#242 Gen Alpha Vibes: No Cap w/ Sam McCullough

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/

Chapters

• 2:01 Recording Mishaps And Warm-Up Banter
• 3:24 Why Gen Alpha Now
• 6:41 Defining Gen Alpha And Digital Natives
• 10:19 AI Trust And Everyday Tech Habits
• 11:53 Mental Health Pressures And Social Media
• 17:01 Taking Youth Pain Seriously
• 21:27 Hard Content Online And Desensitization
• 24:27 Pornography, Access, And Reality Check
• 25:54 What Influences Teens Most
• 28:46 Parents As Primary Disciple Makers
• 32:06 Building Biblical Literacy To Halve Anxiety
• 35:47 From Spoon-Feeding To Honest Questions
• 37:57 Culture, Hot Topics, And Church Readiness
• 41:49 Seeing Culture Through Scripture

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:02

Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show, brought to you by Beatso Man Productions.

SPEAKER_04: 1:09

Uh I paused it and uh You're fine.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14

I was wondering, I was like, are you recording on something else? Like I didn't know where it was coming from.

SPEAKER_04: 1:18

I did a whole in. I've mentioned this many times before. I interviewed a guy who I was really excited to interview, and we got through the entire interview, and I realized I hadn't hit the record button.

SPEAKER_01: 1:31

That's brutal.

SPEAKER_04: 1:33

Oh, that's brutal. That's that's oh god. Anyway, he was super nice. He was like, Yeah, let's do it again, you know. So the next day we did it again, and those are great. But anyway, I've been there before. Yeah, so you know, uh, life happens, but anyway, so you know, I'm I'm glad you're on the show now, and I'm glad we're recording. And uh you've the reason why I wanted to have you on the show is because uh we've known each other for a long time, and uh I know that you've uh been involved with uh youth ministry for a long time, and I think this uh this new phase that you're in. Uh I I'm curious. I'm curious about uh this new next generation kind of a thing. You know, we all we like to label people. I'm I'm with the baby, I'm the tail end of the baby boomers, you know. There's Gen Z and Gen X and blah blah blah. And so now we're talking about uh Gen Alpha. Okay, so what's Gen Alpha, you know, and what's that all about? And you're right in the middle of it. I mean, if anybody knows or can speak to the Gen Alpha uh group uh of kids, and I guess I can call them kids. Um it would be you. So I'm uh I'm I'm glad you're here to share what is Gen Alpha, and first of all, first question, what did you have for breakfast this morning?

SPEAKER_01: 3:10

I had something from from good old no gummies. I think you have to clarify what what people do when you say gummies now. Um uh just to be clear, this is always by my side, okay? These are always by my side, yeah. Um there's no better gummy bear.

SPEAKER_04: 3:25

Um gold, was that haribo? Yeah, the the for those listening and can't see it.

SPEAKER_01: 3:31

Gold bears. There's no uh there's no THC in these. Um, so they're but they do put me in a great mood because I love candy. Um, so yeah, I for breakfast I actually had what's called a uh a sausage pocket from the one and only Pops Daylight Donuts.

SPEAKER_04: 3:50

Oh yeah, those are good.

SPEAKER_01: 3:51

So that's a frequent go-to for me.

SPEAKER_04: 3:54

Yeah, awesome, very healthy, very healthy.

SPEAKER_01: 3:55

Gummy bears and sausage pockets.

SPEAKER_04: 3:57

So yeah, yeah. You know, so good.

SPEAKER_01: 4:00

So good.

SPEAKER_04: 4:01

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's your niche. Um am I right there?

SPEAKER_01: 4:21

Is yeah, no, that's I one, I appreciate that. Um, I was actually I think I was I was Matt's youth pastor for a little while, your son, which is crazy. Um and uh yeah, I've been I've been in youth ministry in some form or fashion uh since about 2007. Um was a youth pastor for about a for about a decade, um, which in youth pastor terms is kind of like dog years. Uh was you know, a lot of youth pastors aren't in the game for longer than some people are saying nine months. There's all these different stats out there, but I did it for a while. Uh and had the had the opportunity to see a lot of different waves and cycles. Uh in this current season, uh, I really I get an opportunity to serve uh serve next gen pastors. And so whether they're kids' pastors or youth pastors, um our organization has a global footprint and I'm focused on North America. And so uh I kind of kind of joke that my my job is to be a pastor to pastors right now, and so I love what I get to do.

