Cliffe Knechtle Sees a ‘Genuine Movement of God’ Among Gen Z: ‘They Are Spiritually Hungry’
Michael Foust
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By Michael Foust, Crosswalk.com
The seasoned apologist who is known for standing on college campuses and calmly defending the Christian faith says a genuine movement is emerging among Gen Z – driven by a search for meaning and purpose in an increasingly secular culture.
Cliffe Knechtle and his son, Stuart Knechtle, have seen their reach expand in recent years, driven by YouTube and social media videos that capture them engaging students on college campuses – debating everything from the validity of the resurrection to the reliability of Scripture.
The two lead the apologetics ministry Give Me an Answer and are the authors of a new book, Demolishing Doubt, which tackles some of the toughest questions about Christianity. It is set to release on May 19.
“There's a genuine movement of God going on,” Cliffe Knechtle told Crosswalk Headlines about college students. “But there's also a deeply entrenched secularism, materialism, and those two are obviously in contradiction of each other.”
Stuart Knechtle added that “every ministry I've talked to, other than maybe one, across all the campuses we've gone to in the last year, say they're just exploding at the seams.”
The elder Knechtle said Gen Z is rejecting the emptiness of a materialistic, godless worldview.
“I think that a lot of young folks are sick and tired of the superficiality, the triviality of a godless existence, and they began to get hurt deeply by things like divorce, by alienation, by the insistence of evil to just keep on knocking at people's doors – the temptations of life,” he said. “And they’re saying, ‘There's got to be something more.’ So I think a part of it is a real desire to dig deeper and not just to settle with the ‘Well, the purpose of my life is to make money. The purpose of my life is to have a large stock portfolio. The purpose of my life is to have physical pleasure. The purpose of my life is to be comfortable.’”
College students and other members of Gen Z are “seeing through the hollowness of that and asking the deeper questions, which means they are spiritually hungry.”
Data released in late April by George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found a 17-point increase in young adults who say they are deeply committed to practicing their faith, alongside a 10-point rise in weekly Bible reading and a 5 percent uptick in church attendance – all among adults ages 18 to 23. Additionally, the data revealed a 10-point increase among that same age group who believe they were created by God but are tainted by sin and need to be saved. All the data was collected in the last year.
Stuart Knechtle said students are searching for structure in their lives.
“Even the Harvard studies show if you want emotional, physical [health], life expectancy – if you want all these things to happen, well, you're going to want healthy community, and the church, statistically, is by far and away the healthiest community for those things to happen,” he said.
The college students have a void in their lives that points to something deeper, Stuart added.
“This God-shaped hole will always be there knocking at the door,” he said. “And you can try as many things as you want, but you're never going to fill it until it's actually God.”
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Gen Z Is Experiencing Rising Church Engagement, Pastors Say: ‘Something Is Shifting’
Photo Credit: ©Zondervan
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
