Daniel Davalos is the RUF Campus Minister at New Mexico State University
Recently, I came across a New York Times opinion piece in which columnist David Brooks interviews several students at elite universities and comes away with a harrowing conclusion: Generation Z (the generational cohort currently in college) is one primarily marked by rejection. He writes,
“It seems we’ve created a vast multilayered system that evaluates the worth of millions of young adults and, most of the time, tells them they are not up to snuff.”
Today’s college experience revolves around students being sold an unattainable gospel: study hard, prove yourself worthy, and you will live the life of your dreams. But increasingly, college students are met on all sides with rejection. So writes Brooks, “I have not even begun to discuss the everyday rejections that afflict everybody in this age group — the Instagram posts nobody likes, the cool friend groups that exclude you, the hookup partners who ghost you, the hundreds of times you swiped right on an online dating app, only to get no response.”
I wonder what this culture of rejection does to a generation?
The Gospel of Christ Tells a Different Story
Contrast Brooks’ findings with one of our recent NMSU graduate’s reflections on her time with RUF:
“Through small groups, worship, and just hanging out with people here, I’ve learned that I don’t have to have it all together to be loved. That’s something I’ve heard before, but RUF made it real for me. God has used this space to remind me that my worth isn’t in how I perform or how ‘spiritual’ I feel—it’s in who He is and what He’s already done for me.“
RUF staff are helping college students see that Jesus came to bring people into his family, not because of their worthiness, but because of his own. That makes a huge difference. Bit by bit, we are pushing back against a false gospel that boils down to backbreaking performance and showing them Jesus.