The Gen Z Role Models Project

found himself engrossed.

Jesse grew up in a Christian home – or well, something like that. His parents went to church regularly and had a community there. After service they would connect over coffee while Jesse chatted with his agemates about video games and the likes. He kinda liked church. His friends were there, he got to play games, do arts and crafts, and hear about crazy stories that reminded him of the Marvel comics; what’s not to love?

As he grew, church became less exciting. His friends had moved away. The teen’s church had less activity and more of the Jesus stuff that he found a bit too abstract. When his family got home, they moved on to other parts of life and didn’t discuss church till they were picking outfits for the next service. He didn’t quite feel like a Christian. Afterall, playing basketball on Saturday mornings didn’t suddenly make him a professional athlete.

In this random video, a woman is drawing parallels between the crazy old testament stories he heard as a kid to Jesus’ mission and the plan for salvation. It all started to make sense. Not a lot, but just enough to answer some questions he couldn’t articulate as a child. Religion was not a concern for Jesse at this point, but he enjoyed a well-connected story. Maybe his Bible study teacher needs to watch this and up her game. 

This story was submitted as part of the Oxford Pilot Phase of the Gen Z Role Models Project.

“found himself engrossed.” (S124) © 2026 by The Gen Z Role Models Project is licensed under CC BY 4.0