November 10, 2025 • 41 mins
Join me as I sit down with Sam McCullough from OneHope.com to explore the world of Gen Alpha—kids who’ve never known a life without screens. We dive into the real sources of influence shaping their decisions, from social media feeds and AI to mental health pressures, and discuss how parents and leaders can guide them toward grounded faith.
In this episode, we cover:
- Who Gen Alpha is and what it means to be a digital native
- How AI, tech habits, and screen time shape trust and perspective
- Mental health challenges tied to social comparison
- The impact of exposure to violent or desensitizing content
- The vital role of parents as primary influencers and disciple makers
- Building biblical literacy and fostering honest conversations
- Moving kids from spoon-fed answers to critical thinking
- Engaging hot topics with clarity, warmth, and relevance
- Practical ways to connect across generations
- Cultivating hope in a mission-minded, bridge-building generation
Learn more at OneHope.net or follow Sam on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/samuelaaron/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show, brought to you by
Beatso Man Productions.
SPEAKER_04 (00:09):
Uh I paused it and uh You're fine.
SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
I was wondering, I was like, are you recording on
something else?
Like I didn't know where it wascoming from.
SPEAKER_04 (00:19):
I did a whole in.
I've mentioned this many timesbefore.
I interviewed a guy who I wasreally excited to interview, and
we got through the entireinterview, and I realized I
hadn't hit the record button.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
That's brutal.
SPEAKER_04 (00:33):
Oh, that's brutal.
That's that's oh god.
Anyway, he was super nice.
He was like, Yeah, let's do itagain, you know.
So the next day we did it again,and those are great.
But anyway, I've been therebefore.
Yeah, so you know, uh, lifehappens, but anyway, so you
know, I'm I'm glad you're on theshow now, and I'm glad we're
recording.
And uh you've the reason why Iwanted to have you on the show
(00:56):
is because uh we've known eachother for a long time, and uh I
know that you've uh beeninvolved with uh youth ministry
for a long time, and I thinkthis uh this new phase that
you're in.
Uh I I'm curious.
I'm curious about uh this newnext generation kind of a thing.
(01:22):
You know, we all we like tolabel people.
I'm I'm with the baby, I'm thetail end of the baby boomers,
you know.
There's Gen Z and Gen X and blahblah blah.
And so now we're talking aboutuh Gen Alpha.
Okay, so what's Gen Alpha, youknow, and what's that all about?
(01:42):
And you're right in the middleof it.
I mean, if anybody knows or canspeak to the Gen Alpha uh group
uh of kids, and I guess I cancall them kids.
Um it would be you.
So I'm uh I'm I'm glad you'rehere to share what is Gen Alpha,
(02:05):
and first of all, firstquestion, what did you have for
breakfast this morning?
SPEAKER_01 (02:10):
I had something from from good old no gummies.
I think you have to clarify whatwhat people do when you say
gummies now.
Um uh just to be clear, this isalways by my side, okay?
These are always by my side,yeah.
Um there's no better gummy bear.
SPEAKER_04 (02:25):
Um gold, was that haribo?
Yeah, the the for thoselistening and can't see it.
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Gold bears.
There's no uh there's no THC inthese.
Um, so they're but they do putme in a great mood because I
love candy.
Um, so yeah, I for breakfast Iactually had what's called a uh
a sausage pocket from the oneand only Pops Daylight Donuts.
SPEAKER_04 (02:50):
Oh yeah, those are good.
SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
So that's a frequent go-to for me.
SPEAKER_04 (02:54):
Yeah, awesome, very healthy, very healthy.
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
Gummy bears and sausage pockets.
SPEAKER_04 (02:58):
So yeah, yeah.
You know, so good.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
So good.
SPEAKER_04 (03:01):
So yeah, uh, like I said, uh we've known each other
for a long time.
You you uh as far as I know,you've been in youth ministry uh
for as long as I've known you,and you've always done a really
great job with that.
Seems like uh that's your that'syour niche.
Um am I right there?
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Is yeah, no, that's I one, I appreciate that.
Um, I was actually I think I wasI was Matt's youth pastor for a
little while, your son, which iscrazy.
Um and uh yeah, I've been I'vebeen in youth ministry in some
form or fashion uh since about2007.
Um was a youth pastor for abouta for about a decade, um, which
(03:41):
in youth pastor terms is kind oflike dog years.
Uh was you know, a lot of youthpastors aren't in the game for
longer than some people aresaying nine months.
There's all these differentstats out there, but I did it
for a while.
Uh and had the had theopportunity to see a lot of
different waves and cycles.
Uh in this current season, uh, Ireally I get an opportunity to
(04:02):
serve uh serve next gen pastors.
And so whether they're kids'pastors or youth pastors, um our
organization has a globalfootprint and I'm focused on
North America.
And so uh I kind of kind of jokethat my my job is to be a pastor
to pastors right now, and so Ilove what I get to do.
SPEAKER_04 (04:19):
So you're reaching out to uh uh youth pastors and
trying to help them in reachingout to this.
This uh it's not a newgeneration, it's it's uh it's
been around since 2000.
These kids have been around, Iguess it started in 2000.
Their generation starts in 2017,is that it, or something like
(04:42):
that?
SPEAKER_01 (04:42):
So there's a lot of different viewpoints on it.
Um, we say 2010 to 2024.
SPEAKER_03 (04:48):
Okay.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
But uh yeah, yeah.
So our organization is a uh ifyou boil it down, we're a
scripture engagementorganization.
So we're all about seeing uh theBible, God's word, all over the
world.
Uh and we do that in variousdifferent ways, whether it's
through print, uh, digital,film, you name it,
contextualized scripture,wherever people are at, all over
(05:13):
the globe.
And so uh in North America, wehave several different resources
um available for the church, andwe do it for free.
Uh, it's really like our win isto see, and you know, again,
obviously I'm coming from afaith perspective, but to see uh
young people fall in love withthe God of the Bible.
And um, we really believe thatlike scripture is the number
(05:36):
one, uh we would say,discipleship resource.
Like, so if young people canknow and understand God's word,
I mean we're we're no stranger,whether you're a Christian or
not, our world has gotten umincreasingly more complex, and
then others could say crazy.
Uh depends on depends on yourview.
SPEAKER_04 (05:55):
And so we see scripture either works, yeah,
yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:59):
So scripture gives um students and young people a
true north in their life.
So that's kind of where we'reat.
SPEAKER_04 (06:06):
Uh paint if you were to paint a picture of a alpha
gen alpha person in general, astereotype.
Uh what's what yeah, that's agreat question.
SPEAKER_01 (06:21):
I mean, there's so many different ways you could
you could um characterize it,right?
Like nobody likes to bepigeonholed, but but some facts.
Um one, you could say this isthe first truly digital native
generation.
Like they have they have grownup in the digital world.
So like, you know, people callthem you know, iPad babies,
(06:44):
whatever you want to call them.
Like they have grown up, sothey've grown up through COVID.
Um, so so think about it,they've grown up uh in pivotal
years of their life inisolation.
Like they've grown up, you know,being handed tablets, being
handed uh phones, screens, youname it.
Uh so they're very digitallynative.
Also, first generation to uh belike throw AI in there.
(07:06):
So artificial intelligence,Scott.
You and I, um, when I think AI,I still see Terminator 2, you
know, the metal skeleton robotcrushing skulls with a laser
gun, just like, you know, hashas like become self-aware.
Um what's the Will Smith movie?
Um I Am Legend.
SPEAKER_04 (07:28):
Uh is it I Am Legend?
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
No.
Uh oh man, I'm I'm I'm drawing ablank.
But there's that robot movie,you know, where the robots go
crazy.
And I think that's like what ourgeneration sees.
Uh but Gen Alpha, they actuallylike they trust AI.
So so they've grown up.
You and I'm subtle.
Yeah, you and I have allowed AIinto our homes with Siri, with
(07:54):
Alexa's, you name it.
So they have this like where wewould go, oh, I need to like go
to the weather app to check theweather.
They intuitively jump on Alexaand just say, Alexa, what's the
weather like today?
You know, and there's thistrust, there's not this like
AI's watching me.
Like, they are truly digitalnatives.
So I would say that's a reallybig uh very important indicator
(08:18):
of Gen Alpha.
SPEAKER_04 (08:20):
There's a because of the isolation, it seems like uh
mental health for the Gen Alphais uh critical, or they're
having some troubles there.
