But I like to think that the reason I don’t want to talk about Gen Z is because I don't like making generalizations about people. I've never met anyone who fit neatly under a label, unless they were intentionally trying to. And I have never met anyone who lived their life intentionally trying to fit under a label. Making generalizations comes with significant limitations and, in our minefield of a culture, is an undertaking fraught with danger.

But generalizations have value because they help us understand the world. And it was on such a quest for understanding that I came across Jean M. Twenge's helpful book on Gen Z, iGen; Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.

I know, long title. But Dr. Twenge more than compensates for it by filling her book with insights that parents, pastors, teachers and employers will find valuable. She uses four rich databases to compare generations to one another, in order to pinpoint differences that are due to cultural changes. As a pastor, and cultural critic (aren’t we all), I found the book very useful.

The Scripture says "David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried". This is one example out of many that illustrate how the Bible, both narratively and didactically, declares that God's eternal purposes are accomplished in time, by and through each generation. This reality demands that Christians, especially pastors and leaders, seek to understand not only the purposes of God, but the generations in which they have been placed—and how these two dynamics interact.

With that in mind, let’s talk about Gen Z. According to Dr. Twenge’s formulation, Gen Z consists of people born between 1995 and 2012, meaning that the youngest of Gen Z will be turning ten years old this year, and the oldest turning 27. In Canada, that represents more than 8 million people or over 20% of our population, making Gen Z no minor demographic or inconsequential group. Gen Z is shaping the culture of nations, and the complexion of the body of Christ.

Below, I offer three conclusions from Dr. Twenge’s research, followed by how I think they will impact the church in the next decade. The data Dr. Twenge is working with is based on surveys of American young people however, I found it quite applicable to Canadians, and I believe you will as well.

1. Gen Z is politically polarized.

“Everyone has retreated into their corners, and that is true of young people as well.”

Jean Twenge, PhD

If it feels like people are more politically polarized than in previous years, that's because they are. In 1960, 5% of Republicans and 4% of Democrats said they would be upset if their child married someone of the opposite political party. In 2010, that number had become 49% for Republicans and 33% for Democrats.

The polarization of western civilization is real, and Gen Z is no exception. For example, the number of young people identifying as moderates reached an all-time low in 2016, while the number of high school seniors who described themselves as "very liberal" or "very" conservative reached an all-time high in 2015.

Yet while Gen Z tends to move toward the political extremes, that does not necessarily mean they are politically involved. Despite their strong opinions, Gen Z is unique for having both a low interest in government, as well as a low trust in government. The result is that young people hold stronger political views, yet few of them are interested in staying informed or getting involved in politics.

What might this mean for the Church? It might mean the last thing many pastors and church leaders want to hear; Gen Z could be ushering in an era when pastors and churches that value winning emerging generations to Christ are forced to become politically informed, politically engaged, and to take public stances that will be perceived as political.

I’m not suggesting that pastors and churches side with conservatives over liberals, or capitalists over socialists. Gen Z is strongly independent when it comes to politics, preferring personalities over parties. But in a society that sees moral issues (such as sexual ethics) as political issues, it may be counterproductive (or simply untenable) to pursue a policy of total silence or strict neutrality.

2. Gen Z is getting married less (and later), and having kids less (and later).

According to Dr. Twenge, marriage is starting to be seen as "something only old people do". One young lady she interviewed said "people are waiting until they don't have any other option but to get married".

• The percentage of high school seniors who expect to get married within five years dropped 22% between 2007 and 2015.

• Women now enter their first marriage at 27 and men at 29.

• More 18-34 year olds now live with their parents, than live with a spouse or romantic partner.

• In Gen Z, we may be seeing the fruit of fatherless homes; 36% of their generation was born to unwed mothers, compared to 25% of millennials.

• Gen Z could become the generation with the largest number of single people on record, as well as the lowest birthrate in history.

So what does this mean for the Church? I think it means that the Church must embrace the task of not only preaching doctrine, but instilling values—particularly the value for family. This task may have to begin with explaining what a family is, and why it matters, according to God's Word.

It also means that certain assumptions must be reevaluated, or done away with altogether. The young people walking into our churches today are much more likely to have a distant relationship with their father (if they have one at all). Beyond that, church programs are often designed with families in mind, but the families Gen Z is coming from may look a lot different than previous generations.

With a much larger number of single people than the generations before it, Gen Z will the church to pay attention to single adults like never before. I see Gen Z driving the church to redesign its ministries, and to reassess its approach to relational ministry.

