Why Teenagers Aren’t Going into Missions
The mission of the church is to make disciples of all peoples. This was the final charge Jesus gave to his disciples. It still applies to his disciples today because the gospel is good news of great joy for all people. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved.
Many teenagers grow up in churches where missions is emphasized, and yet GenZ is increasingly skeptical about the evangelism and missions. You can explore more about GenZ’s attitude towards evangelism and missions here, but even though this breaks my heart - it makes sense.
How can we make sense of the trend that even though Christian teenagers may affirm the importance of missions, they are not entering into full-time missions work? This question is being asked by missionaries who want to find their replacements as they approach retirement and by missions agencies who are concerned about the sustainability of their missionary and evangelistic efforts.
Here are four reasons why I believe GenZ Christians are generally reluctant to enter into missions work.
Finances
This is one area where GenZ and Millennials differ. Whereas Millennials would work a low-paying job because it’s meaningful, GenZ is more likely to prioritize financial gains. Additionally, college is expensive, and everything in their culture equates success with income. Most college students graduate with significant student debt and then struggle to find gainful employment. After working for years to pay down their debt, very few remain motivated to pursue a calling as a missionary.
Tolerance
If you want to know why teenagers aren’t entering the missions field, you need to understand the religious worldview of GenZ. One of the foundational truths of this worldview is a kind of tolerance that says “you do you.” When truth-claims are a power grab and tolerance means acceptance, is there any mystery why younger generations of Christians are timid about mission and evangelism? Evangelizing and calling others to convert to Christianity is bordering on hate speech. Traveling to other countries and cultures in order to persuade them to become Christains is viewed as a spiritual imperialism that’s disgusting and cruel.
As members of the most diverse generation in history, they routinely play online video games in real-time with people from the other side of the world. This means today’s young people have more than a textbook awareness of other cultures from around the world. They actually play games together, watch each other’s YouTube channels and social media feeds, and sometimes even become friends through the magic of the internet.
Christian teenagers often view their international peers as friends who speak another language, not as people who are lost and living in a land of darkness.
Outreach is the new Evangelism
Many churches today have stopped talking about “evangelism” in favor of “outreach.” But words and terminology matter. Evangelism has to do with verbal articulation of the gospel in order to invite someone to receive new life through professing faith in Jesus Christ. Outreach, on the other hand, focuses on acts of service in order to display the love and hope we have through Jesus. Outreach sometimes leads to evangelism. But they are not the same thing.
When our churches use “outreach” in place of “evangelism,” we implicitly affirm the world’s statement that evangelism is bad and wrong. Even the way churches talk about “sharing the faith” with others seems to soften the edge on the Great Commission in similar ways that talking about “losing someone” tries to soften the sting of death and grief. Neither attempt is entirely wrong, but they also aren’t particularly effective.
If our churches and youth groups never talk about evangelism because we’re always focused on outreach, then students will graduate from our youth groups without a Great Commission vocabulary.
Domestic Church Planting
When I was in seminary (nearly twenty years ago), I took a church planting course and it was almost exclusively focused on international missions. Today, I suspect that most Christians who are considering ministry equate church planting with domestic missions. I’m not pointing this out as something that’s wrong. It’s simply today’s reality.
Many of the attributes that make someone a fantastic missionary are the same qualities necessary to thrive as a church planter. So, if they are planting churches domestically then fewer of them will be going into international missions.
What Can We Do?
Talking with teenagers about missions and the Great Commission needs to take these factors into consideration. These are not exhaustive, and they definitely are not all bad reasons why students aren’t going into missions. Missionaries and agencies who are concerned about the future of global missions would be wise to consider these factors (and others I haven’t considered).
Here are a few ways to begin to discuss missions in a constructive way with GenZ:
Focus on the gospel. If students aren’t genuinely converted, of course they won’t feel any drive towards evangelism and missions.
Tell stories of local men and women whose lives were transformed by Jesus. This will help students realize you aren’t trying to make international believers look like American Christians, but like Jesus.
Distinguish between outreach and evangelism in their church. If their church doesn’t distinguish between the two, then of course students will think any social justice ministry is anti-gospel, or it actually is the gospel itself.
Highlight the ways your outreach leads to evangelism on the missions field. If you run a medical clinic, school, or other service provider, make sure to help students draw the connection between that ministry and your gospel ministry.
Give them opportunities to serve alongside local ministries who serve internationals. The nations are coming to us - let us minister to them within our own borders!
Make it a point to celebrate the different cultures represented by your own church’s membership. The person who sits in the pew behind them on Sunday might have grown up in a different country where few know Jesus - let them tell their story and share their culture.
Admit that not all “missions trips” are actually missions trips. A missions trip involves crossing a cultural barrier for the sake of the Great Commission. There’s no shame in having a service trip to get students introduced to servanthood and ministry. Just don’t call it a missions trip unless they’re crossing a cultural divide in order to evangelize.
Find creative ways to help pay down student loans for missionary appointees. Most agencies won’t allow missionaries to carry student debt onto the missions field. Finding ways to help them pay off their debt quickly will help them get onto the field quicker.