Seems like they're all stressedout.
Seems like everybody I know inthis in the in this generation,
they're they're going totherapists already, you know.
They're they're stressed out,anxiety ridden, um suicidal.
(08:46):
Not all of them, but I mean, I Iknow some.
I know some.
And it I never saw that growingup when uh we were just when we
were kids, we weren't stressedout and you know, uh full of
anxiety.
I mean, it was tough growing upin the teenage years.
What is it who it's when is itnot tough?
But these people, these kids,I'd be like, Wow, you're really
(09:10):
carrying some stuff around.
I guess that's because of theisolation, the gaming, the they
don't go outside and play,they're always by themselves.
And am I hitting that right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:22):
Or yeah, no, I think it's a good read.
And you know, I'd also say,like, I'm by no means I don't
consider myself to be an expert.
Um, even in Gen Alpha, like,yes, I get to talk about alpha
and Gen Z a lot, but I think ifyou just look at if there's a
book um called AnxiousGeneration, and it's not a it's
not a faith-based book, but it'skind of exploded on the scene,
(09:45):
and it really gets into um likeplay-based childhood and how
that's gone out the window sincethe 60s, and we've seen this,
and then with the introductionin I think it was 2009, and uh
don't get my dates wrong here,but the like the like button
once Facebook introduced thatchanged the landscape.
(10:06):
You see, it's insane how you seemental health issues skyrocket
once the like button wasintroduced to society.
SPEAKER_04 (10:16):
Um is that?
SPEAKER_01 (10:17):
Why would that be?
Say that again.
SPEAKER_04 (10:20):
Why would that be?
SPEAKER_01 (10:21):
Sure.
So you have the you havecomparison online, you've got
cyberbullying, you have uhconstantly checking your phone.
I mean, the dopamine hit thatyou get when you're checking.
I mean, I do it, I'm not evengonna lie.
Like, I'm on Instagram, and whenI post something, I'm like, why
did so and so not like that?
Like that deserved a comment,you know?
SPEAKER_03 (10:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:41):
Um, and so yeah, I mean, mental health, I was told
I as a youth pastor, so this iseven before, like, talking about
Gen Z or Gen Alpha was a bigdeal.
One of my trainings that I wouldshare with youth leaders is
like, hey, take everything achild says seriously, because
while it's not a big deal in thegrand scheme of their life,
(11:04):
middle schoolers commit suicideover a breakup.
And while you would go, oh, it'snot a big deal, like, get over
it.
You just broke up.
Well, if they're committingsuicide over it, then it's a big
deal.
So if it's a big deal to them,it should be a big deal to us.
Right.
I think there's two sides of thecoin here.
Like one, um, I think it's greatthat mental health is being
(11:26):
normal, like the conversationaround mental health is being
normalized.
So it's not taboo anymore.
Um, and I think that'simportant.
But then also, like you said,there's um there's a challenge,
right?
Because it's it's like, well,now everybody just is like, oh,
I'm depressed.
Oh, I'm anxious.
And it's like, are youclinically depressed?
Are you just like your parentsare putting pressure on you and
(11:48):
you feel like you know you'regoing through something hard?
And I think that's where thisawesome opportunity for caring
relationships, for parents, forcoaches, pastors, you know,
caring adults to lean into thoseconversations.
And we have to help young peoplerealize like we we get an
opportunity to help young peopleget stronger and more resilient.
(12:10):
But it comes through that warmthand those relationships where
we're willing to not pass themoff and not go like, oh, I was
never, we never, not everybodyhad rhythm when we were kids, or
not everybody is.
It's like, well, tough luck.
Like you didn't grow up withCOVID-19, you didn't grow up
locked in your room, you didn'tgrow up, you know, missing your
graduation because what at allthese you know restrictions,
(12:31):
like they're they're growing up,they didn't grow up like you
think about uh when you pull upyour algorithm on your phone,
like they're they're bombardedwith death on screens.
I mean, literally, you can seepeople dying.
Do you remember?
I mean, there was an there wasan era.
I remember when you would firstsee somebody like um we're
(12:52):
desensitized.
Like, I remember you'd first seesomebody dead, for example.
Like when you would see it, likeyou just didn't see that, like
an actual dead person on T likescreen.
That was just not a thing.
SPEAKER_04 (13:02):
Like, you would never think that would there was
a videotape going around backwhen I was growing up called
Faces of Death and Faces ofDeath 2.
And I never did see that.
Oh, I wasn't interested inseeing that, but man, the kids
were sure passing it around andtalking about it, you know.
It just seemed it just seemedtoo uh, I didn't want to deal
with it.
SPEAKER_01 (13:21):
Well, and so now that's normal, yeah.
Like you, it's it's if you pullup, you know, if you open
Instagram, you're gonna see deadchildren on the Gaza Strip, and
they're desensitized to that,but you can't say that's not
having an impact.
You're you are not meant to seethat, like we are not designed
to see that, and so as caringadults, like we feel this
(13:45):
disconnect because we see likewe grew up not as digital
natives.
Um, and instead of like uhbelittling or dismissing, or
well, back in my day, that justdoesn't work, like that doesn't
work for this because we gavethem the phones, first of all.
SPEAKER_04 (14:03):
Like we gave them um and so now we have the
responsibility of helping themnavigate life through that and
pornography and sex and all theall that stuff.
It's like uh it's just so easyto get to.
(14:25):
I mean, it's more than easy,it's just a push of a button and
away you go.
Yeah, the kids are seeing andand experiencing things that uh
would blow your mind, I guess.
I I I guess that shouldn't blowour minds, but it that's the
reality.
So so how do you how do youcombat that?
(14:46):
What's what are you guys doingto um what's the challenge
there?
So you know, we we're talkingabout gore, we're talking about
death, we're talking aboutsuicide, we're talking about
anxiety, stress, and and allthis stuff that they can they
have in their hip pocket.
I mean, they're carrying aroundall this stuff in their hip
pocket.
So how do you reach out to themthrough, you know, or or in or
(15:10):
around that?
Like what's the key here for youguys?
The challenge.
SPEAKER_01 (15:17):
That's a great question.
So our research and otherresearch has shown something
really important because youalways want to go, so like
what's influencing young people?
Uh, because if you know what theinfluencer is, then you can, you
know, the name of the game andanything is like how do you
influence the influencers,right?
Um and so if you were to askpeople like what's your who do
(15:40):
you think, what do you thinkinfluences teenagers most?
Probably everybody would go,well, it's that TikTok, you
know, or it's Instagram, youknow, like it would be social
media, it's their phones,they're on them all the time.
Yeah, they are.
They totally are on their phoneslike all the time.
Um, but the research has timeand time again shown something
(16:00):
that's fascinating.
It is not social media.
Um, and if you're like a pastoror a coach, sorry, it's not you
either that's the number oneinfluence, it's not their
friends that's the number oneinfluence, it's the family.
Like the family is the numberone influence in a child's life,
(16:23):
period.
Like I wouldn't I guess that no,no, by a landslide though, like
by a landslide, we asked, weasked, who do you go to when it
comes to making decisions on onright or wrong or on purpose and
through the roof, like I'mtalking like 80% it was the
family.
(16:43):
What's interesting though is ifyou look at the research as
well, when we connected withparents, we said, Hey, how
confident do you feel in yourinfluence in your child's life?
Only 50% of parents said theyfelt an abundance of confidence
of the influence they have intheir child's life.
(17:05):
So we have a disconnect here.
We have kids who are saying, Momand dad, or caring adult, like
you're who I'm looking to toguide me through this life.
Parents are going, only half ofthem feel like they have a
tremendous amount of influence.
So there's a gap here.
And so think about it like ifall parents do is demonize
(17:30):
technology, and that's wherewhere kids are spending the
majority of their time.
And then if they're not feelinglike they have confidence and
they're not going to lean intohard conversations, so then
where are they gonna go to getanswers?
They're gonna find answerssomewhere, right?
So, yeah, sure, social media,friends, etc.
(17:50):
And really what we're trying totell parents, and again, from a
faith perspective, it's clear inscripture that parents are are
the number one disciple maker.
But again, if you're not aChristian, even like as a
parent, you are the voice inyour child's life.
Like you, you are the one thatthrough all the eye rolls,
through the random fits, even atthe age of 15, like at the end
(18:12):
of the day, whether they evenadmit it or not, you're the one
that they're looking to.