3. Gen Z is committing suicide at a tragic rate.

That mental health is an urgent issue for youth and young adults will not come as a surprise to anyone who's been paying attention. Still, reading the data on a physical page was simply disturbing. Dr. Twenge reports:

"After declining during the 1990s and stabilizing in the 2000s, the suicide rate for teens has risen again. Forty-six percent more 15-to-19-year-olds committed suicide in 2015 than in 2007, and two and a half times more 12-to-14-year-olds killed themselves. These are heartbreaking numbers."

Truly heartbreaking. Dr. Twenge's book contains several clues that help explain the increase in suicides, and you may find them helpful. But what continues to haunt me after reading the book is the sad reality that whatever our society is doing, it's not working.

With all that governments, educational institutions and workplaces are doing to combat the mental health crisis, something is missing. And I believe that what they are missing, is the one thing they can't give them. What Gen Z needs, what every human life needs in order to flourish, is vision.

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Proverbs 29:18 KJV

Not accommodation, vision. Not just protection, vision. Without it, we perish. From her founding, the Church was given the mandate to be the light of the world—that which gives the world the ability to see—and that's exactly what emerging generations need us to be.

We must see Gen Z's battle with suicide as a calling for the Church to reclaim her place as society's visionary. As allies to their cause, the Church must be their prophetic partner, boldly proclaiming truth against the seductive lies that are destroying their lives.

I realize that the conclusions I have highlighted in this entry may not exactly inspire hope for Gen Z. As a matter of fact, near the end of her book, Dr. Twenge says "In the three years I spent working on this book, making dozens of line graphs, reading campus newspapers, and listening to the stories and opinions of young people during in-depth interviews, I've realized this: iGen'ers are scared, maybe even terrified." Not quite the ringing endorsement of our future leaders one might hope for.

But there is reason to hope. Not because of statistics on a page, but because of the Spirit of God. There is hope. A hope not based on a scientific assessment of the present, but on a spiritual vision of the future.

I believe that Gen Z is good for the church. I believe that compassion for Gen Z has the potential to unleash an uncommon courage in the Western Church—a courage to confront the principalities and powers that are seeking to enslave an entire generation.

I believe that Gen Z's unique makeup will provoke pastors and leaders to return to the Word, finding fresh revelation for a new generation.

I believe that Gen Z, more than any generation before it, will cause us to rediscover what it really means to be human.

There’s no question; Gen Z will reshape the Western Church, and we will be better for it.

First of all, does the Canadian church need saving? Yes, unequivocally.

• We aren't planting enough churches, while many are closing for good.

• We aren't training enough pastors, and the ones we are training are not sufficiently equipped to minister to a culture in crisis.

• We aren't winning many souls, and recent polling suggests that many pastors and leaders aren't even sure winning souls should be a priority!

In my opinion, our urgency should be at peak levels. But is revival the answer?

Let us begin by defining revival.

In revival, the Church is refreshed by God's tangible presence, often leading to packed prayer meetings and protracted worship times.

In revival, the Church is rekindled by the power of the Holy Spirit, commonly demonstrated in spiritual manifestations, visible repentance, and restored relationships.

In revival, the Church is replenished by the coming home of prodigals, fresh commitments to discipleship, and a harvest of new souls.

Revival is a move of God on behalf of His Church.

I am a lover of revival, a student of revival, and a beneficiary of revival. I discovered revival when— despite being raised by godly parents, growing up in a vibrant church, graduating from a Christian high school, working at Christian camps, leading Bible studies, etc.— I found myself, at 20 years old, ready to give up on Christianity.

During this season, I devoured the writings and biographies of revivalists such as Smith Wigglesworth, an illiterate British plumber with unparalleled faith to heal the sick, and John G. Lake, an insurance salesman turned evangelist, for whom miracles became an everyday occurrence.

These men and many others (including women such as Mariah Woodworth Etter) provided proof that there was more to Christianity than routine spirituality.

Their courage stirred me up.

Their prayers inspired me.

Their faith ignited mine.

I fed on their testimonies until I received my own personal revival that redefined Christianity for me and altered the course of my life.

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Several years later, I was stumbling my way through planting our first church. With no revival in sight, our prospects for survival to say nothing of success, were slight. Our enterprise was underfunded, undermanned, and perpetually at risk of going under altogether. The stories of revival and the examples of revivalists kept me going in those years.

Sister Aimee's simple trust showed me the power of unadulterated faith.

Rees Howells' prayer life proved that the size of my public platform did not determine the extent of my spiritual influence.

Bill Johnson's preaching convinced me that revival was for today.

Reinhard Bonnke's autobiography, Living A Life Of Fire, demonstrated that the power of the Holy Spirit is really all you need— music to the ears of a struggling preacher with not much else to lean on.

My ministry has been shaped by revival, my faith has been nourished by revival, and I count as my spiritual inheritance the legacy of revivalists. I believe we should desire revival, pray for revival, and look for revival.

