"Duck Dynasty" star Sadie Robertson Huff believes that younger Christians are not "lukewarm." Rather, she said they are looking for absolute truth and discipleship from church leaders.
Huff recently participated in a 2020 Q&A: A Virtual Town Hall event session focusing on issues that are relevant to the younger generation known as Gen Z, the Christian Post reported. The session talked about a variety of things to the youth, such as discipleship, mental health, and social media.
The 23-year-old celebrity and author expressed her belief that unlike the '90s and early 2000s, younger Christians are not "lukewarm." Gen Z Christians are often not challenged because church leaders ask "too little" of them and also make "excuses" for them, she said.
"I've sat in a room with church leaders who I love and adore," Huff said. "But there are times where I've even heard them say things like, 'Maybe we shouldn't do a conference at night because that is the night that college kids like to party.' And I'm like, 'That's why we should do a conference that night because people are going to party if we expect too little.'"
Huff, who is pregnant with her first child, said church leaders should let the youth decide if they're going to go with God or not because the youth will be the ones making that decision for themselves. She also noted that since today's world is "polarizing," the youth find it "cool to stand for something these days."
"It's cool to 100% follow God, and it's cool to 100% stay in the world," she said. "It's really not cool to be in the middle anymore."
Gabrielle Odom, a 19-year-old evangelist who joined Huff and discussion moderator Grant Skeldon on the stage, agreed with the "Duck Dynasty" star and said she thinks the younger generation isn't asked a lot of important questions anymore. The lack of clear, absolute truth is sending the youth "out of control," the young evangelist said.
"And I think the next generation is craving clarity because I think there are churches that are starving us of it," Odom said.
On discipleship
The Live Original founder also said Gen Z Christians want to be discipled or mentored by older, more experienced men and women of faith, but tend to shy away from asking for it.
Instead of being fearful, Huff said younger Christians should not hesitate to "invite" older Christians to discussions so they can learn from them. They should not be afraid to ask more experienced Christ-followers to share their wisdom with them.
The soon-to-be-mom also urged older Christians to approach younger believers and ask them if they want to be discipled because "a lot" of young Christians want to be mentored.
Odom chimed in to say that older Christians should ask themselves, "will we fight for Gen Z?"
The young evangelist said many are vying for the youth's attention: social media, politics, and pornography. Older, more experienced Christians should fight for Gen Z Christians and equip them because they will take up the baton in the future, and be the ones who will fight for the next generation as well.
To the youth who are constantly bombarded by the world and all its stimulating distractions, Huff has a simple message: to "cultivate" their relationship with Jesus Christ, to "be" in their prayer closet, and to "be reading" the Word of God.