And so just to encourage you asa parent, even you you like I
get it.
Like, what is, I mean, Scott, Ithink you said skibbity the
earlier today, or something likethat.
Or like, what does six seveneven mean?
Who knows?
Um, don't try to be trendy withyour child, but just try to be
(18:36):
present.
Like being present is the win.
Like, that is the name of thegame if you want to make an
impact on your child's life.
SPEAKER_04 (18:44):
That's I said that at uh at work the other day.
I I I use those those slangterms just to uh be cringe
worthy with my colleagues atwork and something like it.
So the meeting's gonna start atat 4:30, and we'll be talking
about uh this and that six sixseven.
And one of the one lady said,Did you just say six seven?
SPEAKER_03 (19:05):
I said, Yeah, she goes, How do you know about
that?
SPEAKER_04 (19:07):
And I was like, Man, I'm hip, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
I I gotta leave it.
I I did that on a um, I wasleading like a a class of like
third through fifth graders atchurch the other day, and um we
were talking about like ascripture or something, and I
was like, Yeah, something likesix seven, you know, and the
kid, this little kid looked atme like I was the coolest dude
on the planet.
I was like, I'm in, I'm in.
SPEAKER_04 (19:32):
So uh can you share a story or an example of uh what
you guys are doing and that hashad a positive impact on a
person or a group of kids?
Are you seeing results with whatyou're doing uh for these youth
pastors who are reaching out tothe kids?
SPEAKER_01 (19:55):
Sure, yeah.
Well, one I would just say thatlike what we do is not a mental
health outreach, you know what Imean?
Like it's that's not the the soagain, our research shows that
if a this is this is crazy.
Uh when we looked at Gen Z andwe saw the percentage of young
(20:20):
people dealing with anxiety,depression, suicide,
suicidality, like all of thosethings, um we saw that if a
young person prayed and readtheir Bible like on their own
once a week, if they did that,the correlation of depression,
(20:45):
suicidality, anxiety, um for Ithink for all of them, Scott,
like more than cut in half, likeliterally cut in half.
So, so what I tell youth pastorsis I'm like, if if you can just
get your child, like yourstudents, doing what a Christian
(21:06):
says they do, because most ofthem don't, like the numbers
prove out too, that people saythey're Christian, but they
don't spend time in prayer, theydon't spend time reading their
Bible.
Again, even if you're not aChristian, you probably think
that Christians pray and readtheir Bible.
Like, you know what I mean?
Like if you're gonna be a Biblethumper if you believe in Jesus.
Like, okay, but the research isshowing that they don't do that,
like a lot of them don't.
(21:26):
So we say, hey, we show thenumbers that show people who
identify as Christian, peoplewho are committed Christians,
and then people who are what wewould call a religious nun, like
a non-believer.
So Christians who don't do thosethings, like those practices,
but say they're Christian andnon-believers, their anxiety,
(21:47):
depression, suicidality is thesame.
Like it's the same.
But Christians who did spendtime in prayer and spent time
reading their Bible, the numberscut in half on mental health.
If that doesn't sell Jesus, Idon't know what like you know,
like I don't care.
You know, I just let the numbersspeak for themselves.
(22:09):
So let me get back to it.
Well, again, I told you at thebeginning, our mission is if we
can get people like we wantyoung people to engage in
scripture.
So our resources help youngpeople have open and honest
conversations around the word ofGod and meaningful scripture
engagement.
So, like, not just verse of theday, uh, you know, just like a
little quick topical thing.
(22:30):
Like, we want you to dig intoscripture, we want you to
wrestle with hard questions.
Like, we want youth pastors andyouth leaders to be willing to
have uncomfortable conversationswith their students about their
faith, because if we don't havethem in the church, then they're
gonna have them somewhere else.
And another place is gonna buildthe narrative.
And so we're seeing youthpastors say, man, this has
(22:52):
changed our youth ministrybecause no longer are we spoon
feeding them.
Um, I'll say one last thing.
The reason we even created whatwe created was because the
research was showing that like75% of young people left the
church after they graduated highschool.
Well, that wasn't sitting wellwith us.
And we dug in, we realized,well, what's the what's the
(23:12):
issue here?
It came down to a lack ofbiblical literacy.
Like people don't understand,like they don't know the word of
God, they don't know the Bible.
Okay, so if you're looking at agiant to slay or a mountain to
climb, let's figure out how toget young people engaging in
scripture.
And not to oversimplify acomplex issue, but that's kind
(23:34):
of the win for us is if we cansee scripture scripture, young
people engaging in scripture.
SPEAKER_04 (23:39):
It takes a lot of courage for a youth minister to
get uh I'm gonna call them kidsuh in a circle and have tough
conversations, embarrassingconversations.
I guess there's a time and aplace for everything, but you
(23:59):
know, you talk about uh talkabout the hard uh it's not just
about Dave and Goliath, youknow, but they're these kids are
dealing with uh a lot of uh alot of things.
Um what am I trying to say here?
How do you you talk about howyou want the kids to, you know,
(24:21):
you said getting into the I'mhaving a hard time coming up
with how to say this.
You're um like hot topics, likeyeah, and you know, and when I
was when I was growing up,because that's all I can compare
to, uh that wasn't we didn't wedidn't get into things.
(24:42):
We just we just we just uh oldtestament stories and tried to
do better that week, you know,and sit in a hard cold brown
metal chair, and uh you know,but now uh there's there's real
things that we probably shouldhave been talking about then and
we need to be talking about itnow, and and and even guys our
(25:02):
age need to be talking about it,it's not just reserved for the
gen alphas.
I mean we need to be talkingabout this kind of stuff, and
we're not, we're not.
So I'm glad that you guys arereaching out to the gen alpha
crowd, you know, to help themmentally uh mentally and
spiritually, which will helpthem mentally.
(25:24):
But this same approach, itseems, is also important for the
older generation because theyhave a real hard time talking
about this kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (25:36):
Yep.
Well, okay, so what's cool iswith Gen Z, we found that they
are publishers, like they'republishers.
So think about it again, theycan reach the entire planet from
their phone immediately, andthey can go viral, they can get
rich, they can have like theycan do it all from their phone.
Like a kid could start his ownor her own YouTube channel of
(26:00):
unboxing, you know, whatever,and become a millionaire.
Think Ryan's world, if you'veever seen the world, I mean, are
you kidding me?
It's amazing, it's crazy.
Yeah, okay.
So think about that.
Um, they're they're going to,they're the most cause-oriented
generation, like Gen Z.
They they want to like get inthe fight, they want to
(26:20):
champion, you know, they want tolike whether if they see an
injustice, they're not gonnawait for the church to speak up
about it.
Like, because again, they are souh everything is so accessible
and in and in their face.
I think that there used to be, Ithink with with uh back in the
day, the the pastor or theleader was kind of the the
(26:43):
holder of all knowledge, youknow.
Like you were kind of yourGandalf, yeah, you're the
gatekeeper, right?
Um, and it's just not the caseanymore.
So, what it's requiring too isour youth pastors actually need
to know what they're talkingabout.
Like a lot of youth pastors,including myself, I was like
full of crap when I startedbeing a youth pastor.
Like, I didn't answer the hardquestions.
SPEAKER_04 (27:04):
Gotta start somewhere.
SPEAKER_01 (27:06):
The demand now is increasing because seriously,
Scott, like uh I'll give you anexample.
Like, my six-year-old son islearning basic coding because he
plays Minecraft, like he'slearning how to like punch in
little codes.
I'm like, that's coding.
They can become experts on nichesubjects at an early age.
(27:30):
So even theology, like if ayoung person gets hungry for
God, they're not gonna wait forPastor So-and-so to if if you
won't answer the questionsagain, they're gonna go find
them somewhere.
So, culture is having aconversation, like so, take
gender identity, for example,like that's a cultural
(27:50):
conversation, and there arethere's there's things that are
normalized in culture, and Iwon't get into like views and
stuff, but there's things thatare normalized in culture that
the church was maybeuncomfortable to you know
talking about back in the day,that because of how present it
is on social media, you don'thave a choice as a ministry
(28:17):
leader on whether you're goingto talk about X, Y, and Z
anymore.
And if you don't, also like Imean, take like Charlie Kirk,
for example.
What happened with Charlie Kirk?
I mean, Scott, you saw like ifchurches didn't like it's such a
hostile and polarizing uhculture right now that it's like
(28:39):
you the the demand to like speakto or have answers.
