George Barna, one of the leading researchers on the religious life of Americans, consistently tells pastors that the highest-priority ministry in the church should be to children. The reason is straightforward: a person’s worldview is largely formed by age 13.
A worldview is the lens through which we interpret everything—God, the human condition, our purpose, and how we should live. The lens through which most of Gen Z is looking is predominantly post-Christian. Many of today’s teens are surrounded by voices promoting views that stand in direct opposition to the Christian faith. Currently, Barna estimates that only 4 percent of Gen Z possess a biblical worldview.
If we want successive generations in the church to hold a biblical worldview, the work must begin early. The church remains the last intergenerational institution in our culture. That reality should strengthen our resolve. The church is the hope of the future—if it will prioritize the younger generations.
Jesus still says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37–38). The fields of childhood and early adolescence are white for harvest. The question is whether the laborers will go.
