Posted July 31, 2026
“Gen Z loves the spiritual disciplines. But disciplines separated from church community do not create disciples.” That sentiment is how Daniel Kunkel began his recent article on some fascinating trends among Gen Z Christians. From watching clips of Billy Graham on TikTok to embracing spiritual disciplines like silence, solitude, and Sabbath-keeping, the Christianity embraced by young people today has echoes of what previous generations have experienced, but the differences are important to note as well.
As Kunkel—who pastors in New York while also serving as a teaching fellow in New Testament at Fordham University—describes,
Whereas the Emergent Church movement of the previous generation prized a casual and comfortable expression of faith, I find many in Gen Z value a sense of sacredness and have a strong desire for practical change.
He goes on to warn, though, that “This is a wonderful trend—yet there’s something peculiar about this wave of interest in spiritual formation among the younger generation. Namely, it is not accompanied by a significant spike in church attendance.”
Now, church attendance tends to be a relatively volatile way to measure commitment to the faith, and a Barna study found that Gen Z and millennials actually attend more regularly than older generations. However, the overall decline in attendance still means that Gen Z is less religious than their counterparts were in the 2007 and 2014 versions of the same study.
So, if more and more young people are coming to the faith, but their numbers are not necessarily reflected in Sunday morning attendance, what should we make of these seemingly contradictory trends?
In a recent article titled “Gen Z Fell Out of Love With Work. I Don’t Blame Them,” Emi Nietfeld takes a closer look at why young people today feel so discouraged when it comes to the job market and their prospects for building a better life in the same way as the generations who came before them. One of the most interesting points she makes is that
Gen Z’s relationship to labor is more transactional than sentimental. Eight out of 10 students who graduated from high school in 2022 don’t expect work to be an important part of their life, nor for their job to be particularly interesting.
What stood out to me most about that statistic is that, for previous generations, work was where many looked for identity. It makes sense that, as that aspect of young people’s lives diminishes in importance, Gen Z would look elsewhere for a replacement. And, in many ways, their approach to religion mirrors the way that those who came before them viewed their jobs.
Time spent studying God’s word, practicing spiritual disciplines, and devoting themselves to prayer are all good and helpful parts of what it means to follow Christ and grow in our relationship with the Lord. Advancing in these areas can satisfy that innate desire for progress that, in previous generations, manifested as long hours at the office and, at times, putting the job before family, faith, or other priorities in our lives.
But they’re not enough. And, as Kunkel notes, doing those things alone would have been a fairly foreign concept to believers in the first century:
Throughout the New Testament, the spiritual disciplines—silence, solitude, prayer, fasting, Sabbath, and so on—are all practiced, discussed, or prescribed in the context of community. Therefore, it’s not a stretch to say that spiritual formation apart from community, at least in New Testament terms, is no spiritual formation at all. It is self-help.
I don’t know that I would put it quite that strongly, but his basic point is important for us to remember. There is absolutely a place for spending time alone with the Lord, but doing so to the neglect of spending time with God in community with other believers means missing out on a crucial part of the life Christ intends for us to live.
However, it’s hard to see it that way until you experience the joys and benefits of that kind of community for yourself. So, what can we do to help younger Christians—or Christians of any age, for that matter—assign the same level of importance to meeting together that God does?
With Anthony Fauci back in the news this week, many have been reflecting on lessons learned from the Covid pandemic. For me at least, one of the most significant takeaways from revisiting that time is the value of community. And I say that as an introvert with an incredibly small social battery.
Prior to Covid, I enjoyed going to church and knew that it was important, but I’m not really sure I ever valued it as much as I do now. It took losing that weekly connection with other believers to fully appreciate what it means to “meet together” as the author of Hebrews describes (Hebrews 10:24–25).
That said, meeting together can—and should—include much more than how you spend a few hours on Sunday mornings. And we have so many more ways to live that out now than they did in the first century.
Back then, if you wanted to talk with someone or “stir up one another to love and good works,” it almost universally had to happen face-to-face. Letters were mostly sent via personal messengers, as with the New Testament Epistles, and there was really no other way to communicate except in person. So, if Christians were going to encourage one another and lift each other up, they had to be in the same place to do it.
That’s hardly the case today. And while nothing can really replace getting in the same room with people, we also need to take advantage of those other opportunities.
Simply being mindful of the Holy Spirit’s prompting is a great place to start. If God puts someone on your heart, send them a text or give them a call. If your small group or Sunday School class shares prayer requests, make sure Sunday morning isn’t the only time you’re taking those requests to God, then follow up with people as the Lord leads. And if you’re spending time in Scripture, invite someone else to join you.
Some of the most important and powerful times I’ve had in God’s word have come through doing YouVersion Bible plans with a friend from church. They even include a “talk it over” option at the end where we can share thoughts, ask questions, and pass along what the Holy Spirit has shown us.
At the end of the day, God wired us to need one another. And while many in Gen Z may be struggling to assign the communal aspects of the faith the same level of importance that he does, they’re not the only ones.
So, how well are you living out the true meaning of meeting together? Is Sunday morning the full extent of your commitment to other believers? Is Sunday morning even part of that commitment?
Worshipping together on Sundays and living out our faith together on Mondays are both vital parts of God’s plan for how we’re meant to grow in our walk with him.
Would your calendar say that you agree?
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” —C. S. Lewis
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