SPEAKER_04: 5:19

So you're reaching out to uh uh youth pastors and trying to help them in reaching out to this. This uh it's not a new generation, it's it's uh it's been around since 2000. These kids have been around, I guess it started in 2000. Their generation starts in 2017, is that it, or something like that?

SPEAKER_01: 5:42

So there's a lot of different viewpoints on it. Um, we say 2010 to 2024.

SPEAKER_03: 5:48

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 5:51

But uh yeah, yeah. So our organization is a uh if you boil it down, we're a scripture engagement organization. So we're all about seeing uh the Bible, God's word, all over the world. Uh and we do that in various different ways, whether it's through print, uh, digital, film, you name it, contextualized scripture, wherever people are at, all over the globe. And so uh in North America, we have several different resources um available for the church, and we do it for free. Uh, it's really like our win is to see, and you know, again, obviously I'm coming from a faith perspective, but to see uh young people fall in love with the God of the Bible. And um, we really believe that like scripture is the number one, uh we would say, discipleship resource. Like, so if young people can know and understand God's word, I mean we're we're no stranger, whether you're a Christian or not, our world has gotten um increasingly more complex, and then others could say crazy. Uh depends on depends on your view.

SPEAKER_04: 6:55

And so we see scripture either works, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 6:58

So scripture gives um students and young people a true north in their life. So that's kind of where we're at.

SPEAKER_04: 7:06

Uh paint if you were to paint a picture of a alpha gen alpha person in general, a stereotype. Uh what's what yeah, that's a great question.

SPEAKER_01: 7:21

I mean, there's so many different ways you could you could um characterize it, right? Like nobody likes to be pigeonholed, but but some facts. Um one, you could say this is the first truly digital native generation. Like they have they have grown up in the digital world. So like, you know, people call them you know, iPad babies, whatever you want to call them. Like they have grown up, so they've grown up through COVID. Um, so so think about it, they've grown up uh in pivotal years of their life in isolation. Like they've grown up, you know, being handed tablets, being handed uh phones, screens, you name it. Uh so they're very digitally native. Also, first generation to uh be like throw AI in there. So artificial intelligence, Scott. You and I, um, when I think AI, I still see Terminator 2, you know, the metal skeleton robot crushing skulls with a laser gun, just like, you know, has has like become self-aware. Um what's the Will Smith movie? Um I Am Legend.

SPEAKER_04: 8:28

Uh is it I Am Legend?

SPEAKER_01: 8:31

No. Uh oh man, I'm I'm I'm drawing a blank. But there's that robot movie, you know, where the robots go crazy. And I think that's like what our generation sees. Uh but Gen Alpha, they actually like they trust AI. So so they've grown up. You and I'm subtle. Yeah, you and I have allowed AI into our homes with Siri, with Alexa's, you name it. So they have this like where we would go, oh, I need to like go to the weather app to check the weather. They intuitively jump on Alexa and just say, Alexa, what's the weather like today? You know, and there's this trust, there's not this like AI's watching me. Like, they are truly digital natives. So I would say that's a really big uh very important indicator of Gen Alpha.

SPEAKER_04: 9:20

There's a because of the isolation, it seems like uh mental health for the Gen Alpha is uh critical, or they're having some troubles there. Seems like they're all stressed out. Seems like everybody I know in this in the in this generation, they're they're going to therapists already, you know. They're they're stressed out, anxiety ridden, um suicidal. Not all of them, but I mean, I I know some. I know some. And it I never saw that growing up when uh we were just when we were kids, we weren't stressed out and you know, uh full of anxiety. I mean, it was tough growing up in the teenage years. What is it who it's when is it not tough? But these people, these kids, I'd be like, Wow, you're really carrying some stuff around. I guess that's because of the isolation, the gaming, the they don't go outside and play, they're always by themselves. And am I hitting that right?

