The Voice of a New Generation: Please Love Me

Anyone born after 1995 is part of the newly labeled Generation Z. Never knowing life without instant connectivity, they were born Face-booking, texting, and tweeting—all tools to get people to “pay attention to me!” But early studies are showing these technologies are not satisfying the desire for connectedness. According to a recent George Barna survey, a major shift in the past decade is how Americans see themselves in relation to others. Ten years ago, one of 10 Americans self-identified as lonely. Today, that number has doubled.

Paul warned in the end times “people shall be lovers of their own selves” (2 Tim. 3:2). I’ve always thought this meant unabashed narcissism.  But now, I'm wondering if, in the end times, people will need greater affirmation and approval to validate insecure self-perceptions. Thus, the Facebook posting, texting and tweeting are not shouting “Look at me” as much as “Please love me.” Millennials and ‘Z's’ are the future. What does this cry for attention and love portend? Might it be a greater willingness to embrace anyone or anything that promises to fill the vacuum? And if not Jesus, then what?