Gen Z's Insights on Faith: An Interview with Sammy! #152

Can Gen Z's unique perspective transform the future of faith and church attendance? Join us as we sit down with 18-year-old Sammy, who shares his personal journey of growing up in a Christian household and the profound impact his parents' teachings about Jesus have had on his life. Sammy opens up about the challenges he faces in spreading the gospel to his peers and his renewed commitment to engaging with the scriptures. His heartfelt advice to his generation, emphasizing love and non-judgment, serves as a powerful reminder to reflect Jesus' teachings in our interactions with others.

The conversation takes a nuanced turn as we explore the complexities of maintaining Christian faith amidst the differing moral values among friends. Through the touching story of a close friendship between a Christian and a Muslim, we underscore the importance of respectful dialogue and loving others despite differences. We also address the concerns many young Christians have about losing their faith in college. Tune in to hear inspiring suggestions on how to foster open conversations about faith and positively influence the perception of religion among younger generations.

Chapters

• 0:00 Gen Z Church and Faith Perspectives
• 8:01 Navigating Faith and Friendship in Youth

Transcript

Pastor Robert Young: 0:00

What do Gen Z think of church and faith? We will be talking to Sammy next on the podcast to answer this question.

Pastor Robert Young: 0:08

Ever wonder how and if the Bible has relevance for today? On this podcast we provide biblical answers to today's tough questions. Hi friends, I'm Pastor Robert Young. We have 30 plus years of church planting and mentoring other pastors, 30 plus years of training leaders in evangelism and discipleship. Our team of missionaries go into jails, rehabs, parks, street corners, coffee houses and any place unchurched people gather.

Pastor Robert Young: 0:39

We present the true, untainted gospel. We ask questions and give answers as we conduct surveys. We do this so that you can make a true, informed decision about Jesus Christ.

Pastor Robert Young: 0:52

Hi friends, pastor Young here back again, and today on the phone we have Sammy, and Sammy is going to give us a story of how o his walk of faith in God, and should be quite interesting. Sammy is uh, how old are you, by the way, sammy? Uh, I'm 18, 18. So we're going to get a different perspective, uh, from an 18 year old, which is a good thing. We want more of that. So, uh, sammy, just say hi to to our, to our listeners, hello, so. So, sammy, how long have you been a Christian?

Sammy: 1:29

I've been a Christian my whole life. I grew up, you know, going to churches and stuff, so it's been with me my whole life.

Pastor Robert Young: 1:38

Well, good, good, glad to hear that. So you don't know anything different other than just being a Christian.

Sammy: 1:43

I mean I couldn't see life without it. Honestly, amen. I just I don't know anything different other than just being a Christian.

Sammy: 1:45

I mean I couldn't see life without it honestly.

Sammy: 1:45

Amen. I just, I don't know. I feel like it just wouldn't be my way, Like I don't know it wouldn't be my walk, Right, right right, okay, well, before we go any further, I got a couple of statistics I want to throw at you.

Pastor Robert Young: 2:00

You may know of this, you may not, I don't know. One is people in your age group, younger generations, are not going to church like the generations before them. And when I say church I mean traditional brick and mortar church, house church, any kind of church Is that something that you're seeing in your circles?

Sammy: 2:47

no-transcript.

Pastor Robert Young: 2:58

Wow. Well, the research has been saying for quite a while that we have something called the nuns, n-o-n. This is a short abbreviation for a term that means that people are non-believers, they're non, anything. They don't believe in God, they don't believe in church, they don't believe in any of those things. Yeah Well, the second point I wanted to touch on is parents are not and this is from a bunch of research from a bunch of very smart people. I didn't come up with this on my own, no, no, yeah, a bunch of very smart people.

Pastor Robert Young: 3:25

I didn't come up with this on my own, Parents are not teaching their children about God, although the Bible says for parents to do that. Is that something I think I already know? The answer to this Is that something that you're seeing in your circles of influence as well?