SPEAKER_01: 10:21

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 if you just look at if there's a book um called Anxious Generation, and it's not a it's not a faith-based book, but it's kind of exploded on the scene, and it really gets into um like play-based childhood and how that's gone out the window since the 60s, and we've seen this, and then with the introduction in I think it was 2009, and uh don't get my dates wrong here, but the like the like button once Facebook introduced that changed the landscape. You see, it's insane how you see mental health issues skyrocket once the like button was introduced to society.

SPEAKER_04: 11:15

Um is that?

SPEAKER_01: 11:17

Why would that be? Say that again.

SPEAKER_04: 11:19

Why would that be?

SPEAKER_01: 11:21

Sure. So you have the you have comparison online, you've got cyberbullying, you have uh constantly checking your phone. I mean, the dopamine hit that you get when you're checking. I mean, I do it, I'm not even gonna lie. Like, I'm on Instagram, and when I post something, I'm like, why did so and so not like that? Like that deserved a comment, you know?

SPEAKER_03: 11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 11:41

Um, and so yeah, I mean, mental health, I was told I as a youth pastor, so this is even before, like, talking about Gen Z or Gen Alpha was a big deal. One of my trainings that I would share with youth leaders is like, hey, take everything a child says seriously, because while it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of their life, middle schoolers commit suicide over a breakup. And while you would go, oh, it's not a big deal, like, get over it. You just broke up. Well, if they're committing suicide 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 the coin here. Like one, um, I think it's great that mental health is being normal, like the conversation around mental health is being normalized. So it's not taboo anymore. Um, and I think that's important. 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 you clinically depressed? Are you just like your parents are putting pressure on you and you feel like you know you're going through something hard? And I think that's where this awesome opportunity for caring relationships, for parents, for coaches, pastors, you know, caring adults to lean into those conversations. And we have to help young people realize like we we get an opportunity to help young people get stronger and more resilient. But it comes through that warmth and those relationships where we're willing to not pass them off and not go like, oh, I was never, we never, not everybody had rhythm when we were kids, or not everybody is. It's like, well, tough luck. Like you didn't grow up with COVID-19, you didn't grow up locked in your room, you didn't grow up, you know, missing your graduation because what at all these you know restrictions, like they're they're growing up, they didn't grow up like you think about uh when you pull up your algorithm on your phone, like they're they're bombarded with death on screens. I mean, literally, you can see people dying. Do you remember? I mean, there was an there was an era. I remember when you would first see somebody like um we're desensitized. Like, I remember you'd first see somebody dead, for example. Like when you would see it, like you just didn't see that, like an actual dead person on T like screen. That was just not a thing.

SPEAKER_04: 14:01

Like, you would never think that would there was a videotape going around back when I was growing up called Faces of Death and Faces of Death 2. And I never did see that. Oh, I wasn't interested in seeing that, but man, the kids were sure passing it around and talking about it, you know. It just seemed it just seemed too uh, I didn't want to deal with it.

SPEAKER_01: 14:56

Well, and so now that's normal, yeah. Like you, it's it's if you pull up, you know, if you open Instagram, you're gonna see dead children 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 see that, like we are not designed to see that, and so as caring adults, like we feel this disconnect because we see like we grew up not as digital natives. Um, and instead of like uh belittling or dismissing, or well, back in my day, that just doesn't work, like that doesn't work for this because we gave them the phones, first of all.

SPEAKER_04: 15:39

Like we gave them um and so now we have the responsibility of helping them navigate life through that and pornography and sex and all the all that stuff. It's like uh it's just so easy to get to. I mean, it's more than easy, it's just a push of a button and away you go. Yeah, the kids are seeing and and experiencing things that uh would blow your mind, I guess. I I I guess that shouldn't blow our minds, but it that's the reality. So so how do you how do you combat that? What's what are you guys doing to um what's the challenge there? So you know, we we're talking about gore, we're talking about death, we're talking about suicide, we're talking about anxiety, stress, and and all this stuff that they can they have in their hip pocket. I mean, they're carrying around all this stuff in their hip pocket. So how do you reach out to them through, you know, or or in or around that? Like what's the key here for you guys? The challenge.

