Gen Zs, Millennials Are Turning Out to be More Conservative Than Many Thought
Here's an encouraging headline to start off your year, "Bible Sales Are Skyrocketing!"
It’s true.
Bible sales shot up by 22% in 2024.
Total print sales of all books, by comparison, rose by just 1%.
That big jump in Bible sales is extraordinary, considering Pew Research and others claim U.S. religion is on the decline.
Perhaps even more remarkable: The trend mostly stemmed from first-time Bible buyers — including many millennials and Gen Zs.
That news is one of several recent indications — the Nov. 5 election outcome being another — that young Americans are surprisingly conservative.
In fact, according to recent research by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, Gen Z teens are twice as likely to identify as conservative as their parents were 20 years ago.
Yet ironically, the common stereotype about millennials and Gen Zs — who are also called "Zoomers" — is that they are lazy, easily distracted, and often indifferent.
This negative view is so widespread that according to a recent survey by the online magazine Intelligent, 80% of Gen Zs surveyed say they battle negative stereotypes in the workplace.
Nearly 60% feel they are perceived as having a poor work ethic due to their young age. And nearly half — 48% — say those stereotypes have limited their careers.
So on the one hand we’re told Zoomers are taking refuge in God’s word, supporting traditional values and free-market economics.
Yet, they’re frequently being depicted as unmotivated slackers.
So which is it?
I’ve concluded the Zoomers — the first cohort to grow up fully immersed in a world of digital media — are the most misunderstood generation ever.
Permit me to explain why:
I recently had the honor and privilege of visiting hurricane-ravaged Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, North Carolina.
As the co-founder and CEO of the non-profit church-based CityServe, I was there to help coordinate over a dozen non-profit organizations dedicated to ministering to those who’d lost everything.
These residents had seen their homes and businesses swept away by the storm. Yet in the face of their tragedy, they wanted to celebrate Christmas anyway --- and we were determined to help them.
As I watched volunteers giving gift baskets to kids, directing traffic, passing out food, and collecting donations, I noticed that many of them were Gen Zs and millennials.
They obviously had a genuine heart to serve.
These young folks had put their own Christmas plans on hold, in some cases traveling thousands of miles to the foothills of Western North Carolina, to minister to the needs of complete strangers.
That showed me an important truth regarding this up-and-coming generation that will soon hold America’s future in their hands.
It’s not true they are indifferent or don’t really care.
And they’re certainly not lazy.
They just care about different things.
They want an opportunity to achieve the American Dream and feel called to help others achieve their dreams as well.
My CityServe colleagues and I are not surprised.
From the firestorms in Lahaina, Hawaii; to towns in Mississippi and Alabama decimated by tornadoes; to war zones in Israel and Ukraine, we’ve seen young Americans consistently stepping up to help others in their moment of greatest need.
I’ve witnessed their contributions firsthand, as a board member of Grand Canyon University. Students there line up to volunteer for hours on end, packing food boxes to feed folks in need throughout the United States and abroad.
As a faith-based university, service is part of the Grand Canyon curriculum, and many of the students say they feel they’re answering a higher call to help "the least of these." [Matthew 25:40]
In this respect, the under-30 crowd reminds me of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who declared: "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here I am! Send me." [Isaiah 6:8]
Instead of calling them Generation Z or the iGeneration, should we perhaps name them the "Send Me Generation"?
They’re answering call like no generation before them, buying up Bibles like there’s no tomorrow, and making a difference in the lives of others.
I am truly honored to do whatever I can to help them achieve their full potential.
As we start off a new year and prepare to launch a new presidency, let’s commit to ending the anti-Gen Z stereotypes.
Let’s support these young, Bible-reading world changers who have shown such a heart for helping "the least of these."
Together, we can encourage this "Send Me Generation" to fulfill their true potential.
Perhaps they’ll achieve more than anyone dared to dream possible.
Because who knows . . . one day they may even lead our nation to a great revival.
His father’s death and mother’s debilitating injury due to a drunk driver at age 9 propelled Dave Donaldson to dedicate his life to building healthier families and stronger communities worldwide. In 2017, he co-founded CityServe International, which has since distributed over $1.2 billion of goods to communities in need. Read more of Dave Donaldson’s reports — Here.
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