Now, again, if you're a pastor,I would encourage you don't just
like bow to pressure all thetime, like actually have a
conviction.
Um, but there's a there's like adifferent demand now to be able
to help people navigate culturethrough a biblical lens.
Like that's the demand uh onleadership now is like I need to
(29:03):
help you navigate this culture.
So instead of it's I've got myBible here, but instead of like
when you read the Bible readingit through the lens of culture,
like your phone, we need to helpyoung people see culture through
the lens of scripture.
And that's when you're becoming,when you're becoming biblically
literate, what we would say islike, no, I am like I believe
(29:24):
that this is truth, I believeit's real.
Uh, and if I'm crazy for that,that's fine.
Um, but like if if I see theworld through the lens of
scripture, then we're kicking,like things are good.
But if I start seeing the worldthrough the lens of what I see
on my algorithm, it's game over.
SPEAKER_04 (29:43):
Wow.
So cool.
What uh you know, looking ahead,what gives you hope about the
next generation of faith andspiritual potential?
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
Much um, and I'm glad you asked that question
because I want to be reallyclear.
Uh, that's the only lens I doview them through, um, is a
hopeful one.
Like, I am so fired up thatagain, a 12-year-old, I think so
many of us are like, keep themaway from screens.
(30:23):
Yes, I get it and I agree, butat the same time, like they're
going to be like they're gonnaget there.
So, how about if we that's sucha lazy argument?
It is like it is.
So, I'm going, like, what ifinstead of like trying to play
catch up to this wave, we gotahead of it and teach them how
to leverage their platform forGod.
(30:46):
They can, I said it a secondago, they can be on the other
side of the planet.
Scott, our our organization isreaching millions of young
people online in hostile regionswhere you could literally be
killed for your faith.
And we have people connectingwith missionaries online and
having their lives foreverchanged.
And I'm like, I'm, you know,Scott, I took I took Matt on
(31:08):
mission trips.
I'm a very like go all over theworld kind of a guy.
You can go on a mission trip onyour phone, like you can
literally be on the other sideof the planet.
And I think that um like theopportunity for uh like they're
like one of the one of thethings I call gen alpha is like
the you do you generation.
(31:28):
Um, so like they're it'sdangerous and awesome all at the
same time.
Like they're very open to justanything, like you do you.
Like if you want to be aChristian, cool.
If I want to be this, cool.
SPEAKER_03 (31:38):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
Like, so there's this, they have this capability
of building bridges that maybeother generations didn't.
And so like I'm just excited tosee uh a gospel-centric group of
young people, what they can dowith their faith.
SPEAKER_04 (31:53):
Yeah, it's cool.
And and and and so like thispodcast here today, this
episode, it could go, it can goanywhere.
And uh hopefully, hopefullyit'll, you know, people will see
it and listen.
And so, based on that, my nextquestion, probably one one of my
last questions here.
I don't know what are we are youare you doing good on time here?
(32:13):
Okay, uh, if you could give onepiece of advice to someone
trying to connect with a genalpha individual uh about faith
or whatever, what would it be?
If I want to reach out to a gengen alpha type person, yeah,
that's a great question.
Connect a 60-year-old guy.
SPEAKER_01 (32:34):
Yeah, I think it would, I think uh the truth is
it would be I make sometimes Imake fun of research because
like if you read researchreports, it'll be like 85% of
gen alpha they crave warm andhealthy relationships.
I'm like, did boomers not likelike they all like I think
(32:58):
sometimes we can be like, ooh,they're like this little freak
that we gotta crack the codewith.
And I think at the end of theday, what we're probably
learning is uh and again is isto approach relationships with
humility.
Um, and so be a student, likethere's a like instead of having
(33:19):
your claws out and trying tolook like you know all the
answers because you're older,they very well could and
probably do know more than youabout a subject.
Yeah, their BS meter is finelytuned, very finely, and they can
chat GPT anything, and and likelike they're smart.
(33:40):
Um, what they need from you isyour warmth and your care.
Like, I'm I'm telling you, like,uh, like Scott, take this in the
best way.
Yeah, uh like how do I say this?
I need like what gave you yourgray hairs.
I like I can't get what whatlike what your gray hairs got
(34:01):
you to, I can't get on Google, Ican't get on TikTok.
There's something that you have,Scott, in your marriage, in how
you raised Matt, and how you,you know, all of those things
that like I need that from you.
Like, I can't get that fromanybody else.
Like, there's something thatScott Townsend has.
And so, like, um like the likeso it's so it's staying
(34:25):
approachable, like keeping abridge to just go, like, oh my
gosh, you know, like I want tolearn from you.
I think a teachable mindset, andthen just like I care about you
and I want you to know that, andthe door's always open, um, goes
a long way.
SPEAKER_04 (34:40):
That's great.
Uh you know, listen listeningwas always a good thing.
Listening's always been a goodpractice, I think.
And that's one of the reasonswhy I like doing a podcast is
because I get to ask questionsand just sit back and listen.
Uh but the other thing too is uhwhether you were born in 1950 or
(35:01):
2020, uh having someone that'lllisten to you it's never
changed.
It's you know, are we listeningto each other?
Are we just talking about ateach other?
And are we trying to find outwhat's critical with the kids
these days?
It's different because I didn'tgrow up with I grew up listening
to vinyl records, you know, andmaking cassette tapes.
(35:25):
I would interview my brothers onmy dad's bell and how old tape
recorder.
And uh, you know, and then wewent through VHS and laser
discs.
I mean, I've been through a lotof technology, and these kids I
can't even imagine if they grewup with a cell phone.
Uh, when they get 40, 50 yearsold, my gosh, what's it gonna be
(35:46):
like for them, you know, becauseeverything's moving so much
faster.
It always does.
SPEAKER_01 (35:52):
But uh no, it it's uh you know, like I'm parenting
two alphas, you know, and eventhe difference in my daughter
and my son, 11-year-old andsix-year-old, um, is so like
right now in school, they readto an AI person on their
(36:17):
computers during the day.
That's how they do reading.
And the the AI bot willliterally say, like, oh, can you
slow down just a little bit?
Like, talk to them just like ahuman, and they're graded by AI.
And it's like, what the heck?
You know, like it's just um thatis the world they're growing up
(36:38):
in.
And just like anybody, I mean, Iremember I always tell people,
um, like even to tell on myselfwhen the iPhone first came out
in whatever was it 2005, 2006,something like that.
SPEAKER_04 (36:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:51):
Um, I remember being like, that's so stupid.
I have an iPod and I really wantthe black jack.
Like it was another phone.
I want the blackjack.
And people are like, dude, theiPhone's gonna be the thing.
I was like, that's stupid.
I don't need an iPhone, and therest is history, right?
Uh like and and and I think I Ijust more and more want to be um
on the side of the coin that'slike uh I always want to have a
(37:15):
voice in the next generation.
And there's been older people inmy life who only wanted to prove
they knew more than me, andthey're not a voice in my life.
Um, I was just like, cool,you're too smart for me.
You're too like you always haveto like show that you're uh you
know.
I'm like this generation, justthat doesn't fly, like it's just
(37:38):
like cool, then I just won'ttalk to you and I will okay
boomer you.
Like, yeah, that's where youare.
Um and I just again would justencourage any caring adult is
like just be a caring adult andlet them know that you are.
SPEAKER_04 (37:54):
Well, Sam, it's been a great time visiting with you
about uh this is reallyimportant and to me very
interesting.
I'm sure everyone listening,watching will find it
interesting as well.
Yeah, so yeah, I like it.
SPEAKER_01 (38:07):
All right, Scott, thanks for having me on, man.
It means the world, and uh yeah,thanks a lot.
SPEAKER_04 (38:11):
If anybody wanted more information on your
organization, one hope, uh,where would they go?
SPEAKER_01 (38:17):
Onehope.net or follow us on Instagram too.
SPEAKER_04 (38:21):
Okay.
If anybody has any questions,can they reach out to you or do
they where do they go toabsolutely reach right out to me
and Scott?
SPEAKER_01 (38:28):
I can share any of my email or anything like that
with you or Instagram is finetoo.
SPEAKER_04 (38:33):
Yeah, okay.
I'll put those in the I'll putthose links in the show notes uh
below.
So anyway, all right, Sam.
Well, have a great day.
It was a lot of fun.
We need to do this againsometime.
SPEAKER_01 (38:45):
Thanks, Scott.