SPEAKER_01: 16:53

That's a great question. So our research and other research has shown something really important because you always want to go, so like what's influencing young people? Uh, because if you know what the influencer is, then you can, you know, the name of the game and anything is like how do you influence the influencers, right? Um and so if you were to ask people like what's your who do you think, what do you think influences teenagers most? Probably everybody would go, well, it's that TikTok, you know, or it's Instagram, you know, 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 phones like all the time. Um, but the research has time and time again shown something that's fascinating. It is not social media. Um, and if you're like a pastor or a coach, sorry, it's not you either that's the number one influence, it's not their friends that's the number one influence, it's the family. Like the family is the number one influence in a child's life, period. Like I wouldn't I guess that no, no, by a landslide though, like by a landslide, we asked, we asked, who do you go to when it comes to making decisions on on right or wrong or on purpose and through the roof, like I'm talking like 80% it was the family. What's interesting though is if you look at the research as well, when we connected with parents, we said, Hey, how confident do you feel in your influence in your child's life? Only 50% of parents said they felt an abundance of confidence of the influence they have in their child's life. So we have a disconnect here. We have kids who are saying, Mom and dad, or caring adult, like you're who I'm looking to to guide me through this life. Parents are going, only half of them feel like they have a tremendous amount of influence. So there's a gap here. And so think about it like if all parents do is demonize technology, and that's where where kids are spending the majority of their time. And then if they're not feeling like they have confidence and they're not going to lean into hard conversations, so then where are they gonna go to get answers? They're gonna find answers somewhere, right? So, yeah, sure, social media, friends, etc. And really what we're trying to tell parents, and again, from a faith perspective, it's clear in scripture that parents are are the number one disciple maker. But again, if you're not a Christian, even like as a parent, you are the voice in your child's life. Like you, you are the one that through all the eye rolls, through the random fits, even at the age of 15, like at the end of the day, whether they even admit it or not, you're the one that they're looking to. And so just to encourage you as a parent, even you you like I get it. Like, what is, I mean, Scott, I think you said skibbity the earlier today, or something like that. Or like, what does six seven even mean? Who knows? Um, don't try to be trendy with your child, but just try to be present. Like being present is the win. Like, that is the name of the game if you want to make an impact on your child's life.

SPEAKER_04: 20:20

That's I said that at uh at work the other day. I I I use those those slang terms just to uh be cringe worthy with my colleagues at work and something like it. So the meeting's gonna start at at 4:30, and we'll be talking about uh this and that six six seven. And one of the one lady said, Did you just say six seven?

SPEAKER_03: 20:40

I said, Yeah, she goes, How do you know about that?

SPEAKER_04: 20:43

And I was like, Man, I'm hip, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 20:45

I I gotta leave it. I I did that on a um, I was leading like a a class of like third through fifth graders at church the other day, and um we were talking about like a scripture or something, and I was like, Yeah, something like six seven, you know, and the kid, this little kid looked at me like I was the coolest dude on the planet. I was like, I'm in, I'm in.

SPEAKER_04: 21:07

So uh can you share a story or an example of uh what you guys are doing and that has had a positive impact on a person or a group of kids? Are you seeing results with what you're doing uh for these youth pastors who are reaching out to the kids?