So it is not thoughtlessly, but deliberately that I have come to the conclusion that for the current state of the Canadian church, revival is not the answer. Why?

Because of what revival does. Revival benefits the church by blessing its existing structures. Revival revives, literally brings back to life, what exists yet lies dormant.

• The 19th-century prayer revival revived the existing churches and denominations in the Eastern United States.

• The charismatic revival of the 1960s and 1970s revived the centuries-old Catholic and mainline denominations across the West.

But perhaps the most illustrative historical example we have of the effect of revival concerns the Welsh revival of 1904. An undeniable move of God that reverberated far beyond the shores of Wales, it is credited with bringing hundreds of thousands of people to salvation. But though the revival began in and was sustained by minority Christian groups, the greatest beneficiary of that revival were the national churches, such as the Church of England. Why? Because they had the structure to embrace and assimilate the fruit of the revival.

Once again, revival benefits the church by blessing its existing structures. Where there is no structure to bless, revival is not the answer. In fact, like new wine in old wineskins, an outpouring of the power of God upon an unstructured church or an unprepared people is simply a waste.

Based on the above observation, and speaking broadly, the Canadian Church is neither prepared nor structured for a national or even regional revival. Our condition is akin to a vision seen by the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:4 ESV

They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

Does this prophetic assessment not match the condition of the church in our nation?

• When entire denominations are disappearing in our generation, are we not in an age of ruins?

• When churches are shutting doors every week, what is it but devastation, at least to those who sacrificed to build them?

• When church attendance has dropped from 65% to less than 10% in 50 years, has the devastation not already affected multiple generations?

The Canadian Church needs repairing more than it needs reviving. She isn't crying out for revival, she is calling for restoration. She needs to be reshaped more than she needs to be refreshed. And in response, God is moving! But not in revival; in reformation.

Why does this matter? Because we might be looking for the wrong move of God. While we await revival, we might be missing the reformation.

But more importantly, this matters because expectation impacts identity. If God is moving in reformation, we must identify ourselves as reformers, not revivalists. Isaiah's vision is more than a diagnosis, it is a declaration of the identity of the men and women God is raising up in this hour of reformation.

A proclamation that in response to ruins, God is raising builders of His house.

That in response to devastation, God is ordaining designers of His temple.

That in reply to the destruction in cities, God is empowering repairers of the breach.

That for the devastations of many generations, God is releasing an anointing for restoration.

Revival will not save the Church, change the nation, or fix the culture. But that's okay; revival is not the only way God moves. Take courage Church, the reformation has begun.

We are in a full-blown identity crisis.

In a society with greater connection than any that has existed before it, the individual pursuit of what it means to be human— of the purpose of humanity and of the full expression of that humanity— has collided with the emergence of a global community, and with the recession of the western Church; and it's not going well.

In the absence of the absolute, race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity have failed to provide humanity with a common understanding of what it is to be human, leaving us socially, culturally, and politically fragmented.

We are constantly in flux, and it seems that the only thing that can be taken for granted, is that very little can be taken for granted. Even in language itself, subjectivity reigns as definitions are regularly redefined.

We have more freedom, but weaker foundations.

The once immutable is now regarded as socially constructed.

The previously unthinkable is now fashionable, and much that used to be appalling has become appealing.

And in the face of astounding human advancement, cries of oppression have reached a crescendo.

We are in an identity crisis, a culture-wide turning point that will decide what we kill and what we keep, what dies and what lives, as we create the future of humanity.

And though the Church is separate from the culture, it is not immune from this moment. We too are in an identity crisis of sorts.

Two thousand years of church history and five hundred years of reformation have found the western Church at a point where the question must be answered, "who are we becoming?"

But more than a question of ecclesiology, it is a quest for identity. And in reply, for the sake of the culture and for the renewal of the church, from the faith once for all delivered, a theology of identity must arise.

Not a new theology, but a fresh one.

A theology that offers exposition of Scripture that speaks to the search for identity.

A theology that perceives issues and events through the pursuit of identity.

A theology that declares that true human identity is not a personal discovery, but a divine revelation.

A theology that not only recognizes the orphan spirit, but restores it to sonship in the Father, and fellowship with His people.

An identity theology that rejects identity politics, self-consciously spurning the supremacy of the subjective self, and embracing the sovereignty of God.

An identity theology that resists outrage, and redeems activism.

An identity theology that sees the definition of what it means to be human as the defining question of our era; a question the answer to which will determine the future of the culture, the nations, and the church.

An identity theology that is not the work of one voice, but is the product of many interactions, the culmination of many conversations, conducted and curated by the Spirit of Christ.

This is my contribution to that conversation. Welcome to Identity Theology.