By Sarah Dugal
In 2024, the RELATE Project – a study of 7,200+ adolescents aged 13-24, conducted by Young Life & Pinkston Research – found that over 40% of Gen Z doesn’t feel worthy of being loved.
As a Youth Ministry professional, that statistic stopped me in my tracks. As I’ve continued to digest this new reality, I’ve been asking myself two questions: first, “how could this be?” and secondly, “What can we do?”
“Gen Z” is most commonly defined as those born between 1997-2012; in other words, our 12 to 28 year olds. They are our middle schoolers, high schoolers, college-aged and young adult sons, daughters, students, players, grandchildren, neighbors and friends.
Like the generations before us have asked of the younger ones, we’ve been grappling with the question, “are the kids alright?” Over the past year of living in New Canaan, I’ve witnessed our community engage in deep and meaningful dialog, inspired by many thoughtful, trail-blazing experts in their field – from Jennifer Wallace, author of Never Enough, to Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation. As data from the American Psychological Association (APA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) continue to reveal an unprecedented level of anxiety amongst our youth, and the digital world proves more isolating than connective, we’ve worried for Gen Z’s health, lamented their unique burdens, and looked for practical solutions.
These conversations show a profound care for and tangible commitment to young people in our community. It’s clear that our hearts break for our kids. However, it can be easy to overlook the spiritual layer to their suffering. When it comes to Gen Z, I wonder if we have been quick to point to phones, and slow to see souls.
A quote from Jennifer Wallace, who speaks into specific contexts like ours (high achieving communities) left a lasting impression:
“Our kids are absorbing the idea that their worth is contingent on their performance—their GPA, the number of social media followers they have, their college brands—not for who they are deep at their core. They feel they only matter to the adults in their lives, their peers, the larger community, if they are successful,” (Never Enough, p.xvii).
If our fundamental worthiness is a constantly fluctuating calculation – and average of achievements – no wonder 40% of students worry they are coming up short. The good news is, the Christian faith offers us rich resources to anchor our worthiness differently.
Genesis 1:27 tells us, “God created mankind in his own image… male and female he created them.” We believe all people, without exception, are made in the image of God, and therefore inherently possess dignity and worth, regardless of our circumstances. We are each, at our very core, a reflection of God’s beauty, creativity, and goodness.
So how might we step into the lives of Gen Z in such a way that intentionally offers this deep anchor for the soul, instead of reinforcing the relentlessly clicking calculator? I wonder if we might take inspiration from an interaction Jesus had with a man named Zacchaeus, in the Gospel account of Luke.
In Luke 19:1-4 we read, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was…So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him…”
We may not know much about Zaccheus, but we do know this: he was a man who appeared to have everything — status, wealth, power — but was most likely, due to the negative perception of tax collectors who worked for the Roman occupiers in Jewish communities, profoundly lonely. High achieving, but lonely… sound like anyone we know?
It’s in this moment, when he’s at the top of his game, that I imagine Zaccheus asking himself, “Is this all there is?” And out of the gnawing suspicion that there has to be more than accumulating accolades and projecting the perfect image, he looks for Jesus.
Luke 19:5-6 continues, “When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.”
How did Jesus respond to this person, alone in a crowd, watching from behind the branches of a tree, much as we peer at the world from behind the screens of our phones, looking for hope?
First, Jesus saw him. Through the distractions vying for his attention, he stopped, looked up and called Zacchaeus by name. He chose to pay attention to someone who might have otherwise been easily overlooked, and in doing so, Jesus affirmed his importance. What could it look like, as a community, to cultivate eyes for our youth — to be excited to see them at Zumbachs, or the Library, or the YMCA, or Church? To adopt a posture that communicates, “There you are! I love that you’re here,” before anything need be done or earned. Can we celebrate their presence, as uniquely made image-bearers, rather than only their performance?
Secondly, Jesus invites Zacchaeus out of the tree and into a relationship. In what we might misread as a rather bold instance of inviting oneself over, Jesus is actually initiating friendship in alignment with the cultural norms of his day, when to visit someone’s home was a public display of sincere acceptance. Jesus was a well-known healer, and what he seems to be proscribing here is face-to-face connection: quality time over good food. What medicine for the soul.
What would it look like to invest in genuine, multi-generation friendship in our community? Could we, as faithful adults, come alongside Gen Z as trusted, available mentors, inviting them to come down, and eat with us?
Did you know that in a 2023 poll conducted by Gallup & the Walton Family Foundation, which surveyed over 3,000 Gen Zs nation-wide, only one-third (32%) of respondents said they had an adult actively supporting them in their lives? What’s more, those who did were twice as likely as their peers to feel optimistic about their future.
But if any of this is going to be possible — we have to pass by – just as Jesus was passing by that sycamore-fig tree. What could it look like to move toward students, rather than waiting for them to come to us?
If you read the rest of Jesus’s encounter with Zacchaeus in Luke 19, you will see an incredible account of transformation, stemming from warm welcome, counter-cultural inclusion, and an acknowledgement of this man as “a son of Abraham” – a child of God, made in His image, reflecting His beauty, creativity, and goodness…undoubtedly worthy of love.
Sarah Dugal serves as the Area Director for Young Life in New Canaan. Young Life is a global, ecumenical non-profit that exists to reinforce that adolescents matter through relational youth ministry, create approachable spaces for students to explore faith, and model servant leadership in local communities. To learn more, visit YoungLife.Org. To get involved in New Canaan, contact Sarah at newcanaanyl@gmail.com.
