when I was new in youth ministry about
20 years old I’m only 23 now so I’m
still pretty young and new I led my
first trip from Dayton Ohio with a group
of 30-plus kids to Cincinnati and five
adult leaders I was terrified my adult
leaders were people who were business
owners who led successful organizations
and I was some 20 year old kid leading
them at a bunch of junior high kids on
an event I was nervous I was scared I
wanted everything to go correct I wanted
to prove myself in this event and this
time kind of went on and we got there we
got to the event we got to the hotel
room that I had after through the day
one everything was going smooth the next
day stuff still going smooth we get to
the final session and I go leaders
you’re in charge for five minutes I’m
gonna go grab a drink real quick and we
come right back and as I come right back
the session is getting ready to start
and as the session starts I sit down you
see this Junior High boy and a graphic
t-shirt in basketball shorts running
down the center of the arena towards the
speaker who had just walked on stage now
if I was a speaker and someone was
rushing the stage when I had just walked
out I would be terrified and so I’m like
what is going on here like this this
doesn’t make sense and as we see this
Junior High boy running down he pulls
out of his sweaty nasty junior high boy
pocket a Taco Bell tortilla just a
random talk about Shorty and he goes to
hand it to the speaker and all at once
my kids go is that Kevin I’m like no
that’s not Kevin one of our students who
is notorious for causing Frank’s there’s
no way that that’s one of my kids I’m
not that youth pastor he’s going to get
kicked out of an event at the last
session but then in unison 28 junior
high kids stand up and scream that’s
Kevin very loudly very excitedly and I
scoot down in my chair going oh no
that’s Kevin and I like bite my nails
I’m like
I was going to go because you see the
speaker had told a story all week we’re
all weekend long where he was like hey
when I was younger I would hang out my
rich friend in middle school and they
would go to Taco Bell all the time and
his rich friend would never buy him
anything from Taco Bell and he would
give him a quarter which was enough to
get him a tortilla and he would put hot
sauce in it so Kevin because we had went
to Taco Bell for lunch thought he would
get the speaker one of his favorite
middle school snacks and got the
tortilla and didn’t just put mild sauce
in it put the hottest of talk about hot
sauce in it for this speaker runs up to
the stage hands it to him the speaker
takes it and he eats it and he has to
drink a whole bottle of water before he
can even speak Kevin gets this great
laugh and he runs to the other side of
the auditorium where we weren’t even at
and he sits down with one of his other
friends Caleb who was on their event
with us and I remember I’m walking to
Kevin and a whole like host of emotions
are going through me like there’s a
little bit of like maybe some anger I’m
definitely laughing and I remember as I
seek heaven as I walked up to him he’s
scared he’s like oh no he’s gonna tell
my mom I’m grounded for life and I
remember that was the first word you
said to me he’s like don’t tell my mom I
said oh I’m telling your mother because
this is hilarious and I high-fived him
right then in there see I had a choice
in that moment that I would either let
Kevin own me or just be mad at him for
being a silly kid and I think more often
than not when we look at the next
generation or we look at younger people
people who are up-and-coming leaders who
are maybe just still middle school kids
or high school kids or college kids or
post-grad kids like myself it’s real
easy to look at them and go you they
don’t know what they’re talking about
yet they don’t have a clue of what’s
going on but if we were honest we would
take a look at this generation
especially Generation Z these kids born
somewhere around 98 maybe 2002 now and
we would take a look at the track record
of what they’re already doing Generation
Z is this group of kids who are leading
in a very unique and different way on
the Internet
there’s so many different social media
spheres these kids have opportunities
even Millennials didn’t know we were
gonna have this ability to command
audiences and connect with people in
large scales but it’s interesting
because studies show that Generation Z
is also one of the most loneliest
generations out there that they lack
meaningful and authentic relationships
and so there’s this problem with
Generation Z what do we do with them and
so as a middle school pastor for a long
time and now as director of student
ministries I’ve had the pleasure of
working with several students Kevin was
one of them I’ve worked with so many
students I can’t even keep track there
was one girl her name was Kaylee she had
a YouTube channel of a hundred and
seventy-five people that would follow
her and she was just doing this all day
long
you know just recording herself vlogging
there was another girl her sister who
had 2000 people who just watched her
play fortnight every day right like come
on it’s for tonight why are people
watching you play this game then there
was this other kid this kid’s name is
Daniel he has a YouTube channel I’ve
known Daniel since he was a smelly
seventh grade kid and now he’s a smelly
high school senior and he has 20,000
people who watch him on YouTube every
day and makes probably more money than
me sitting in front of his computer
playing video games it’s insane
generation Z is leading but so often
than not we want to put them in this
corner and say you’re not ready yet even
though they’re leading even though
they’re ready even though they’re doing
things we never thought were imaginable
we’re so quick to say hey you’re not
