Someone graciously passed along an article by the NY Times Magazine concerning 20 year olds in America called “What is it about 20- somethings?” It is a helpful article you should read, and you can by clicking HERE I could not help on commenting on the quote below:
DURING THE PERIOD he calls emerging adulthood, Arnett says that young men and women are more self-focused than at any other time of life, less certain about the future and yet also more optimistic, no matter what their economic background. This is where the “sense of possibilities” comes in, he says; they have not yet tempered their idealistic visions of what awaits. “The dreary, dead-end jobs, the bitter divorces, the disappointing and disrespectful children . . . none of them imagine that this is what the future holds for them,” he wrote. Ask them if they agree with the statement “I am very sure that someday I will get to where I want to be in life,” and 96 percent of them will say yes. But despite elements that are exciting, even exhilarating, about being this age, there is a downside, too: dread, frustration, uncertainty, a sense of not quite understanding the rules of the game. More than positive or negative feelings, what Arnett heard most often was ambivalence — beginning with his finding that 60 percent of his subjects told him they felt like both grown-ups and not-quite-grown-ups.
The roller coaster that is the decade of the 20’s is marked by highs and lows of opportunities before us while having our dreams crashing as we run into reality; relationships beginning, and ending; independence but having to pay the bills; degrees finishing but graduate school beginning; living somewhere but feeling like no where is home…. the list goes on.
The article is about the delaying of adulthood, how 20 yr olds are not growing up like they have in the past (evidenced most by the amount of them living at home). The description of “emerging adulthood” parallels what we most commonly think of as “adolescence.”
But the issue is not the extension of adolesence as much as it is a failure to understand the nature of being human, how we relate to God, and the impact the gospel should have on humanity. This is what the article did not mention- the opportunity for solid footing in the gospel & in gospel community. It is the gospel, the proclamation of Jesus as the King of Kings, that frees us from the temptation toward self focus, puts us into reciprocal community where we can grow, be challenged, and find what it means to be human, gives us the purpose we are looking for, & helps us move past the mistakes we wish we had never made. It is the gospel of God that restores our dignity, gives us our identity, and offers us the solid footing we are longing for.
Of course the NY Times magazine will not mention this, but the church should. And if 20 year olds are smart, they will listen to Scripture (most of us in the church are not really preaching this like we should, so listen to Scripture). Let the gospel transform you as you navigate this season. Let the reign of Christ give you your identity, purpose, direction, and satisfaction. And if you do not know what i am talking about then, really, ask God to give you this (and more) in His gospel.
more mercy!
Go At A Walking Pace 
Great points, Mitchell. I think that is the gospel vision of resurrection and the kingdom that keeps us walking faithfully while avoiding the equally sinful pitfalls of naive optimism and cynical disillusionment. Only when we know what Christ has done for us do we have real motivation to become slaves for His gospel, to give ourselves completely to the kingdom work. At the same time only when we know our own inability because of our sin, and the promise that only through the power of the resurrection will our work be lasting, can we rest in our own failures and trust that it is God who wills and works through us.
I thought that this article, which I read part of, and the article that I think Jason posted about single young men dovetail nicely. These are important points of discussion, and give us an idea, through a negative picture, of what it might look like for the church to be an alternative community.