Do Not Say, “I Am Too Young”
At 23 years old, being born in 1999, I can hardly justify the title “nineties kid,” yet I still irrationally claim the title with strange nineties pride. Also at 23, whenever I’ve shared my age with someone, I’ve been met with mixed reactions. I am often the youngest in the room in both professional and personal contexts, and I have often been tempted to disown or hide my age in order to avoid disappointing an expectation of maturity that seems to be safe before age is announced or in order to distance myself from generational generalizations.
As the temptation rises, a pang of remembrance usually reverberates in me: to be placed in such a time as this at such an age as this is a gift.
With this, a memory usually also comes to mind, a memory of a moment that happened right as I started at The Clapham Group. I was in my car driving home from work, and I felt a wave of heaviness fall on me. I was overwhelmed that I was 21, entering into a consulting field, and interacting with men and women of stature and wisdom beyond my knowledge or experience. I spiraled, thinking: “How am I where I am? Who am I to be where I am?” Then, almost immediately, these verses from the first chapter of Jeremiah entered my heart:
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah. 1:6-8, NIV
Honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to do with this. It didn’t change my age or the circumstances of my work. But that was exactly it. I wasn’t supposed to do anything, and nothing was going to change except the posture of my heart. This verse was a reminder to me that God saw (and sees) me in my youth and even still called me to obedience, invited me to walk with Him, and offered His lavish love and His sturdy, mighty presence. I was then rushed with confidence that God had me where He wanted me – and I was not too young to be kept by Him.
Clapham has been a workplace that has championed and valued my youth in ways that I could have never imagined. My team has never asked me to be older than I am or to disown my generational particularities. In fact, it has been quite the opposite. In my first few weeks of working, Mark Rodgers (our principal) crowned me the “Gen Z Expert” of the office. At first, I was quite hesitant to agree with or claim the role. Who was I to study and speak on behalf of a generation? And my academic history was in political theory. However, despite my hesitancy, Mark, who I am so thankful for, saw ahead of me. He has such a sensitivity toward the next generation and he was (and is) so eager to understand, engage, and empower young people, and he wanted a young person to lead these efforts for our team.
I’ve called that Jeremiah moment to mind often over my two and a half years at Clapham, and each time I’m reminded that it is God who qualifies and empowers and rescues. This came to mind again when the buzz around the Asbury Outpouring in February of this year began to appear. The students who were in the chapel when things began to stir, and those who entered over the two weeks in February, were not too young (or too “Gen Z”) to respond to a movement of God or to be agents of His glory.
Worshippers at Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Provided Photo Courtesy of Asbury University
The public conversation that surrounds Gen Z often starts with or results in downcast critiques, claims, curiosities, and predictions about the youngest among us. For instance, the article that I wrote on Gen Z in the fall of 2022 was centered on the statistic that “More than a third (34%) of Gen Z identifies as religiously unaffiliated.” This statistic often elicits one of two reactions in observers: 1) Gen Z is deemed a lost cause, destined for an irreligious evolution, or 2) people are stricken with a fervor to look for new ways to reinvent religion to appeal to the youngest generation. I think both responses miss something quite critical: simplicity and obedience.
In reviewing Asbury and its origin, you can hear that neither of the reactions to Gen Z religious disaffiliation could have manifested the movement and response that occurred. See below the testimonies (two of many):
“When we went up to lead worship again, I just felt God asking me to stay in that moment. I opened up my heart to him and continue to worship sincerely. I remember staying there for an hour after chapel was supposed to end, but then I had to go to my work shift in the IT department. But in that moment of pure genuine worship with no schedule, with no plan or time limit, it just felt so natural. It’s been beautiful to see how the revival has grown since then.”
– Dorcus Lara from an interview on Religion Unplugged
“Nothing immediately happened to me or changed in my heart. A beam of light did not cast itself upon me, and thank goodness, the Lord did not immediately smite me out of existence even though I deserved it. I did not let the lack of immediacy deter me, even though I thought about leaving. All that mattered at that moment was our Creator. The transfer of my focus nudged me to ponder how infinitesimally small we are. The situations that enraptured my mind were mere specks on the horizon compared to eternity. My heart shifted, and a resentment that had followed me for months was lifted by the grace of God alone. Walls of bitterness and agitation released themselves from my mind. I felt them cast out of my mind and heart to the point where I have almost completely forgotten the prior feeling. Knowing myself, I am confident this shift is not of my own volition. I was set and satisfied in my resentment, but God had different plans for me.”
– Anna Lowe from The Asbury Collegian
Anna Lowe in the Hughes balcony
Photo taken by Alexandr Presta
The Asbury Outpouring was a wildly beautiful encouragement to me– one that, I pray, calls many to seek and support how God is moving in the youngest generation. I personally did not watch any long-form captures of the days upon days of worship, prayer, and repentance. However, Mark did watch the final hours of the outpouring and was incredibly moved:
I was struck by what was being challenged, not by word but by the Holy Spirit, that is so dominant in a typical American evangelical church. There was no celebrity performer. The church setting was un-contemporary. There were no political pronouncements. There was no powerful speaker. There was no planned program or grand strategy. On the other hand, the students were racially diverse. They eschewed public attention. They professed an orthodox faith in an active God. They acknowledged their brokenness and desperate need for healing. They invited the Holy Spirit to have His way. This is the upside down church of Acts 4:1 (“Who are these unlearned men?”) and a reminder to us all of the power of authentic Christian witness.
Even before this event, I would counter those who claim this generation as one out of reach of redemption. We are not too young to know God.
In college, my life was absolutely and completely changed by an encounter with God. And I can tell you I was certainly not doing “well” spiritually when this encounter happened. Though I would not have identified as “religiously unaffiliated,” I was lost. It was not me that changed myself, nor did I find something within myself that was redeemable by my own merit or good works. It was not attending church every Sunday all year round, or someone in the street who captured my attention by yelling that I was going to hell. It was not a new church initiative aimed at “youth,” or a trendy brand that told me that following Jesus was “cool” now.
It was God who drew me toward Himself through the truth of the Gospel displayed in community and in worship. It was His kindness that led me to repentance. Since then, I have burned for college students and young professionals to encounter, experience, and know the triune God, and the very Word of God that ultimately changed my heart and still moves me toward Him daily. Excitingly and bittersweetly, I am entering a new job season that strums this very chord within my soul. I have moved on from Clapham to serve on staff at Passion City Church, DC as the Executive Assistant for the church, supporting our city pastor and our team of gifted leaders. As this season changes, I cling to this Jeremiah calling:
“You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 1:7b-8, NIV