ready yet and just put them in the
corner we’re so quick to write headlines
about them and say they’re entitled or
they don’t know what’s going on in the
world or they’re this or they’re that
slandering them in the media because
we’re frustrated with them but this
generation that is lonely doesn’t need
mentors doesn’t need adults doesn’t need
the generations before them to write the
headlines to look at them and say you’re
not ready
but they need to let us own them and now
I understand that owning the next
generation seems like a really big
concept of like how do I actually do
that it sounds super abstract how is
that tangible well I think there’s three
things we can do tangibly to allow the
next generation own us the first thing
is we need to give them our time I’ve
been gracious in my life to have five
mentors and five adults who have owned
me and who have taken me out to lunch
who have gone to things that are
important for me who have met with me
for coffee who have been there to answer
the phone when I’ve been frustrated or
to listen to some of the outlandish
ideas that I have because there are
plenty of outlandish ideas that I have
they gave their time to me but I think
so often than not we just want the next
generation to listen to us because we’ve
been around the block a few times I
think more often than not we want the
next generation just to listen to us
because well I build a company or I did
this thing or I’ve been a manager for so
many years or I’m a professor I’m this
or I’m that but we never take the time
to maybe get coffee with them to maybe
go to their soccer game to maybe listen
about their struggles in their life and
the first step to letting the next
generation own then own us is to simply
give them our time the next step is our
humility like I said earlier so often
than not we give so many headlines about
the next generation and this is a common
problem like it’s been going on for ages
it’s not nothing new with Millennials
Generation Z it happened to Gen Xers –
it probably happened to Baby Boomers
let’s be real but when we do that we’re
I saluted ourselves from the future
leaders have you ever had a horrible
boss raise your hand that you like I
know I had like a boss you did not like
a boss you didn’t listen to you who was
frustrating I had this boss one time I
would walk up to him and I would come up
with a really cool idea and say hey boss
I have this idea here it is point a B
and C like I think we should do this and
he would go oh that’s cute I was 22
months
and he pat me on the shoulder very
sarcastically and walk away that
experience isn’t uncommon for the next
generation that’s how we treat them most
days oh I was a middle schooler once pat
on the shoulder and keep walking our
humility says that even though we may
have heard this idea before even though
we may have tried something before we
take the time to listen thoroughly and
ask questions and not assume that we are
naturally right because I think our
experience lends us to believe that we
are naturally right all the time
when in actuality sometimes the younger
generation sees our flaws and it’s okay
to listen to them it’s okay to give them
our humility because they like we push
them to be better can push us to be
better and the last thing the next
generation I believe needs for us to own
them effectively is our encouragement I
work in urban Cincinnati right now in a
town Chora suburb called Delhi and I
work with a lot of kids who come from
broken and mismanaged homes and I
remember there was a day when I run it
was running an after-school program
where the student named Clyde walked in
to my building in Clyde was a trouble
kid he had been known for getting kicked
out of class he had been known for
dropping the f-bomb every other day like
he was that kind of kid Anne in our
student room we have this game called
carpet ball I don’t know if you’ve ever
played carpet ball before but if not
you’re missing out because this is fun
little game that is played on a wooden
table with carpet and pool balls you
know balls from a pool table and the
goal is to roll the balls down the table
and knock your opponent’s balls in well
collide was losing repeatedly and he was
getting so mad and so frustrated he was
cursing up a storm he was being angry
and I remember the kid who was winning I
asked him to step aside and I started to
play with Clyde and I kept beating him
and he was like why how are you beating
me I don’t understand what’s going on
and he’s like getting super frustrated
said buddy you you’ve got the game right
you’re doing good like you know how to
roll the balls down the carpet and
you’re even hitting mine but the problem
is
with the way this table is made you’re
rolling the balls too fast try taking it
slower you can do this you can beat me
take a breath and try rolling them a
little slower and lo and behold Clyde
would beat me three more times and get
really excited about it and then because
of this interaction I had with Clyde I
was able to sit down and talk with him
hear more about his home life encourage
him to do better in school even help him
with some math homework even though I’m
terrible at math but I try to figure it
out anyway
but I was able to give him encouragement
in that moment the next generation is
leading already generation Z has found
their place and has found their voice
much more rapidly than any other
generation before it they will lead us
one day if they aren’t already in
several different spheres and my
question to you is do you want people to
lead you who don’t like you and who
don’t want to listen to you or you want
to have buy-in with them now because you
let them own you so let the next
generation own you because one day here
very soon if not already they are going
to lead you thank you [Applause]