Sammy: 3:42

If the circles are my family, like specifically, like you know, my parents, my dad and my stepmom and stuff I would say that wouldn't be the case, because I've always been raised up to learn more about Jesus and learn that. But I do have friends that don't know about Jesus and it's because their parents took that opportunity away from them by not teaching them.

Pastor Robert Young: 4:05

So yeah, I like the way you put that. They took that opportunity away from them by not doing it, that's good. I like that. So may I ask this delicate question and you can answer if you feel comfortable, of course. Are you spreading the gospel?

Sammy: 4:25

I try to my best. I try to talk to my friends about God a lot, as much as I possibly can, without trying to force it on them or anything. But any chance I get to talk about God I definitely take that opportunity and I do it as much as possible. So I do, I try my best.

Pastor Robert Young: 4:46

Amen, that's all that God can ask. Well, sammy, you are an avid Bible reader, I'm guessing, or a Bible listener, I should say.

Sammy: 4:58

No, I actually haven't started reading the Bible yet, but I really want to, so I'm going to definitely start reading.

Pastor Robert Young: 5:07

You know, I have a few people that I'm talking to about Jesus and I turn them on to Bible apps. And this one guy he's like in his 30s. He listens to the Bible being read to him on his way to work because he has like a 45 minute drive to his job. So going to work he's listening to the Bible for like 40 minutes and coming home the same thing. So that is definitely an option as well. I mean, with the modern technology that we have now, there's a lot of folks and you can get that app in many different translations. There's a lot of people, even in my age group, don't seem to be able to grasp the King James version, but the other versions are pretty much saying the same thing. Yeah, just in plainer English, I would say I would say, okay,

Pastor Robert Young: 6:02

if you had to give some advice or some words of wisdom to people in your age group, what would you say to them?

Sammy: 6:15

I think there's a lot of like judgment. I guess, Like a lot of people my age, will judge anybody over anything. You know things they've done, mistakes they've made. I just feel like we should treat people how Jesus treated people back then. I've been trying very hard lately to show love to everyone, no matter who they are and what they've done. I've just tried to show as much love as possible and I've just tried to show as much love as possible. So I think we all should show love and don't judge anybody based on what they've done or what they've said, and look at the deeper person they are.

Pastor Robert Young: 6:54

Oh, you mean like what Jesus would do?

Sammy: 6:58

Yeah, yeah, got, it Got it OK, got it.

Pastor Robert Young: 7:03

Good point, very good point. Now, what would you say to people and older people?

Sammy: 7:12

Be open-minded, I guess, because you know, I feel like I mean, I don't know because I'm not there yet, but I've noticed, like older people, that they can, like I don't know, get shut off, I guess, and only be like focused on one thing, and I think you just have to be aware of other people's stories and stuff, and sometimes you're like, nope, this is the way, this is how it should be, and I feel like sometimes you just have to be more open minded for other people and how they've lived and stuff.

Pastor Robert Young: 7:42

Well, I got to tell you that is a big thing in this age group. Well, I got to tell you that is a big thing in this age group we can be so close-minded that we can only see things one way and no matter what, we just kind of see if.

Pastor Robert Young: 8:01

Any struggles have you had with your Christianity or your faith in God versus some of the moral values of the friends and people that you hang out with Not family members per se, but just, you know, people around your age.

Sammy: 8:17

So what are you like? You're asking me. Wait, what are you asking? Sorry me wait.

Pastor Robert Young: 8:24

Have your, your faith in god come in conflict with some of the moral values of some of your friends?

Sammy: 8:30

for any times.

Pastor Robert Young: 8:32

Can you give us an example?

Sammy: 8:35

um, I have my friend. He's real close with me. We've been friends since I came to East Rochester that's the school I go to and I've been friends with him for like four years. But he's Muslim, so he believes in different things than I do and his beliefs counter some of the beliefs I believe in and we like talk about things like that and there's just some things you don't agree on, but it doesn't bother me because I still love him as a person, you know.

