Generation Z doesn’t need more leaders appearing for a few years - this generation is “crying out” for those who will lead for decades and that will only happen in the context of deep friendship and valuing each other’s vulnerability.
That was a key takeaway from a panel discussion of “God’s mission through Intergenerational Discipleship” during a plenary session at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Incheon, Korea.
Delegates heard that whilst the Lausanne Congress celebrated its 50th anniversary, younger leaders were frustrated and seeing the wider church as irrelevant, unloving and sometimes not authentic. The plenary panel discussed published figures showing that 62 percent of young people leave the church before the age of 18.
The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) supports this claim in the context of the U.S., although the PRRI data is from 2016, saying: “More than six in ten (62%) religiously unaffiliated Americans who were raised in a religion say they abandoned their childhood religion before they turned 18.”
Even so, during the Lausanne 4 week, panelist Sam Couper, 24, the field coordinator for Revive Europe, discovered that a posture of humility and honor he noted between generations meant everyone had a voice and he realized that friendship was not just a complementary value for collaboration, but in fact the “best foundation” for collaboration itself.
This idea is seen in the close friendship between Jesus with the apostles Peter, James and John, according to Couper. He led them up a mountain for the transfiguration, but later they followed him “to the deepest place of suffering.”
“It was friendship in the heights and it was friendship in the depths,” remarked Couper. “It was friendship that was real.”
Couper perceived a shift away from collaboration for the sake of it by the emerging generation seeking a depth in relationship. He recalled last year (2023) reading Psalm 24 and believed in a “generational call” for young people to ascend the mountain of God with clean hands and a pure heart.
Then Couper said he had a dream to connect younger leaders with a shared desire to respond to this call to consecration. This led to a launch of Revive ASCEND, a gathering of 10 young leaders from six European nations, meeting online at first but then getting to know each other personally at a gathering overseen by local church leaders in Cairo, Egypt.
“Our desire first and foremost was just to build deeper friendships with one another,” recalled Couper. “We were meeting monthly on Zoom to deepen our friendships and also invite more experienced leaders to invest in our own leadership. And this culminated with a time in Cairo back in March [2024].”
At the Cairo gathering, the young leaders made space to listen to God by studying Timothy’s relationship with Paul. They prayed, worshiped together, shared stories and were also inspired by the local church leaders who provided a solid example of long term leadership.
“This emerging generation, generation Z doesn't need more leaders who will simply appear for a few years and then dissipate,” said Couper, as noted above, “what this generation is crying out for is those who will lead for decades and that will only happen in the context of deep friendship.”
Couper furthermore told younger leaders at Lausanne 4 to “get ready” because God was inviting the emerging generation to ascend the mountain, so to speak, with pure hands and hearts.
“It's an invitation to surrender. It is an invitation of wholehearted pursuit. And God is not primarily looking at our ability, but our availability. I believe he's calling for a generation of consecrated hearts.”
Couper believed 2 Chronicles 16: 9 has a special prophetic resonance for the younger generation at such a time. The scripture says: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
“Where are the Calebs, the Joshuas, the Daniels?” asked Couper, who disclosed another prophetic vision he received recently during a prayer retreat in the south of France.
“As I was looking out over the hillsides, the Lord showed me a picture in my mind,” he said. “I saw the younger generation lining the hills and they were getting ready for battle.
“They were all in unique armor. They came in all shapes and sizes with many different nations and they were giving a war cry.
“But as the picture developed, I saw the senior leaders, the spiritual fathers and mothers and they stood behind them. They had their hands on the shoulders of the younger leaders and I could hear them saying, ‘I'm with you, you've got this. I'm not going anywhere.’
“And I knew that moment that without the senior leaders, the younger leaders would turn away, they would flee from the battle lines, they would be picked off from the enemy.”
Couper subsequently wanted to encourage older generations attending the Lausanne 4 plenary session, listening to him relate the prophetic vision he ascribed to God. He called the idea “impossible” that younger generations can fulfill the calling of God without the intercession and support of older ones. Joshua needed Moses, he pointed out.
“I'm here to say, as a younger leader to all of the senior generations in this room, from the bottom of my heart, we need you. We need you!”
Couper also challenged his Generation Z contemporaries to consider their approach to senior brothers and sisters in leadership positions in the church and related ministries.
“How are we positioning ourselves to receive from the wisdom and the experience of all the generations? We can't do this on our own, we need each other.”
The panel discussion also discussed how vulnerability is needed between generations, a deep part of connectedness between people. A particular point was made about the high value of indigenous communities in churches, and the importance of respecting diversity of different people groups.
Dr. Delphine Fanfon, one of the panelists, is chief executive of Me4Real International and Regional Director of LeadersSource in Africa and Asia. She lives in Cameroon.
Fanfon called vulnerability the “bridge to experiencing love” although it was not easy to effect.
She asked openly whether followers of Jesus can be willing to be vulnerable to each other, as “generational neighbors,” to develop a depth of authenticity needed for effective discipleship. “Intentionality” is needed to overcome any opposing power dynamic so that “vulnerability can happen.”
“Without vulnerability, deep life-on-life friendships with individuals of any generation becomes significantly compromised, especially intergenerational friendships.”
A problem is that many people have suffered hurt in past relationships and carry wounds “they are still bleeding from,” according to Fanfon. For this reason, safe spaces are needed in the church today to give the opportunity for personal disclosure to each other.
However, she added, someone has to take the first step of expressing vulnerability. In that sense, the confidential recipient listening to the disclosing person becomes the safe space intrinsically in him or herself.
“There is a shortage of those safe spaces in the church today. So the question very quickly becomes who will risk being vulnerable first? Because in order for us to melt the ice and ensure safety, we must each determine to love those who dare to bring it all to the table, not less but more for doing so.
"And so as members of the body of Christ, each of us must therefore stop trying to find that safe space and start becoming it for others.”
The example of Jesus’ vulnerability with his friends in the Garden of Gethsemane is a model to note, according to Fanfon.
“Even though he knew that they were going to let him down, he invited them to stand with him.
“And yet despite the fact that these disciples fell asleep when Jesus needed them to be with him, Jesus' vulnerability bringing them into that moment so impacted them that they went out and became safe spaces to so many others.”
Fanfon outlined the importance of the disciples becoming safe spaces to others, to the extent that it led to the growth of the church.
“And in some ways we all are sitting here today because they risked being vulnerable. And so although inviting others into my good, my bad and my ugly, in a world where appearances matter is often not easy, keeping up appearances unravels the very fabric of the hope that we want to pass on to the younger generation, which is Christlike love.
“The world today needs to see Christians who in addition to trusting God, also trust others with themselves.”