It was fun to be on.
SPEAKER_04 (38:47):
So for Sam McCullough, this is Scott
Townsend.
Thanks for watching, listeningto the Scott Townsend show.
Have a great day.
Everything's gonna be all right,and we'll talk to you later.
SPEAKER_00 (38:58):
The Scott Townsend Show is a D So Man production.
For more episodes, visit theScott Townsend Show YouTube
channel, listen on ApplePodcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show, brought to you by
Beatso Man Productions.
SPEAKER_04 (00:09):
Uh I paused it and uh You're fine.
SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
I was wondering, I was like, are you recording on
something else?
Like I didn't know where it wascoming from.
SPEAKER_04 (00:19):
I did a whole in.
I've mentioned this many timesbefore.
I interviewed a guy who I wasreally excited to interview, and
we got through the entireinterview, and I realized I
hadn't hit the record button.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
That's brutal.
SPEAKER_04 (00:33):
Oh, that's brutal.
That's that's oh god.
Anyway, he was super nice.
He was like, Yeah, let's do itagain, you know.
So the next day we did it again,and those are great.
But anyway, I've been therebefore.
Yeah, so you know, uh, lifehappens, but anyway, so you
know, I'm I'm glad you're on theshow now, and I'm glad we're
recording.
And uh you've the reason why Iwanted to have you on the show
(00:56):
is because uh we've known eachother for a long time, and uh I
know that you've uh beeninvolved with uh youth ministry
for a long time, and I thinkthis uh this new phase that
you're in.
Uh I I'm curious.
I'm curious about uh this newnext generation kind of a thing.
(01:22):
You know, we all we like tolabel people.
I'm I'm with the baby, I'm thetail end of the baby boomers,
you know.
There's Gen Z and Gen X and blahblah blah.
And so now we're talking aboutuh Gen Alpha.
Okay, so what's Gen Alpha, youknow, and what's that all about?
(01:42):
And you're right in the middleof it.
I mean, if anybody knows or canspeak to the Gen Alpha uh group
uh of kids, and I guess I cancall them kids.
Um it would be you.
So I'm uh I'm I'm glad you'rehere to share what is Gen Alpha,
(02:05):
and first of all, firstquestion, what did you have for
breakfast this morning?
SPEAKER_01 (02:10):
I had something from from good old no gummies.
I think you have to clarify whatwhat people do when you say
gummies now.
Um uh just to be clear, this isalways by my side, okay?
These are always by my side,yeah.
Um there's no better gummy bear.
SPEAKER_04 (02:25):
Um gold, was that haribo?
Yeah, the the for thoselistening and can't see it.
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Gold bears.
There's no uh there's no THC inthese.
Um, so they're but they do putme in a great mood because I
love candy.
Um, so yeah, I for breakfast Iactually had what's called a uh
a sausage pocket from the oneand only Pops Daylight Donuts.
SPEAKER_04 (02:50):
Oh yeah, those are good.
SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
So that's a frequent go-to for me.
SPEAKER_04 (02:54):
Yeah, awesome, very healthy, very healthy.
SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
Gummy bears and sausage pockets.
SPEAKER_04 (02:58):
So yeah, yeah.
You know, so good.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
So good.
SPEAKER_04 (03:01):
So yeah, uh, like I said, uh we've known each other
for a long time.
You you uh as far as I know,you've been in youth ministry uh
for as long as I've known you,and you've always done a really
great job with that.
Seems like uh that's your that'syour niche.
Um am I right there?
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Is yeah, no, that's I one, I appreciate that.
Um, I was actually I think I wasI was Matt's youth pastor for a
little while, your son, which iscrazy.
Um and uh yeah, I've been I'vebeen in youth ministry in some
form or fashion uh since about2007.
Um was a youth pastor for abouta for about a decade, um, which
(03:41):
in youth pastor terms is kind oflike dog years.
Uh was you know, a lot of youthpastors aren't in the game for
longer than some people aresaying nine months.
There's all these differentstats out there, but I did it
for a while.
Uh and had the had theopportunity to see a lot of
different waves and cycles.
Uh in this current season, uh, Ireally I get an opportunity to
(04:02):
serve uh serve next gen pastors.
And so whether they're kids'pastors or youth pastors, um our
organization has a globalfootprint and I'm focused on
North America.
And so uh I kind of kind of jokethat my my job is to be a pastor
to pastors right now, and so Ilove what I get to do.
SPEAKER_04 (04:19):
So you're reaching out to uh uh youth pastors and
trying to help them in reachingout to this.
This uh it's not a newgeneration, it's it's uh it's
been around since 2000.
These kids have been around, Iguess it started in 2000.
Their generation starts in 2017,is that it, or something like
(04:42):
that?
SPEAKER_01 (04:42):
So there's a lot of different viewpoints on it.
Um, we say 2010 to 2024.
SPEAKER_03 (04:48):
Okay.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (04:51):
But uh yeah, yeah.
So our organization is a uh ifyou boil it down, we're a
scripture engagementorganization.
So we're all about seeing uh theBible, God's word, all over the
world.
Uh and we do that in variousdifferent ways, whether it's
through print, uh, digital,film, you name it,
contextualized scripture,wherever people are at, all over
(05:13):
the globe.
And so uh in North America, wehave several different resources
um available for the church, andwe do it for free.
Uh, it's really like our win isto see, and you know, again,
obviously I'm coming from afaith perspective, but to see uh
young people fall in love withthe God of the Bible.
And um, we really believe thatlike scripture is the number
(05:36):
one, uh we would say,discipleship resource.
Like, so if young people canknow and understand God's word,
I mean we're we're no stranger,whether you're a Christian or
not, our world has gotten umincreasingly more complex, and
then others could say crazy.
Uh depends on depends on yourview.
SPEAKER_04 (05:55):
And so we see scripture either works, yeah,
yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:59):
So scripture gives um students and young people a
true north in their life.
So that's kind of where we'reat.
SPEAKER_04 (06:06):
Uh paint if you were to paint a picture of a alpha
gen alpha person in general, astereotype.
Uh what's what yeah, that's agreat question.
SPEAKER_01 (06:21):
I mean, there's so many different ways you could
you could um characterize it,right?
Like nobody likes to bepigeonholed, but but some facts.
Um one, you could say this isthe first truly digital native
generation.
Like they have they have grownup in the digital world.
So like, you know, people callthem you know, iPad babies,
(06:44):
whatever you want to call them.
Like they have grown up, sothey've grown up through COVID.
Um, so so think about it,they've grown up uh in pivotal
years of their life inisolation.
Like they've grown up, you know,being handed tablets, being
handed uh phones, screens, youname it.
Uh so they're very digitallynative.
Also, first generation to uh belike throw AI in there.
(07:06):
So artificial intelligence,Scott.
You and I, um, when I think AI,I still see Terminator 2, you
know, the metal skeleton robotcrushing skulls with a laser
gun, just like, you know, hashas like become self-aware.
Um what's the Will Smith movie?
Um I Am Legend.
SPEAKER_04 (07:28):
Uh is it I Am Legend?
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
No.
Uh oh man, I'm I'm I'm drawing ablank.
But there's that robot movie,you know, where the robots go
crazy.
And I think that's like what ourgeneration sees.
Uh but Gen Alpha, they actuallylike they trust AI.
So so they've grown up.
You and I'm subtle.
Yeah, you and I have allowed AIinto our homes with Siri, with
(07:54):
Alexa's, you name it.
So they have this like where wewould go, oh, I need to like go
to the weather app to check theweather.
They intuitively jump on Alexaand just say, Alexa, what's the
weather like today?
You know, and there's thistrust, there's not this like
AI's watching me.
Like, they are truly digitalnatives.
So I would say that's a reallybig uh very important indicator
(08:18):
of Gen Alpha.
SPEAKER_04 (08:20):
There's a because of the isolation, it seems like uh
mental health for the Gen Alphais uh critical, or they're
having some troubles there.
Seems like they're all stressedout.
Seems like everybody I know inthis in the in this generation,
they're they're going totherapists already, you know.
They're they're stressed out,anxiety ridden, um suicidal.
(08:46):
Not all of them, but I mean, I Iknow some.
I know some.
And it I never saw that growingup when uh we were just when we
were kids, we weren't stressedout and you know, uh full of
anxiety.
I mean, it was tough growing upin the teenage years.
What is it who it's when is itnot tough?
