Some notes from the 1/21/26 gathering, Daniel 2: Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael came to Babylon with solid grounding in multiple dimensions: physical, cognitive spiritual, and social. They were taught the Babylonian system of knowledge but did not hitch their identities to the Babylonian system.

They had to navigate gates in the Babylonian assimilation process, which God helped them transcend.

• They were expected to demonstrate loyalty and dependence on the king and the Babylonian gods by dining on the king’s food and wine. Their God transcended the system and gave them success in the Babylonian’s eyes.
• They were expected to analyze scenarios based on the Babylonian knowledge systems. God gave them transcendent insight that convinced the king they were 10 times better than the Babylonian experts.

Implications for today: Speaking of young people beginning an assimilation process in an institution, this news item came to mind: the Lausanne Movement put out a podcast about reaching Gen Z:

• Generational Openness.
• Gen Z labeled “The Open Generation” by Barna research due to unprecedented spiritual curiosity and receptiveness to faith, contradicting narratives of mass church exodus.
• Young people encountering Jesus through unexpected channels like YouTube videos and worship nights, demonstrating God’s movement outside traditional church structures.
• Relational Ministry Model
• Authentic relationships outperform programs, production, and hype as the primary vehicle for reaching youth—simple, consistent presence proves more powerful than elaborate ministry infrastructure.
• Success redefined from attracting 40-50 youth on Sundays to faithful investment in 2-3 young people, with peer evangelism carrying more credibility than leader-initiated invitations.
• Churches must deploy to schools, sports fields, community spaces, and relational environments rather than expecting youth to walk into church buildings independently.
• Discipleship Framework
• Discipleship must be lived, not lectured—young people thrive when known, included, prayed for, and given real ways to serve within church community.
• Sunday-centric models require fundamental rethinking to create welcoming, relational environments beyond weekly services for new generation engagement.
• Ministry Strategy
• Faithfulness with few can spark multiplication—church leaders should abandon crowd-waiting mentality and start building relationships with small numbers immediately.
• Effective youth engagement requires consistent actions: keep reaching out, show love and care, ask how they are—prioritizing genuine connection over programmatic approaches.
• Leadership Mindset
• Church leaders must squash success metrics tied to large Sunday attendance and embrace grassroots relationship-building as primary ministry strategy.
• Leaders should maintain confidence that God is showing up in powerful ways among youth, taking advantage of current moment of spiritual openness.
• Practical Implementation: Churches need paradigm shift from attractional to missional presence in youth spaces, meeting young people where they already gather rather than creating separate church events.

The University of Alabama Christian Faculty and Staff Fellowship meets Wednesdays at 11:45 AM at the Baptist Campus Ministries Building on 4th and University.

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