Pastor Robert Young: 9:09

Wow, OK, to all the listeners out there, there is a lesson right there, especially for us older people we can disagree, but still not become enemies. Oh my goodness. Now this is something that we need to preach on the rooftops, especially in our current climate. You know, nowadays, when you don't agree with somebody, then they're automatically the devil.

Sammy: 9:31

It's like no, they're not necessarily.

Pastor Robert Young: 9:33

Right, right, it's terrible. Well, we do have hope for your generation that you guys can continue the work that the generations before you have started to do but just didn't get it all the way accomplished. Can you see something like that happening?

Sammy: 9:55

Yes, I do think that could definitely be a possibility. Yes, I do think that could. That could definitely be a possibility. I would definitely be what is the word? Down to do it? I guess yes, yes, like I'd be very down to do that, and I know a couple of people that I think would do it as well.

Pastor Robert Young: 10:17

So, so, sammy, you said earlier that your parents have been teaching you the Bible since as far back as you can remember. It's always been a part of your life. Is that true? Yes, and you come from a big family, a big family, yeah, very big. And so everyone in the family has been taught about Christ. Is that correct?

Sammy: 10:44

Yeah, in my household at least. Yeah, yeah.

Pastor Robert Young: 10:47

Yes, yes, without getting into too much information about your family. How many would you say, or what is the percentage of people who have stuck with the teachings? And I got a point that I'm trying to get to here, and the point is this A lot of kids in

Pastor Robert Young: 11:11

your age group, and I don't want to make this about age or age discrimination or anything, but they say a lot of times when the kids get to college age, they're going off to college and they go to some liberal college. specially those that have come from Christian homes where the Bible had been taught to them since day one, or whatever they say. When they get to college, a lot of them lose their faith. Whether they really had it at the beginning with I don't know, that's a different question. And they say a lot of them do not go back to the faith, and those that do go back to the faith eventually is usually much, much, much, much later in life. So what do you think we could do as Christians to prevent that from happening? I know that's a crazy question, but I remember one of um cause. You know, I've always got like five jobs. One of my jobs is I work at a college and I see this all the time.

Sammy: 12:11

Um, I think just you know, I don't know, just talk about it, cause a lot of people, I don't know, just talk about it, cause a lot of people I guess just they like are scared to talk about them and like about Jesus and his, uh, his work he's done and I think we just have to talk about it more and not be so scared and skeptical.

Pastor Robert Young: 12:32

Um, well, wha What exactly are they afraid of? That they're going to be judged or ridiculed or ostracized?

Sammy: 12:39

I don't know, just like, yeah, being judged. And just like you know, if their friends don't want to accept them after they talk about it, they're like, oh, you talk too much about God, this, that and the third. I don't know, people are just scared of being judged, I guess.

Pastor Robert Young: 12:56

Yeah, we do have a lot of that going on in our world, don't we? We do a lot that we do. Even though Matthew 7 and 1 said judge not that you be not judged. Well, are you planning on going off to college once you finish high school?

Sammy: 13:13

No, I was going to go straight into trades.

Pastor Robert Young: 13:16

Good choice, good choice, good choice. That's another episode for another time, that more people should go to trade school because you don't get encumbered with all those, those student loans. Yeah, I'm good. Different, different, different episode. Ok, so what kind of trade would you be going into, if I can ask?

Sammy: 13:37

Electrician I'm taking a class for right now in high school.

Pastor Robert Young: 13:40

Nice.

Sammy: 13:40

Nice, so in high school. Yeah, it's a EMCC BOCES program. Yeah, yeah.

Pastor Robert Young: 13:47

Wow yeah.

Sammy: 13:47

It's where, uh, it's where you can learn about a trade or doing hair or something Just like a life skill, I guess. Yeah yeah, wow, if you want to learn about it.

Pastor Robert Young: 13:58

That's good to know. Good to know. Do you have any questions for us?

Sammy: 14:04

No, None that I can think of as of right now.

Pastor Robert Young: 14:09

Well, my last question for you then.