20 years old I’m only 23 now so I’m
still pretty young and new I led my
first trip from Dayton Ohio with a group
of 30-plus kids to Cincinnati and five
adult leaders I was terrified my adult
leaders were people who were business
owners who led successful organizations
and I was some 20 year old kid leading
them at a bunch of junior high kids on
an event I was nervous I was scared I
wanted everything to go correct I wanted
to prove myself in this event and this
time kind of went on and we got there we
got to the event we got to the hotel
room that I had after through the day
one everything was going smooth the next
day stuff still going smooth we get to
the final session and I go leaders
you’re in charge for five minutes I’m
gonna go grab a drink real quick and we
come right back and as I come right back
the session is getting ready to start
and as the session starts I sit down you
see this Junior High boy and a graphic
t-shirt in basketball shorts running
down the center of the arena towards the
speaker who had just walked on stage now
if I was a speaker and someone was
rushing the stage when I had just walked
out I would be terrified and so I’m like
what is going on here like this this
doesn’t make sense and as we see this
Junior High boy running down he pulls
out of his sweaty nasty junior high boy
pocket a Taco Bell tortilla just a
random talk about Shorty and he goes to
hand it to the speaker and all at once
my kids go is that Kevin I’m like no
that’s not Kevin one of our students who
is notorious for causing Frank’s there’s
no way that that’s one of my kids I’m
not that youth pastor he’s going to get
kicked out of an event at the last
session but then in unison 28 junior
high kids stand up and scream that’s
Kevin very loudly very excitedly and I
scoot down in my chair going oh no
that’s Kevin and I like bite my nails
I’m like
I was going to go because you see the
speaker had told a story all week we’re
all weekend long where he was like hey
when I was younger I would hang out my
rich friend in middle school and they
would go to Taco Bell all the time and
his rich friend would never buy him
anything from Taco Bell and he would
give him a quarter which was enough to
get him a tortilla and he would put hot
sauce in it so Kevin because we had went
to Taco Bell for lunch thought he would
get the speaker one of his favorite
middle school snacks and got the
tortilla and didn’t just put mild sauce
in it put the hottest of talk about hot
sauce in it for this speaker runs up to
the stage hands it to him the speaker
takes it and he eats it and he has to
drink a whole bottle of water before he
can even speak Kevin gets this great
laugh and he runs to the other side of
the auditorium where we weren’t even at
and he sits down with one of his other
friends Caleb who was on their event
with us and I remember I’m walking to
Kevin and a whole like host of emotions
are going through me like there’s a
little bit of like maybe some anger I’m
definitely laughing and I remember as I
seek heaven as I walked up to him he’s
scared he’s like oh no he’s gonna tell
my mom I’m grounded for life and I
remember that was the first word you
said to me he’s like don’t tell my mom I
said oh I’m telling your mother because
this is hilarious and I high-fived him
right then in there see I had a choice
in that moment that I would either let
Kevin own me or just be mad at him for
being a silly kid and I think more often
than not when we look at the next
generation or we look at younger people
people who are up-and-coming leaders who
are maybe just still middle school kids
or high school kids or college kids or
post-grad kids like myself it’s real
easy to look at them and go you they
don’t know what they’re talking about
yet they don’t have a clue of what’s
going on but if we were honest we would
take a look at this generation
especially Generation Z these kids born
somewhere around 98 maybe 2002 now and
we would take a look at the track record
of what they’re already doing Generation
Z is this group of kids who are leading
in a very unique and different way on
the Internet
there’s so many different social media
spheres these kids have opportunities
even Millennials didn’t know we were
gonna have this ability to command
audiences and connect with people in
large scales but it’s interesting
because studies show that Generation Z
is also one of the most loneliest
generations out there that they lack
meaningful and authentic relationships
and so there’s this problem with
Generation Z what do we do with them and
so as a middle school pastor for a long
time and now as director of student
ministries I’ve had the pleasure of
working with several students Kevin was
one of them I’ve worked with so many
students I can’t even keep track there
was one girl her name was Kaylee she had
a YouTube channel of a hundred and
seventy-five people that would follow
her and she was just doing this all day
long
you know just recording herself vlogging
there was another girl her sister who
had 2000 people who just watched her
play fortnight every day right like come
on it’s for tonight why are people
watching you play this game then there
was this other kid this kid’s name is
Daniel he has a YouTube channel I’ve
known Daniel since he was a smelly
seventh grade kid and now he’s a smelly
high school senior and he has 20,000
people who watch him on YouTube every
day and makes probably more money than
me sitting in front of his computer
playing video games it’s insane
generation Z is leading but so often
than not we want to put them in this
corner and say you’re not ready yet even
though they’re leading even though
they’re ready even though they’re doing
things we never thought were imaginable
we’re so quick to say hey you’re not
ready yet and just put them in the