SPEAKER_01: 21:30

Sure, yeah. Well, one I would just say that like what we do is not a mental health outreach, you know what I mean? Like it's that's not the the so again, our research shows that if a this is this is crazy. Uh when we looked at Gen Z and we saw the percentage of young people dealing with anxiety, depression, suicide, suicidality, like all of those things, um we saw that if a young person prayed and read their Bible like on their own once a week, if they did that, the correlation of depression, suicidality, anxiety, um for I think for all of them, Scott, like more than cut in half, like literally cut in half. So, so what I tell youth pastors is I'm like, if if you can just get your child, like your students, doing what a Christian says they do, because most of them don't, like the numbers prove out too, that people say they're Christian, but they don't spend time in prayer, they don't spend time reading their Bible. Again, even if you're not a Christian, you probably think that Christians pray and read their Bible. Like, you know what I mean? Like if you're gonna be a Bible thumper if you believe in Jesus. Like, okay, but the research is showing that they don't do that, like a lot of them don't. So we say, hey, we show the numbers that show people who identify as Christian, people who are committed Christians, and then people who are what we would call a religious nun, like a non-believer. So Christians who don't do those things, like those practices, but say they're Christian and non-believers, their anxiety, depression, suicidality is the same. Like it's the same. But Christians who did spend time in prayer and spent time reading their Bible, the numbers cut in half on mental health. If that doesn't sell Jesus, I don't know what like you know, like I don't care. You know, I just let the numbers speak for themselves. So let me get back to it. Well, again, I told you at the beginning, our mission is if we can get people like we want young people to engage in scripture. So our resources help young people have open and honest conversations around the word of God and meaningful scripture engagement. So, like, not just verse of the day, uh, you know, just like a little quick topical thing. Like, we want you to dig into scripture, we want you to wrestle with hard questions. Like, we want youth pastors and youth leaders to be willing to have uncomfortable conversations with their students about their faith, because if we don't have them in the church, then they're gonna have them somewhere else. And another place is gonna build the narrative. And so we're seeing youth pastors say, man, this has changed our youth ministry because no longer are we spoon feeding them. Um, I'll say one last thing. The reason we even created what we created was because the research was showing that like 75% of young people left the church after they graduated high school. Well, that wasn't sitting well with us. And we dug in, we realized, well, what's the what's the issue here? It came down to a lack of biblical 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 a giant to slay or a mountain to climb, let's figure out how to get young people engaging in scripture. And not to oversimplify a complex issue, but that's kind of the win for us is if we can see scripture scripture, young people engaging in scripture.

SPEAKER_04: 25:15

It takes a lot of courage for a youth minister to get uh I'm gonna call them kids uh in a circle and have tough conversations, embarrassing conversations. I guess there's a time and a place for everything, but you know, you talk about uh talk about the hard uh it's not just about Dave and Goliath, you know, but they're these kids are dealing with uh a lot of uh a lot of things. Um what am I trying to say here? How do you you talk about how you want the kids to, you know, you said getting into the I'm having a hard time coming up with how to say this. You're um like hot topics, like yeah, 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 we didn't get into things. We just we just we just uh old testament 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 should have been talking about then and we need to be talking about it now, and and and even guys our age need to be talking about it, it's not just reserved for the gen alphas. I mean we need to be talking about this kind of stuff, and we're not, we're not. So I'm glad that you guys are reaching out to the gen alpha crowd, you know, to help them mentally uh mentally and spiritually, which will help them mentally. But this same approach, it seems, is also important for the older generation because they have a real hard time talking about this kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 27:11

Yep. Well, okay, so what's cool is with Gen Z, we found that they are publishers, like they're publishers. So think about it again, they can reach the entire planet from their phone immediately, and they can go viral, they can get rich, they can have like they can do it all from their phone. Like a kid could start his own or her own YouTube channel of unboxing, you know, whatever, and become a millionaire. Think Ryan's world, if you've ever 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 in the fight, they want to champion, you know, they want to like whether if they see an injustice, they're not gonna wait for the church to speak up about it. Like, because again, they are so uh everything is so accessible and in and in their face. I think that there used to be, I think with with uh back in the day, the the pastor or the leader was kind of the the holder of all knowledge, you know. Like you were kind of your Gandalf, yeah, you're the gatekeeper, right? Um, and it's just not the case anymore. So, what it's requiring too is our youth pastors actually need to know what they're talking about. Like a lot of youth pastors, including myself, I was like full of crap when I started being a youth pastor. Like, I didn't answer the hard questions.

SPEAKER_04: 28:40

Gotta start somewhere.

