I have been praying religiously for a few years now for a Christin revival in our country, something that I believe is desperately needed by many people searching for real meaning in their lives. Maybe my praying for a revival began when Damar Hamlin, a football player for the Buffalo Bills, almost died on the field during a game on national TV. His teammates and announcers shared prayers for his recovery, and he did survive and recover from the event. Then there was the Amhurst revival that popped up extemporaneously at a church in Amhurst KY shortly after the Hamlin incident. The revival lasted about two weeks and even was moved to Lexington, Ky to continue longer after it outgrew the available space in a much smaller Amhurst.
Then, a few days ago I heard news on TV that Gen Z had developed a serious interest in religion. So I googled “Gen Z Christian revival”, and a blog written by Trevin Wax for The Gospel Coalition blog popped up. Trevin Wax is VP of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Wheaton College.
I found his presentation interesting and so wanted to share some of it with you. He says:
I love Tim Keller’s definition of revival: “The intensification of the ordinary operation of the work of the Holy Spirit, occurring mainly through the ordinary ‘instituted means of grace’—preaching, pastoring, worship, prayer.” It’s broad enough to not overly specify the forms a revival might take while narrow enough to give you a sense of God at work, helping you identify the signs of revival when you see them.
Today, I wonder if we’re seeing the beginning of a revival among Gen Z, particularly those in college. As I survey the landscape, I see signs of hope and renewal that strike me as unexpected and remarkable.
Late last year, Kyle Richter and Patrick Miller reported on the renewed interest and enthusiasm of the college students in their area and pointed to similar outbreaks of spiritual fire elsewhere. They believe this generation may be primed for spiritual renewal.
Gen Z is spiritually starved. The disorienting circumstances of the last three years—a global pandemic, countless mass shootings, the woke wars, a contested election, rapid inflation, and widespread abuse scandals—created a famine of identity, purpose, and belonging. Gen Z is hungry for the very things the empty, desiccated temples of secularism, consumerism, and global digital media cannot provide, but which Jesus can.
As I meet with pastors and church leaders or visit churches and universities, I see signs of this spiritual hunger. The Asbury Awakening in 2023 was a big news story—an ordinary chapel turning into an ongoing service of praise and worship, confession of sin, and celebration of salvation, which garnered attention from all over the country and sparked similar stirrings of spiritual intensity in other colleges and universities.
I pondered the question Asbury presses upon us, and I noted Asbury Theological Seminary president Timothy Tennent’s wise hesitation to call the awakening a “revival.” “Only if we see lasting transformation,” he wrote, “which shakes the comfortable foundations of the church and truly brings us all to a new and deeper place can we look back, in hindsight and say ‘yes, this has been a revival.’”
There is much more that Kevin shares in his blog. If you would like to read more about it, you can access it at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/rumblings-revival-gen-z/.
My understanding (from Google) is that the most common definition of the age range for Gen Z in 2025 is 12 to 28 years of age. This represents the age group of many of our children and grandchildren (and even our great-grandchildren for those so blessed!). Maybe we individually cannot have influence over a large swath of America or the world, but we certainly have the opportunity to try and influence the young people that we come in contact with, and especially those with family ties. I pray that you too will pray for a true Christian revival in our country, and that you will do your part to expand its horizon.
John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.