corner we’re so quick to write headlines
about them and say they’re entitled or
they don’t know what’s going on in the
world or they’re this or they’re that
slandering them in the media because
we’re frustrated with them but this
generation that is lonely doesn’t need
mentors doesn’t need adults doesn’t need
the generations before them to write the
headlines to look at them and say you’re
not ready
but they need to let us own them and now
I understand that owning the next
generation seems like a really big
concept of like how do I actually do
that it sounds super abstract how is
that tangible well I think there’s three
things we can do tangibly to allow the
next generation own us the first thing
is we need to give them our time I’ve
been gracious in my life to have five
mentors and five adults who have owned
me and who have taken me out to lunch
who have gone to things that are
important for me who have met with me
for coffee who have been there to answer
the phone when I’ve been frustrated or
to listen to some of the outlandish
ideas that I have because there are
plenty of outlandish ideas that I have
they gave their time to me but I think
so often than not we just want the next
generation to listen to us because we’ve
been around the block a few times I
think more often than not we want the
next generation just to listen to us
because well I build a company or I did
this thing or I’ve been a manager for so
many years or I’m a professor I’m this
or I’m that but we never take the time
to maybe get coffee with them to maybe
go to their soccer game to maybe listen
about their struggles in their life and
the first step to letting the next
generation own then own us is to simply
give them our time the next step is our
humility like I said earlier so often
than not we give so many headlines about
the next generation and this is a common
problem like it’s been going on for ages
it’s not nothing new with Millennials
Generation Z it happened to Gen Xers –
it probably happened to Baby Boomers
let’s be real but when we do that we’re
I saluted ourselves from the future
leaders have you ever had a horrible
boss raise your hand that you like I
know I had like a boss you did not like
a boss you didn’t listen to you who was
frustrating I had this boss one time I
would walk up to him and I would come up
with a really cool idea and say hey boss
I have this idea here it is point a B
and C like I think we should do this and
he would go oh that’s cute I was 22
months
and he pat me on the shoulder very
sarcastically and walk away that
experience isn’t uncommon for the next
generation that’s how we treat them most
days oh I was a middle schooler once pat
on the shoulder and keep walking our
humility says that even though we may
have heard this idea before even though
we may have tried something before we
take the time to listen thoroughly and
ask questions and not assume that we are
naturally right because I think our
experience lends us to believe that we
are naturally right all the time
when in actuality sometimes the younger
generation sees our flaws and it’s okay
to listen to them it’s okay to give them
our humility because they like we push
them to be better can push us to be
better and the last thing the next
generation I believe needs for us to own
them effectively is our encouragement I
work in urban Cincinnati right now in a
town Chora suburb called Delhi and I
work with a lot of kids who come from
broken and mismanaged homes and I
remember there was a day when I run it
was running an after-school program
where the student named Clyde walked in
to my building in Clyde was a trouble
kid he had been known for getting kicked
out of class he had been known for
dropping the f-bomb every other day like
he was that kind of kid Anne in our
student room we have this game called
carpet ball I don’t know if you’ve ever
played carpet ball before but if not
you’re missing out because this is fun
little game that is played on a wooden
table with carpet and pool balls you
know balls from a pool table and the
goal is to roll the balls down the table
and knock your opponent’s balls in well
collide was losing repeatedly and he was
getting so mad and so frustrated he was
cursing up a storm he was being angry
and I remember the kid who was winning I
asked him to step aside and I started to
play with Clyde and I kept beating him
and he was like why how are you beating
me I don’t understand what’s going on
and he’s like getting super frustrated
said buddy you you’ve got the game right
you’re doing good like you know how to
roll the balls down the carpet and
you’re even hitting mine but the problem
is
with the way this table is made you’re
rolling the balls too fast try taking it
slower you can do this you can beat me
take a breath and try rolling them a
little slower and lo and behold Clyde
would beat me three more times and get
really excited about it and then because
of this interaction I had with Clyde I
was able to sit down and talk with him
hear more about his home life encourage
him to do better in school even help him
with some math homework even though I’m
terrible at math but I try to figure it
out anyway
but I was able to give him encouragement
in that moment the next generation is
leading already generation Z has found
their place and has found their voice
much more rapidly than any other
generation before it they will lead us
one day if they aren’t already in
several different spheres and my
question to you is do you want people to
lead you who don’t like you and who
don’t want to listen to you or you want
to have buy-in with them now because you
let them own you so let the next
generation own you because one day here
very soon if not already they are going
to lead you thank you [Applause]
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