SPEAKER_01: 28:41

The demand now is increasing because seriously, Scott, like uh I'll give you an example. Like, my six-year-old son is learning basic coding because he plays Minecraft, like he's learning how to like punch in little codes. I'm like, that's coding. They can become experts on niche subjects at an early age. So even theology, like if a young person gets hungry for God, they're not gonna wait for Pastor So-and-so to if if you won't answer the questions again, they're gonna go find them somewhere. So, culture is having a conversation, like so, take gender identity, for example, like that's a cultural conversation, and there are there's there's things that are normalized in culture, and I won't get into like views and stuff, but there's things that are normalized in culture that the church was maybe uncomfortable to you know talking about back in the day, that because of how present it is on social media, you don't have a choice as a ministry leader on whether you're going to talk about X, Y, and Z anymore. And if you don't, also like I mean, take like Charlie Kirk, for example. What happened with Charlie Kirk? I mean, Scott, you saw like if churches didn't like it's such a hostile and polarizing uh culture right now that it's like you the the demand to like speak to or have answers. Now, again, if you're a pastor, I would encourage you don't just like bow to pressure all the time, like actually have a conviction. Um, but there's a there's like a different demand now to be able to help people navigate culture through a biblical lens. Like that's the demand uh on leadership now is like I need to help you navigate this culture. So instead of it's I've got my Bible here, but instead of like when you read the Bible reading it through the lens of culture, like your phone, we need to help young 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 is like, no, I am like I believe that this is truth, I believe it's real. Uh, and if I'm crazy for that, that's fine. Um, but like if if I see the world through the lens of scripture, then we're kicking, like things are good. But if I start seeing the world through the lens of what I see on my algorithm, it's game over.

SPEAKER_04: 31:18

Wow. So cool. What uh you know, looking ahead, what gives you hope about the next generation of faith and spiritual potential?

SPEAKER_01: 31:35

Much um, and I'm glad you asked that question because I want to be really clear. Uh, that's the only lens I do view them through, um, is a hopeful one. Like, I am so fired up that again, a 12-year-old, I think so many of us are like, keep them away from screens. Yes, I get it and I agree, but at the same time, like they're going to be like they're gonna get there. So, how about if we that's such a lazy argument? It is like it is. So, I'm going, like, what if instead of like trying to play catch up to this wave, we got ahead of it and teach them how to leverage their platform for God. They can, I said it a second ago, they can be on the other side of the planet. Scott, our our organization is reaching millions of young people online in hostile regions where you could literally be killed for your faith. And we have people connecting with missionaries online and having their lives forever changed. And I'm like, I'm, you know, Scott, I took I took Matt on mission trips. I'm a very like go all over the world kind of a guy. You can go on a mission trip on your phone, like you can literally be on the other side of the planet. And I think that um like the opportunity for uh like they're like one of the one of the things I call gen alpha is like the you do you generation. Um, so like they're it's dangerous and awesome all at the same time. Like they're very open to just anything, like you do you. Like if you want to be a Christian, cool. If I want to be this, cool.

SPEAKER_03: 33:14

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 33:14

Like, so there's this, they have this capability of building bridges that maybe other generations didn't. And so like I'm just excited to see uh a gospel-centric group of young people, what they can do with their faith.

SPEAKER_04: 33:29

Yeah, it's cool. And and and and so like this podcast here today, this episode, it could go, it can go anywhere. And uh hopefully, hopefully it'll, you know, people will see it and listen. And so, based on that, my next question, probably one one of my last questions here. I don't know what are we are you are you doing good on time here? Okay, uh, if you could give one piece of advice to someone trying to connect with a gen alpha individual uh about faith or whatever, what would it be? If I want to reach out to a gen gen alpha type person, yeah, that's a great question. Connect a 60-year-old guy.