But these people, these kids,I'd be like, Wow, you're really
(09:10):
carrying some stuff around.
I guess that's because of theisolation, the gaming, the they
don't go outside and play,they're always by themselves.
And am I hitting that right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:22):
Or yeah, no, I think it's a good read.
And you know, I'd also say,like, I'm by no means I don't
consider myself to be an expert.
Um, even in Gen Alpha, like,yes, I get to talk about alpha
and Gen Z a lot, but I think ifyou just look at if there's a
book um called AnxiousGeneration, and it's not a it's
not a faith-based book, but it'skind of exploded on the scene,
(09:45):
and it really gets into um likeplay-based childhood and how
that's gone out the window sincethe 60s, and we've seen this,
and then with the introductionin I think it was 2009, and uh
don't get my dates wrong here,but the like the like button
once Facebook introduced thatchanged the landscape.
(10:06):
You see, it's insane how you seemental health issues skyrocket
once the like button wasintroduced to society.
SPEAKER_04 (10:16):
Um is that?
SPEAKER_01 (10:17):
Why would that be?
Say that again.
SPEAKER_04 (10:20):
Why would that be?
SPEAKER_01 (10:21):
Sure.
So you have the you havecomparison online, you've got
cyberbullying, you have uhconstantly checking your phone.
I mean, the dopamine hit thatyou get when you're checking.
I mean, I do it, I'm not evengonna lie.
Like, I'm on Instagram, and whenI post something, I'm like, why
did so and so not like that?
Like that deserved a comment,you know?
SPEAKER_03 (10:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:41):
Um, and so yeah, I mean, mental health, I was told
I as a youth pastor, so this iseven before, like, talking about
Gen Z or Gen Alpha was a bigdeal.
One of my trainings that I wouldshare with youth leaders is
like, hey, take everything achild says seriously, because
while it's not a big deal in thegrand scheme of their life,
(11:04):
middle schoolers commit suicideover a breakup.
And while you would go, oh, it'snot a big deal, like, get over
it.
You just broke up.
Well, if they're committingsuicide over it, then it's a big
deal.
So if it's a big deal to them,it should be a big deal to us.
Right.
I think there's two sides of thecoin here.
Like one, um, I think it's greatthat mental health is being
(11:26):
normal, like the conversationaround mental health is being
normalized.
So it's not taboo anymore.
Um, and I think that'simportant.
But then also, like you said,there's um there's a challenge,
right?
Because it's it's like, well,now everybody just is like, oh,
I'm depressed.
Oh, I'm anxious.
And it's like, are youclinically depressed?
Are you just like your parentsare putting pressure on you and
(11:48):
you feel like you know you'regoing through something hard?
And I think that's where thisawesome opportunity for caring
relationships, for parents, forcoaches, pastors, you know,
caring adults to lean into thoseconversations.
And we have to help young peoplerealize like we we get an
opportunity to help young peopleget stronger and more resilient.
(12:10):
But it comes through that warmthand those relationships where
we're willing to not pass themoff and not go like, oh, I was
never, we never, not everybodyhad rhythm when we were kids, or
not everybody is.
It's like, well, tough luck.
Like you didn't grow up withCOVID-19, you didn't grow up
locked in your room, you didn'tgrow up, you know, missing your
graduation because what at allthese you know restrictions,
(12:31):
like they're they're growing up,they didn't grow up like you
think about uh when you pull upyour algorithm on your phone,
like they're they're bombardedwith death on screens.
I mean, literally, you can seepeople dying.
Do you remember?
I mean, there was an there wasan era.
I remember when you would firstsee somebody like um we're
(12:52):
desensitized.
Like, I remember you'd first seesomebody dead, for example.
Like when you would see it, likeyou just didn't see that, like
an actual dead person on T likescreen.
That was just not a thing.
SPEAKER_04 (13:02):
Like, you would never think that would there was
a videotape going around backwhen I was growing up called
Faces of Death and Faces ofDeath 2.
And I never did see that.
Oh, I wasn't interested inseeing that, but man, the kids
were sure passing it around andtalking about it, you know.
It just seemed it just seemedtoo uh, I didn't want to deal
with it.
SPEAKER_01 (13:21):
Well, and so now that's normal, yeah.
Like you, it's it's if you pullup, you know, if you open
Instagram, you're gonna see deadchildren on the Gaza Strip, and
they're desensitized to that,but you can't say that's not
having an impact.
You're you are not meant to seethat, like we are not designed
to see that, and so as caringadults, like we feel this
(13:45):
disconnect because we see likewe grew up not as digital
natives.
Um, and instead of like uhbelittling or dismissing, or
well, back in my day, that justdoesn't work, like that doesn't
work for this because we gavethem the phones, first of all.
SPEAKER_04 (14:03):
Like we gave them um and so now we have the
responsibility of helping themnavigate life through that and
pornography and sex and all theall that stuff.
It's like uh it's just so easyto get to.
(14:25):
I mean, it's more than easy,it's just a push of a button and
away you go.
Yeah, the kids are seeing andand experiencing things that uh
would blow your mind, I guess.
I I I guess that shouldn't blowour minds, but it that's the
reality.
So so how do you how do youcombat that?
(14:46):
What's what are you guys doingto um what's the challenge
there?
So you know, we we're talkingabout gore, we're talking about
death, we're talking aboutsuicide, we're talking about
anxiety, stress, and and allthis stuff that they can they
have in their hip pocket.
I mean, they're carrying aroundall this stuff in their hip
pocket.
So how do you reach out to themthrough, you know, or or in or
(15:10):
around that?
Like what's the key here for youguys?
The challenge.
SPEAKER_01 (15:17):
That's a great question.
So our research and otherresearch has shown something
really important because youalways want to go, so like
what's influencing young people?
Uh, because if you know what theinfluencer is, then you can, you
know, the name of the game andanything is like how do you
influence the influencers,right?
Um and so if you were to askpeople like what's your who do
(15:40):
you think, what do you thinkinfluences teenagers most?
Probably everybody would go,well, it's that TikTok, you
know, or it's Instagram, youknow, like it would be social
media, it's their phones,they're on them all the time.
Yeah, they are.
They totally are on their phoneslike all the time.
Um, but the research has timeand time again shown something
(16:00):
that's fascinating.
It is not social media.
Um, and if you're like a pastoror a coach, sorry, it's not you
either that's the number oneinfluence, it's not their
friends that's the number oneinfluence, it's the family.
Like the family is the numberone influence in a child's life,
(16:23):
period.
Like I wouldn't I guess that no,no, by a landslide though, like
by a landslide, we asked, weasked, who do you go to when it
comes to making decisions on onright or wrong or on purpose and
through the roof, like I'mtalking like 80% it was the
family.
(16:43):
What's interesting though is ifyou look at the research as
well, when we connected withparents, we said, Hey, how
confident do you feel in yourinfluence in your child's life?
Only 50% of parents said theyfelt an abundance of confidence
of the influence they have intheir child's life.
(17:05):
So we have a disconnect here.
We have kids who are saying, Momand dad, or caring adult, like
you're who I'm looking to toguide me through this life.
Parents are going, only half ofthem feel like they have a
tremendous amount of influence.
So there's a gap here.
And so think about it like ifall parents do is demonize
(17:30):
technology, and that's wherewhere kids are spending the
majority of their time.
And then if they're not feelinglike they have confidence and
they're not going to lean intohard conversations, so then
where are they gonna go to getanswers?
They're gonna find answerssomewhere, right?
So, yeah, sure, social media,friends, etc.
(17:50):
And really what we're trying totell parents, and again, from a
faith perspective, it's clear inscripture that parents are are
the number one disciple maker.
But again, if you're not aChristian, even like as a
parent, you are the voice inyour child's life.
Like you, you are the one thatthrough all the eye rolls,
through the random fits, even atthe age of 15, like at the end
(18:12):
of the day, whether they evenadmit it or not, you're the one
that they're looking to.
And so just to encourage you asa parent, even you you like I
get it.
Like, what is, I mean, Scott, Ithink you said skibbity the
earlier today, or something likethat.
Or like, what does six seveneven mean?
Who knows?
Um, don't try to be trendy withyour child, but just try to be
(18:36):
present.
Like being present is the win.
Like, that is the name of thegame if you want to make an
impact on your child's life.
SPEAKER_04 (18:44):
That's I said that at uh at work the other day.
