sin, at best, as a harmless guilty pleasure, and, at worst, a requirement for self-expression? What new doors do we need to unlock in order to reach this generation and how can we do this in a way that stirs gospel curiosity and reaches their hearts?

The first step is embracing the reality that, although Gen Z, is not feeling particularly guilty, they do feel a strong sense of shame as a result of living in a sinful world. And the more we can empathise with the incredible weight young people carry from this sense of shame, the more effectively we can communicate the gospel in a way that speaks directly to their felt needs.

Shame vs Guilt

Let’s break it down. Guilt is, ‘I did something bad.” Shame is, “I am bad.” While guilt is about behaviour, shame is fundamentally about identity. Shame is a very heavy feeling that I don’t measure up and probably never will. It’s a broken loop of condemnation. It causes young people to put a spotlight on their weaknesses and makes them blind to their worth. Shame views body-image: “If I looked like the gym rats on TikTok, I would be loved,” and translates it to value: “I am unlovable.” Shame shifts from mistakes: “I’ve messed up in our last three football matches,” to identity: “I am, and always will be, a hopeless failure.” Shame leaps from injustice: “My Dad left when I was ten years old,” to inability to shape my future: “I am defined by what I’ve suffered and am less others.”

Focusing on shame as a doorway into the gospel is not a particularly new approach. For years missiologists, particularly those working in Asian and South American cultures, have helped us understand that if the good news is to reach the hearts of the people living in traditional honour-shame based societies, we must present the gospel differently than we present it in the West. So we are not starting on completely new ground. We’ve gleaned a lot from these missiologists as well as our own experiences of working with young people. We believe that when Christians learn to share the gospel in a way that addresses shame, not just guilt, it opens doors for this generation.

The Gospel for Shame

So what exactly is the good news for those who are drowning in shame? The good news is that Jesus knows everything about us and still offers acceptance. Jesus alone has the power to break the strongholds of self-condemnation, to reverse our status as outsiders, and welcome us as insiders into the Father’s family. He imprints a new identity on us as dearly loved sons and daughters.

So let’s get practical. How can we more effectively share the gospel with a generation who is feeling shame before guilt? Here are three practical ways you can help the young people and young adults in your life grasp the gospel is good news:

Use This Identity-Shaping Language: You Can Become a Member of God’s Family

Gen Z is wondering if they are worthwhile and valuable before they wonder if they can be forgiven. So when they hear that the God of the Bible can switch their status from being on the outside to honoured insiders, it speaks to their deepest longings. That’s why, in our work with young people, we lead with phrases such as "Become part of God’s family” versus “Be forgiven by God.” If that sounds too shallow, the New Testament regularly uses this type of language to describe conversion:

“Those who are not my people I will call ‘my people’… They shall be called children of the living God.” (Romans 9:25-26)

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession… Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.” (1 Peter 2.9-10)

Of course the cross deals with our guilt, but it also reverses our status from outsider to welcome member of God’s family. That is very good news for a generation who is paralysed by shame.

Tell these identity-Shaping Stories: Jesus removes our shame

Gen Z, like all humans, are story-shaped. Facts and information about the gospel may not move their hearts, but stories will. When we share the gospel with Gen Z we need to lead with stories about how Jesus reverses shame. Consider memorizing stories like these and use the language of shame so you can quickly and easily demonstrate God’s ability to change our status and give us a new identity:

• The bleeding woman is seen and healed but exceptionally, her shame is removed because Jesus called her daughter (Mark 5:25-29).
• The Leper was socially ostracised and made to feel less than others, but Jesus moves towards him instead of away and his healing touch changes his status from outsider to insider (Mark 1:40-45) .
• Zacchaeus was a dirty, rejected outsider to the Jews, but Jesus brought him close and restored his honour (Luke 19:1-10).
• At the crucifixion Jesus went through the ultimate exclusion to bear our sin and shame (Hebrews 12).

Speak This Identity-Shaping Truth: You Are Loved and Accepted

Youth and young adults feel the weight of shame, but most do not possess the language to talk about it. That’s why I often ask the young women I disciple this question, “What feels heavy at the moment?” Then I listen for self-condemnation and gently try to raise it from an under-the-table emotion, to something we can talk about openly.

We also regularly rehearse truths that undo shame and replace the lies of the Evil one. Truths such as, “You are deeply loved, fully forgiven and complete in Christ Jesus” and, “There is nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less than he already does right now.”[2]

Speaking to Gen Z’s identity is the kind of starting point for the gospel that sounds like good news. When we empathise with their shame, we can help them encounter Jesus in ways that speak to their deepest needs. He alone can give them a new identity, free them from this crushing weight of shame, forgive their sin, free them from the fear of what other powers or other people can do and welcome them into the family of God.