Pastor Robert Young: 14:26

Well, my last question for you then would you tell someone in your circle of influence not family members per se, but just because there's so many people from the current generation that don't want any part of religion or faith in God because of the way religion and faith in God was presented to them as a child and they rebelled against it, and now they don't want any part of it. It's mostly based on misinformation and abuse of the scriptures from the parents or somebody who were trying their best to teach them but just went about it the wrong way.

Pastor Robert Young: 15:04

So one of the things that we want to clarify, in our title is that we like to present the untainted gospel so that a person can make a true, informed decision about Jesus Christ. And once they get all the misinformation and all the fallacies and the falsehoods and all the other stuff that's out there about true Christianity, most people say, huh, I don't have a problem with that. So back to the question. The question is would you tell someone about the podcast? Yeah, I would, okay, and I'm going to send you a link so that you can give it to them too, so you can evangelize even at this age. That's something to think about evangelism to help this generation to see the hope, because, honestly, this generation of young people are going to see things probably a little bit tougher than what we had. Not that we had it easy when I was growing up, but a little bit tougher because things are just in chaos right now.

Pastor Robert Young: 16:11

Would you agree with that? Yeah, I would agree with that, okay. But we know that God is the hope in the midst of all the chaos and the nonsense and everything else. Amen, amen, amen. So, ammy, that's about all the questions I have for you, okay. If you can think of any other questions that you want to ask me, text it to me, okay, and we can make a full episode out of something like that.

Sammy: 16:35

Okay.

Pastor Robert Young: 16:37

So, okay, well, thank you for calling in today and giving us your testimony. And, to summarize to our listeners, ammy is 18. He's been raised in a Christian home since he can remember, yeah, and he's still holding on to the faith, even after all these years, thank God, and he's talking to some of his, his friends, about Jesus and will continue to do so. So let that be an encouragement to you that might be listening, that you might be a young person, but you can still live a life for Christ. Amen, amen, amen. Well, god bless you, sammy. A life for Christ, amen, amen, amen. Well, God bless you, sammy. Thank you for calling and we will talk to you soon. Okay, all right, all right, god bless. Bye-bye, bye.

Pastor Robert Young: 17:21

Okay, friends, we've been talking on the phone with Sammy, 18-year-old Sammy, who is still hanging in there for Christ. And listen, if you have been listening to this podcast for any length of time and you've decided that you want this Jesus Christ that we're talking about, you've heard Sammy's testimony and you said to yourself listen, whatever that young kid's got, I want it too. I want that Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of my life.

Pastor Robert Young: 17:48

Then there's one thing, two things, that you need to do? First, the Bible says that we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of pleasing God. We've all done some type of wrong somewhere in our life. But we must come to God and ask him to forgive us of our sins and to believe that Jesus Christ, od's only son, only begotten son, died on the cross and paid that price that we could not pay, so that we could have a renewed relationship with God. Then say this simple sinner's prayer with me today, father, I come to you today. I repent of my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ died on that cross for me. I receive him now as my Savior and my Lord and my guide. I pray that you would fill me with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost so that I may be able to live this righteous life that you speak of, that you want from us. I want a relationship with you. I believe that Jesus Christ died for me and I receive him now in his name. Amen.

Pastor Robert Young: 18:59

Well, friends, listen, if you've said that with a sincere heart, the Bible lets us know that somewhere up in heaven there's a book called the Lamb's Book of Life and your name has been written on it. So when you leave this plane of existence, God is going to bring you into his kingdom, and long before you get to heaven, long before you die, od can give you the peace that passes all understanding. No matter what's going on, god can still give you that peace and joy and happiness that everybody seems to be seeking for, but seeking some are seeking in the wrong direction. Everybody seems to be seeking for, but seeking some are seeking in the wrong direction. So, listen, if you need more information or clarification or have questions, do not hesitate to get in contact with us, and all of the ways to get in contact with us in the description box below. And until next time, I am your host, pastor Robert Young this is Not your Parents Religion podcast and we will see you then, and may God bless you. You.