I I I use those those slangterms just to uh be cringe
worthy with my colleagues atwork and something like it.
So the meeting's gonna start atat 4:30, and we'll be talking
about uh this and that six sixseven.
And one of the one lady said,Did you just say six seven?
SPEAKER_03 (19:05):
I said, Yeah, she goes, How do you know about
that?
SPEAKER_04 (19:07):
And I was like, Man, I'm hip, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
I I gotta leave it.
I I did that on a um, I wasleading like a a class of like
third through fifth graders atchurch the other day, and um we
were talking about like ascripture or something, and I
was like, Yeah, something likesix seven, you know, and the
kid, this little kid looked atme like I was the coolest dude
on the planet.
I was like, I'm in, I'm in.
SPEAKER_04 (19:32):
So uh can you share a story or an example of uh what
you guys are doing and that hashad a positive impact on a
person or a group of kids?
Are you seeing results with whatyou're doing uh for these youth
pastors who are reaching out tothe kids?
SPEAKER_01 (19:55):
Sure, yeah.
Well, one I would just say thatlike what we do is not a mental
health outreach, you know what Imean?
Like it's that's not the the soagain, our research shows that
if a this is this is crazy.
Uh when we looked at Gen Z andwe saw the percentage of young
(20:20):
people dealing with anxiety,depression, suicide,
suicidality, like all of thosethings, um we saw that if a
young person prayed and readtheir Bible like on their own
once a week, if they did that,the correlation of depression,
(20:45):
suicidality, anxiety, um for Ithink for all of them, Scott,
like more than cut in half, likeliterally cut in half.
So, so what I tell youth pastorsis I'm like, if if you can just
get your child, like yourstudents, doing what a Christian
(21:06):
says they do, because most ofthem don't, like the numbers
prove out too, that people saythey're Christian, but they
don't spend time in prayer, theydon't spend time reading their
Bible.
Again, even if you're not aChristian, you probably think
that Christians pray and readtheir Bible.
Like, you know what I mean?
Like if you're gonna be a Biblethumper if you believe in Jesus.
Like, okay, but the research isshowing that they don't do that,
like a lot of them don't.
(21:26):
So we say, hey, we show thenumbers that show people who
identify as Christian, peoplewho are committed Christians,
and then people who are what wewould call a religious nun, like
a non-believer.
So Christians who don't do thosethings, like those practices,
but say they're Christian andnon-believers, their anxiety,
(21:47):
depression, suicidality is thesame.
Like it's the same.
But Christians who did spendtime in prayer and spent time
reading their Bible, the numberscut in half on mental health.
If that doesn't sell Jesus, Idon't know what like you know,
like I don't care.
You know, I just let the numbersspeak for themselves.
(22:09):
So let me get back to it.
Well, again, I told you at thebeginning, our mission is if we
can get people like we wantyoung people to engage in
scripture.
So our resources help youngpeople have open and honest
conversations around the word ofGod and meaningful scripture
engagement.
So, like, not just verse of theday, uh, you know, just like a
little quick topical thing.
(22:30):
Like, we want you to dig intoscripture, we want you to
wrestle with hard questions.
Like, we want youth pastors andyouth leaders to be willing to
have uncomfortable conversationswith their students about their
faith, because if we don't havethem in the church, then they're
gonna have them somewhere else.
And another place is gonna buildthe narrative.
And so we're seeing youthpastors say, man, this has
(22:52):
changed our youth ministrybecause no longer are we spoon
feeding them.
Um, I'll say one last thing.
The reason we even created whatwe created was because the
research was showing that like75% of young people left the
church after they graduated highschool.
Well, that wasn't sitting wellwith us.
And we dug in, we realized,well, what's the what's the
(23:12):
issue here?
It came down to a lack ofbiblical literacy.
Like people don't understand,like they don't know the word of
God, they don't know the Bible.
Okay, so if you're looking at agiant to slay or a mountain to
climb, let's figure out how toget young people engaging in
scripture.
And not to oversimplify acomplex issue, but that's kind
(23:34):
of the win for us is if we cansee scripture scripture, young
people engaging in scripture.
SPEAKER_04 (23:39):
It takes a lot of courage for a youth minister to
get uh I'm gonna call them kidsuh in a circle and have tough
conversations, embarrassingconversations.
I guess there's a time and aplace for everything, but you
(23:59):
know, you talk about uh talkabout the hard uh it's not just
about Dave and Goliath, youknow, but they're these kids are
dealing with uh a lot of uh alot of things.
Um what am I trying to say here?
How do you you talk about howyou want the kids to, you know,
(24:21):
you said getting into the I'mhaving a hard time coming up
with how to say this.
You're um like hot topics, likeyeah, and you know, and when I
was when I was growing up,because that's all I can compare
to, uh that wasn't we didn't wedidn't get into things.
(24:42):
We just we just we just uh oldtestament stories and tried to
do better that week, you know,and sit in a hard cold brown
metal chair, and uh you know,but now uh there's there's real
things that we probably shouldhave been talking about then and
we need to be talking about itnow, and and and even guys our
(25:02):
age need to be talking about it,it's not just reserved for the
gen alphas.
I mean we need to be talkingabout this kind of stuff, and
we're not, we're not.
So I'm glad that you guys arereaching out to the gen alpha
crowd, you know, to help themmentally uh mentally and
spiritually, which will helpthem mentally.
(25:24):
But this same approach, itseems, is also important for the
older generation because theyhave a real hard time talking
about this kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (25:36):
Yep.
Well, okay, so what's cool iswith Gen Z, we found that they
are publishers, like they'republishers.
So think about it again, theycan reach the entire planet from
their phone immediately, andthey can go viral, they can get
rich, they can have like theycan do it all from their phone.
Like a kid could start his ownor her own YouTube channel of
(26:00):
unboxing, you know, whatever,and become a millionaire.
Think Ryan's world, if you'veever seen the world, I mean, are
you kidding me?
It's amazing, it's crazy.
Yeah, okay.
So think about that.
Um, they're they're going to,they're the most cause-oriented
generation, like Gen Z.
They they want to like get inthe fight, they want to
(26:20):
champion, you know, they want tolike whether if they see an
injustice, they're not gonnawait for the church to speak up
about it.
Like, because again, they are souh everything is so accessible
and in and in their face.
I think that there used to be, Ithink with with uh back in the
day, the the pastor or theleader was kind of the the
(26:43):
holder of all knowledge, youknow.
Like you were kind of yourGandalf, yeah, you're the
gatekeeper, right?
Um, and it's just not the caseanymore.
So, what it's requiring too isour youth pastors actually need
to know what they're talkingabout.
Like a lot of youth pastors,including myself, I was like
full of crap when I startedbeing a youth pastor.
Like, I didn't answer the hardquestions.
SPEAKER_04 (27:04):
Gotta start somewhere.
SPEAKER_01 (27:06):
The demand now is increasing because seriously,
Scott, like uh I'll give you anexample.
Like, my six-year-old son islearning basic coding because he
plays Minecraft, like he'slearning how to like punch in
little codes.
I'm like, that's coding.
They can become experts on nichesubjects at an early age.
(27:30):
So even theology, like if ayoung person gets hungry for
God, they're not gonna wait forPastor So-and-so to if if you
won't answer the questionsagain, they're gonna go find
them somewhere.
So, culture is having aconversation, like so, take
gender identity, for example,like that's a cultural
(27:50):
conversation, and there arethere's there's things that are
normalized in culture, and Iwon't get into like views and
stuff, but there's things thatare normalized in culture that
the church was maybeuncomfortable to you know
talking about back in the day,that because of how present it
is on social media, you don'thave a choice as a ministry
(28:17):
leader on whether you're goingto talk about X, Y, and Z
anymore.
And if you don't, also like Imean, take like Charlie Kirk,
for example.
What happened with Charlie Kirk?
I mean, Scott, you saw like ifchurches didn't like it's such a
hostile and polarizing uhculture right now that it's like
(28:39):
you the the demand to like speakto or have answers.
Now, again, if you're a pastor,I would encourage you don't just
like bow to pressure all thetime, like actually have a
conviction.
Um, but there's a there's like adifferent demand now to be able
to help people navigate culturethrough a biblical lens.
Like that's the demand uh onleadership now is like I need to
(29:03):
help you navigate this culture.
So instead of it's I've got myBible here, but instead of like
when you read the Bible readingit through the lens of culture,
like your phone, we need to helpyoung people see culture through
the lens of scripture.
