I have been doing some much needed catch up research on Generation Z. Generation z turns 20 this year! So much focus has been on the Gen Y/ millennials that I truly missed some much needed focus on Gen Z. There is a lot of difference between Gen Y and Gen Z. The one I want to highlight today is that Gen Z is image focused. They are the emoji and photo generation. They COMMUNICATE in pictures. They look at a chunk of text and say TLDR. (Too long, didn’t read). They are highly literate but choosing not to read. So what does this mean for bible study?

I don’t think it means we need to give them an emoji bible as seen here. Although creative, I don’t think this is our next step.  Although it is interesting to note that there is an actual emoji translation of Moby Dick now.

I do think that we need to remember that Gen Z does not know where to start with The Bible from day to day.  We have found that when we give them chunks of scripture and then have them do basic scripture discussion questions that are used in international countries, our students are learning how to look at God’s word for more than just “words” but allowing time to meditate and chew on the WORD.  There has to be time to let His Word work on our heart and when we just “read it”, we miss it.  This is what students are missing.   One of the ways I think we can use images to help our students in studying God’s word is to begin to have them draw doodles of what they see as they read.  I’m calling it divine doodling.  As they wrestle with a passage over and over again, I ask them to draw a doodle that represents what they just read.  I believe that it helps them process what they read through their image based literacy.  I’m truly just dabbling in this, but it is very intriquing to me.  I don’t want a generation to not know how to open the bible and meditate on His word.  Our students want to know how to study His Word…but it’s just dealing with the TLDR blockade.

Anyone else coming up against this?