In a recent Barna webinar, David Kinnaman said that the two words that best describe Generation Z (those born from around 1996 to 2010) are anxiety and ambition. The church is uniquely qualified to speak to both. Youth and young adults are looking for a source of identity they can trust and a purpose for their daily work. We know that God provides both in their baptismal identity and in our vocational theology.
Healthy youth ministry should help young people live out their unique vocations. As young people worry about the future and strive to share their gifts with the world, supportive adults and parents can help young people keep their eyes on the unchanging salvation in Jesus by reminding them often of their daily and future vocations.
What Is Vocation?
If we want youth to live out their unique vocation, we must first understand what that means. Usually, the word vocation is associated with the work we do to earn a living or manage our household. While jobs and careers are a part of vocation, the theology of vocation encompasses much more than just work.
Vocation comes from the Latin word vocatio, meaning “calling.” In Martin Luther’s time, the concept of vocation was limited to those who were serving the church in particular roles: priest, nun, monk, and so on. People in these roles dedicated their entire life to the church, and the church recognized only these as divine callings or vocations. Luther believed this limited the way vocation is described in Scripture. The Bible says all baptized children of God are set apart for holy work. As the priesthood of all believers, everyone who is baptized has a calling to serve God by loving our neighbors in His name.
Youth leaders, parents, church workers, pastors, and other supportive adults should be attentive to their unique vocations. To effectively meet this goal, adults must be willing to do self-reflection on their gifts, skills, experience, and passions. As you read more about vocation in this chapter, take time to be self-reflective on your vocational roles. As you become more aware of how God is using you as His hands and feet, you will be better equipped to walk alongside youth as they do the same.
Youth understand their role as Christ’s hands and feet in their church, home, community, and other areas of vocation.
We can break down the broader theology of vocation into smaller pieces to help us convey it to youth. Vocation is thought of in three “estates”:
- Church
- Home
- Community
Each estate encompasses some part of our lives and contains multiple vocations. As a member of a congregation, you may have a role as a youth leader, as well as a supportive adult, sermon listener, musician, or usher. The estate of home includes both those in your household and the vocations that do or will support your household, like work or school. Vocations in your community include neighbor, supporter of local businesses, volunteer, or voter. One place you can find many vocations and what they are called to do is the often overlooked Table of Duties in Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation.
Gen Z is action-orientated and achievement driven. According to Barna, Gen Z’s academic and work achievements and hobbies are more important to their identity than their friends, families, and even religious life. They were more likely than any other generation to say that they often define their skills and giftings—what they do or what they are good at. In many ways, Gen Z identifies who they are by what they do. In the same way, they are looking at Christians and the church and identifying them by what they choose to do or not do. Beyond wanting to deeply understand their baptismal faith, they want to see faith in action. The theology of vocation helps them bridge what they believe and their actions.
Youth reach out to their neighbor in word and deed to love and share the Good News of Jesus.
While much of youth ministry may focus on teens in our congregations, there are teens in our communities and across the world who need to hear the Gospel. As noted earlier in this book, Generation Z has the highest rate of religious unaffiliation of any generation. Our goal is for youth to live out their unique vocations, including sharing the Gospel in word and deed with those who do not believe.
It is important to remind both adults and young people that they are not responsible for creating faith. The Holy Spirit is with them, giving them the right words and working in the hearts of others. Someone else’s faith doesn’t depend on them. People are not projects that we take on until we convince them of faith. Regardless of how we treat people, we are going to fail to love our neighbor as ourselves. Youth are simply called to share who they know God to be and who God has made them to be in Christ.
Youth serve and lead in their congregation and community.
Healthy youth ministries give opportunities to serve and lead. Yet when we talk to youth leaders, they are frustrated that those opportunities often go unfilled. Teens and their families often have busy schedules that run from early in the morning until late at night. It can seem like the only time teens take advantage of service or leadership opportunities is when it is an obligation for school, a scholarship, or as part of preparing for larger youth events. Just as we encourage youth to prioritize faith practices, we can help them prioritize this service as part of their vocation as well.
Youth are also more likely to engage in service and leadership when it fits their experience, passion, and skills. As parents and supportive adults get to know a young person, they are able to orient them to places God has uniquely gifted them to serve. Teaching vocation, like offering opportunities to serve and lead, can help young people find their unique gifts, skills, passions, and experiences. As youth discover how God has uniquely created them and placed them, they may see more clearly how the Holy Spirit can use them.
Youth seek to be warm, challenging, and grace-filled to their community and peers.
Vocation calls young people out into roles, responsibilities, and relationships. As they gain experiences, our goal is for youth to approach those with the same attitude as the one they see modeled in ministry. An environment of warmth, challenge, and grace modeled by supportive adults who show warmth, challenge, and grace helps raise young people who know how to show warmth, challenge, and grace.
Youth are encouraged to pursue church work vocations as it fits their gifts and skills.
Luther helped the church rightly expand its theology of vocation away from only including those in professional church work. Yet vocation does still include those whose gifts, skills, and passion are to serve in this way. There is a shortage of church workers that threatens to only get worse. To reverse this trend, supportive adults and parents should be actively looking for young people who are invested in God’s mission who may succeed as pastors, teachers, musicians, administrators, and other full-time church workers.
Blog post excerpted from pp. 166–176 in Seven Practices of Healthy Youth Ministry © 2023 LCMS Office of National Mission—Youth Ministry, published by Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Discover more practical, actionable advice for your youth ministry in Julianna Shults and Mark Kiessling’s book Seven Practices of Healthy Youth Ministry.