And that's when you're becoming,when you're becoming biblically
literate, what we would say islike, no, I am like I believe
(29:24):
that this is truth, I believeit's real.
Uh, and if I'm crazy for that,that's fine.
Um, but like if if I see theworld through the lens of
scripture, then we're kicking,like things are good.
But if I start seeing the worldthrough the lens of what I see
on my algorithm, it's game over.
SPEAKER_04 (29:43):
Wow.
So cool.
What uh you know, looking ahead,what gives you hope about the
next generation of faith andspiritual potential?
SPEAKER_01 (30:00):
Much um, and I'm glad you asked that question
because I want to be reallyclear.
Uh, that's the only lens I doview them through, um, is a
hopeful one.
Like, I am so fired up thatagain, a 12-year-old, I think so
many of us are like, keep themaway from screens.
(30:23):
Yes, I get it and I agree, butat the same time, like they're
going to be like they're gonnaget there.
So, how about if we that's sucha lazy argument?
It is like it is.
So, I'm going, like, what ifinstead of like trying to play
catch up to this wave, we gotahead of it and teach them how
to leverage their platform forGod.
(30:46):
They can, I said it a secondago, they can be on the other
side of the planet.
Scott, our our organization isreaching millions of young
people online in hostile regionswhere you could literally be
killed for your faith.
And we have people connectingwith missionaries online and
having their lives foreverchanged.
And I'm like, I'm, you know,Scott, I took I took Matt on
(31:08):
mission trips.
I'm a very like go all over theworld kind of a guy.
You can go on a mission trip onyour phone, like you can
literally be on the other sideof the planet.
And I think that um like theopportunity for uh like they're
like one of the one of thethings I call gen alpha is like
the you do you generation.
(31:28):
Um, so like they're it'sdangerous and awesome all at the
same time.
Like they're very open to justanything, like you do you.
Like if you want to be aChristian, cool.
If I want to be this, cool.
SPEAKER_03 (31:38):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
Like, so there's this, they have this capability
of building bridges that maybeother generations didn't.
And so like I'm just excited tosee uh a gospel-centric group of
young people, what they can dowith their faith.
SPEAKER_04 (31:53):
Yeah, it's cool.
And and and and so like thispodcast here today, this
episode, it could go, it can goanywhere.
And uh hopefully, hopefullyit'll, you know, people will see
it and listen.
And so, based on that, my nextquestion, probably one one of my
last questions here.
I don't know what are we are youare you doing good on time here?
(32:13):
Okay, uh, if you could give onepiece of advice to someone
trying to connect with a genalpha individual uh about faith
or whatever, what would it be?
If I want to reach out to a gengen alpha type person, yeah,
that's a great question.
Connect a 60-year-old guy.
SPEAKER_01 (32:34):
Yeah, I think it would, I think uh the truth is
it would be I make sometimes Imake fun of research because
like if you read researchreports, it'll be like 85% of
gen alpha they crave warm andhealthy relationships.
I'm like, did boomers not likelike they all like I think
(32:58):
sometimes we can be like, ooh,they're like this little freak
that we gotta crack the codewith.
And I think at the end of theday, what we're probably
learning is uh and again is isto approach relationships with
humility.
Um, and so be a student, likethere's a like instead of having
(33:19):
your claws out and trying tolook like you know all the
answers because you're older,they very well could and
probably do know more than youabout a subject.
Yeah, their BS meter is finelytuned, very finely, and they can
chat GPT anything, and and likelike they're smart.
(33:40):
Um, what they need from you isyour warmth and your care.
Like, I'm I'm telling you, like,uh, like Scott, take this in the
best way.
Yeah, uh like how do I say this?
I need like what gave you yourgray hairs.
I like I can't get what whatlike what your gray hairs got
(34:01):
you to, I can't get on Google, Ican't get on TikTok.
There's something that you have,Scott, in your marriage, in how
you raised Matt, and how you,you know, all of those things
that like I need that from you.
Like, I can't get that fromanybody else.
Like, there's something thatScott Townsend has.
And so, like, um like the likeso it's so it's staying
(34:25):
approachable, like keeping abridge to just go, like, oh my
gosh, you know, like I want tolearn from you.
I think a teachable mindset, andthen just like I care about you
and I want you to know that, andthe door's always open, um, goes
a long way.
SPEAKER_04 (34:40):
That's great.
Uh you know, listen listeningwas always a good thing.
Listening's always been a goodpractice, I think.
And that's one of the reasonswhy I like doing a podcast is
because I get to ask questionsand just sit back and listen.
Uh but the other thing too is uhwhether you were born in 1950 or
(35:01):
2020, uh having someone that'lllisten to you it's never
changed.
It's you know, are we listeningto each other?
Are we just talking about ateach other?
And are we trying to find outwhat's critical with the kids
these days?
It's different because I didn'tgrow up with I grew up listening
to vinyl records, you know, andmaking cassette tapes.
(35:25):
I would interview my brothers onmy dad's bell and how old tape
recorder.
And uh, you know, and then wewent through VHS and laser
discs.
I mean, I've been through a lotof technology, and these kids I
can't even imagine if they grewup with a cell phone.
Uh, when they get 40, 50 yearsold, my gosh, what's it gonna be
(35:46):
like for them, you know, becauseeverything's moving so much
faster.
It always does.
SPEAKER_01 (35:52):
But uh no, it it's uh you know, like I'm parenting
two alphas, you know, and eventhe difference in my daughter
and my son, 11-year-old andsix-year-old, um, is so like
right now in school, they readto an AI person on their
(36:17):
computers during the day.
That's how they do reading.
And the the AI bot willliterally say, like, oh, can you
slow down just a little bit?
Like, talk to them just like ahuman, and they're graded by AI.
And it's like, what the heck?
You know, like it's just um thatis the world they're growing up
(36:38):
in.
And just like anybody, I mean, Iremember I always tell people,
um, like even to tell on myselfwhen the iPhone first came out
in whatever was it 2005, 2006,something like that.
SPEAKER_04 (36:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:51):
Um, I remember being like, that's so stupid.
I have an iPod and I really wantthe black jack.
Like it was another phone.
I want the blackjack.
And people are like, dude, theiPhone's gonna be the thing.
I was like, that's stupid.
I don't need an iPhone, and therest is history, right?
Uh like and and and I think I Ijust more and more want to be um
on the side of the coin that'slike uh I always want to have a
(37:15):
voice in the next generation.
And there's been older people inmy life who only wanted to prove
they knew more than me, andthey're not a voice in my life.
Um, I was just like, cool,you're too smart for me.
You're too like you always haveto like show that you're uh you
know.
I'm like this generation, justthat doesn't fly, like it's just
(37:38):
like cool, then I just won'ttalk to you and I will okay
boomer you.
Like, yeah, that's where youare.
Um and I just again would justencourage any caring adult is
like just be a caring adult andlet them know that you are.
SPEAKER_04 (37:54):
Well, Sam, it's been a great time visiting with you
about uh this is reallyimportant and to me very
interesting.
I'm sure everyone listening,watching will find it
interesting as well.
Yeah, so yeah, I like it.
SPEAKER_01 (38:07):
All right, Scott, thanks for having me on, man.
It means the world, and uh yeah,thanks a lot.
SPEAKER_04 (38:11):
If anybody wanted more information on your
organization, one hope, uh,where would they go?
SPEAKER_01 (38:17):
Onehope.net or follow us on Instagram too.
SPEAKER_04 (38:21):
Okay.
If anybody has any questions,can they reach out to you or do
they where do they go toabsolutely reach right out to me
and Scott?
SPEAKER_01 (38:28):
I can share any of my email or anything like that
with you or Instagram is finetoo.
SPEAKER_04 (38:33):
Yeah, okay.
I'll put those in the I'll putthose links in the show notes uh
below.
So anyway, all right, Sam.
Well, have a great day.
It was a lot of fun.
We need to do this againsometime.
SPEAKER_01 (38:45):
Thanks, Scott.
It was fun to be on.
SPEAKER_04 (38:47):
So for Sam McCullough, this is Scott
Townsend.
Thanks for watching, listeningto the Scott Townsend show.
Have a great day.
Everything's gonna be all right,and we'll talk to you later.
SPEAKER_00 (38:58):
The Scott Townsend Show is a D So Man production.
For more episodes, visit theScott Townsend Show YouTube
channel, listen on ApplePodcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
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