Is God Good? Why Gen Z Is Asking Different Questions

I sent a text to a Gen Z young professional: “Do you think God is good?

He works full time about a mile from my house and has battled cancer the last couple of years. We opted for a brief interview over text. He responded, “I would say, as a blanket statement, yes. Because if he’s not good, then what is he? Bad? He just is? Which I disagree with. Therefore, I’d say he’s good.” He continued, “BUT if the statement was, ‘God is always good,’ I would probably push back. That one is a little tougher for me.” I leaned back to consider his words. They not only reflected the pain of his journey, but also Gen Z’s wrestling with the goodness of God.

Is God Good or Just Present in Pain?

To simply respond by saying good Trinitarian theology dictates God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit can never cease to be good would not be a posture of really listening to his experience or appreciating his process. I would be slapping a theology Band-Aid on real-life pain.

Is God Defined by Experience or Theology?

I leaned in and texted, “Can I ask one more question? How would you define what is ‘good’?” About ten minutes later, he responded, and his text began, “That’s a tough one because I think ‘good’ is so subjective.” The subjectivity of the term good is partially what makes this such a difficult question to respond to with our Gen Z friends.

Is God Good by Our Definition of Good?

Karma, Santa Claus, the Secret, and even the prosperity gospel share similarities. If you do the right things, good things are manifested. Put out good vibes, and good vibes will come to you. Be faithful, and you will be rewarded. These systems make sense. There is a flavor of justice behind them. It is no wonder, though, when Gen Z faces suffering, hardship, obstacles, loss, or injustice, it is difficult to reconcile the idea of a good God with the reality that surrounds them. And it comes as no surprise when I sit across Gen Zers who have shared statements like these:

“I could never believe in a God who would let my mom die.”
“How could my miscarriage be ‘part of God’s plan’? What kind of God would make that happen?”
“I don’t think God is kind. He does things that are mean.”

Is God Good When Life Is Not?

Wherever each person is, and whatever the experiences of suffering—death, injustice, loss, obstacles, and so on—they have faced, Gen Z is left asking this question: Is God good?

It’s often the first question I come across with our next generation. (I’m not sure this is the most important question to Gen Zers, but it is top of mind when given the opportunity to ask questions about God.) The question Is God good? is not necessarily expressed in these exact words (more on that later), but it is commonly presented as a reason not to believe in God. It lives in the hearts of our next generation, and it is the hardest question for me to respond to. The goodness of God has been questioned for ages. The serpent in the Garden of Eden persuaded Eve to question God’s goodness, convincing her God had not told her the whole truth (Genesis 3:4-5).

Is God Good Enough to Be Trusted?

There are a few reasons it is difficult to answer the question Is God good? Okay, there are more than a few reasons, but here are some: First, a natural consequence of living in an individualized society is that it’s full of people with individual ideas of what is good. With a myriad of definitions of what goodness is, it becomes difficult to have a single agreed-upon meaning for what good means, especially looking at the character and actions of God. Either we or our Gen Z audiences must make massive value, worldview, and logic shifts to have the same conversation. I’m asking Gen Z to change or let go of how they define goodness to have the conversation, and that is a big request.

Is God Understandable or Beyond Us?

Second, this question asks to see and understand the thoughts and reasons of God. We either want to be brought up to the level of divinity to understand his goodness, or we want God to shrink down to fit into our idea of goodness. These are impossible or unreasonable tasks. Honestly, I’m not sure any answer would satisfy.

That brings me to my third reason. There is no easy response to honor a question that represents the depths of our hearts. Easy answers and simple formulas are cheap and unsatisfying. To wave off our Gen Z friends by responding, “Yes, of course God is good,” is to dismiss their experiences, questions, and context. Our Gen Z friends deserve more than that. It is time for us to lean in, ask more questions, and be with our Gen Z friends in their experience. In The Spiritual Lives of Young African Americans, Almeda Wright shared, “What they believe about God is not fully addressing the situations they find themselves in.” This is not isolated to young African Americans, but is true for most of Gen Z. This disconnect contributes to Gen Z not thinking belief in God is necessary to make sense of the world.

Is God With Us in the Storm?

I stepped on stage and faced a room of five-hundred Gen Zers after the unexpected death of a beloved college student and shared about Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water with Jesus (Matthew 14:22-31). I asked, “Why didn’t God stop the storm? Why do bad things happen?” All eyes were locked on me, everyone holding their breath, waiting for an answer. To be honest, I was looking for an answer too. All I could say was, “I don’t know,” and continued, “All I know is that there was a storm, and Peter’s options were to either grab onto Jesus, or fend for himself in the boat.” Bad things happen, the storms don’t stop, and we have the same options as Peter. I don’t know the mind of God. I don’t know why, and our Gen Z friends see us follow God in our lack of understanding.

Is God Revealed Through Presence, Not Answers

We can be with them.

We can sit down next to them, feel with them, cry out with them, and be angry together with them, and in allowing the space for them to be honest, scared, sad, hurt, angry, and tired, we demonstrate what the goodness of God looks like. We can help them find the answer. We have to look at the context that surrounds the question of God’s goodness.