SPEAKER_01: 34:09

Yeah, I think it would, I think uh the truth is it would be I make sometimes I make fun of research because like if you read research reports, it'll be like 85% of gen alpha they crave warm and healthy relationships. I'm like, did boomers not like like they all like I think sometimes we can be like, ooh, they're like this little freak that we gotta crack the code with. And I think at the end of the day, what we're probably learning is uh and again is is to approach relationships with humility. Um, and so be a student, like there's a like instead of having your claws out and trying to look like you know all the answers because you're older, they very well could and probably do know more than you about a subject. Yeah, their BS meter is finely tuned, very finely, and they can chat GPT anything, and and like like they're smart. Um, what they need from you is your 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 your gray hairs. I like I can't get what what like what your gray hairs got you to, I can't get on Google, I can'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 from anybody else. Like, there's something that Scott Townsend has. And so, like, um like the like so it's so it's staying approachable, like keeping a bridge to just go, like, oh my gosh, you know, like I want to learn from you. I think a teachable mindset, and then just like I care about you and I want you to know that, and the door's always open, um, goes a long way.

SPEAKER_04: 36:15

That's great. Uh you know, listen listening was always a good thing. Listening's always been a good practice, I think. And that's one of the reasons why I like doing a podcast is because I get to ask questions and just sit back and listen. Uh but the other thing too is uh whether you were born in 1950 or 2020, uh having someone that'll listen to you it's never changed. It's you know, are we listening to each other? Are we just talking about at each other? And are we trying to find out what's critical with the kids these days? It's different because I didn't grow up with I grew up listening to vinyl records, you know, and making cassette tapes. I would interview my brothers on my dad's bell and how old tape recorder. And uh, you know, and then we went through VHS and laser discs. I mean, I've been through a lot of technology, and these kids I can't even imagine if they grew up with a cell phone. Uh, when they get 40, 50 years old, my gosh, what's it gonna be like for them, you know, because everything's moving so much faster. It always does.

SPEAKER_01: 37:27

But uh no, it it's uh you know, like I'm parenting two alphas, you know, and even the difference in my daughter and my son, 11-year-old and six-year-old, um, is so like right now in school, they read to an AI person on their computers during the day. That's how they do reading. And the the AI bot will literally say, like, oh, can you slow down just a little bit? Like, talk to them just like a human, and they're graded by AI. And it's like, what the heck? You know, like it's just um that is the world they're growing up in. And just like anybody, I mean, I remember I always tell people, um, like even to tell on myself when the iPhone first came out in whatever was it 2005, 2006, something like that.

SPEAKER_04: 38:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 38:27

Um, I remember being like, that's so stupid. I have an iPod and I really want the black jack. Like it was another phone. I want the blackjack. And people are like, dude, the iPhone's gonna be the thing. I was like, that's stupid. I don't need an iPhone, and the rest is history, right? Uh like and and and I think I I just more and more want to be um on the side of the coin that's like uh I always want to have a voice in the next generation. And there's been older people in my life who only wanted to prove they knew more than me, and they'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 have to like show that you're uh you know. I'm like this generation, just that doesn't fly, like it's just like cool, then I just won't talk to you and I will okay boomer you. Like, yeah, that's where you are. Um and I just again would just encourage any caring adult is like just be a caring adult and let them know that you are.

SPEAKER_04: 39:29

Well, Sam, it's been a great time visiting with you about uh this is really important 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: 39:42

All right, Scott, thanks for having me on, man. It means the world, and uh yeah, thanks a lot.

SPEAKER_04: 39:46

If anybody wanted more information on your organization, one hope, uh, where would they go?

SPEAKER_01: 39:53

Onehope.net or follow us on Instagram too.

SPEAKER_04: 39:56

Okay. If anybody has any questions, can they reach out to you or do they where do they go to absolutely reach right out to me and Scott?

SPEAKER_01: 40:04

I can share any of my email or anything like that with you or Instagram is fine too.

SPEAKER_04: 40:09

Yeah, okay. I'll put those in the I'll put those 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 again sometime.

SPEAKER_01: 40:20

Thanks, Scott. It was fun to be on.

SPEAKER_04: 40:22

So for Sam McCullough, this is Scott Townsend. Thanks for watching, listening to the Scott Townsend show. Have a great day. Everything's gonna be all right, and we'll talk to you later.

SPEAKER_00: 40:33

The Scott Townsend Show is a D So Man production. For more episodes, visit the Scott Townsend Show YouTube channel, listen on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.