Young Adult Christianity
Mark Sayers has a fantastic blog series going on over at his blog looking at the question “Why Young Adults leave the Church?” Its a truly interesting series.
Hamo has a great discussion going on at his blog about Mark Sayers series, jump on over and join in if you want.
I myself thought I might add 2 cents worth, but then realised what I wanted to say was a little big for a comment, so thought I’d add a post of my own here.
Firstly, watch this video.
I found this video at Rodney Olsen’s blog and I couldn’t help but feel that it almost sums up what it is like to be a Young Adult Christian (or any age Christian I guess…but for this story take it specifically for young adults.) It also works well because Mark Sayers himself once ran a seminar called ‘herding cats – ministry to young adults’.
For those of you who can’t watch the video, it shows 2 cats trying to stay on a treadmill. Sometimes they are walking the treadmill easily, sometimes 2 feet are on and 2 feet are off. Sometimes they are at the front of the treadmill, sometimes they are at the bag. Sometimes they aren’t even on the treadmill at all.
To me, the treadmill symbolizes society going in one direction and the cats are young adult Christians, trying to follow Jesus which is so often against the tide of society. Sometimes it IS easy (although this is few and far between), sometimes young adults are partly on the path of Jesus and partly have been defeated by societies pull. Sometimes young adults fall off the path entirely, totally defeated by societies pull.
Just today I had a reminder of just how different I am to young adults who don’t know Jesus. When I lived in Perth, it didn’t really matter because I always had fellow Christian friends to fall back on. Now I am in Margaret River. I have very few people I would call close friends and am also desperately wanting to get OUT of the Christian bubble I had in the city and get INTO Margs youth and young adult culture. But just this morning I was reminded how very hard this is going to be because I am not even really in the same ball park. I was having coffee, reading the paper at Dome when one of the guys from my volleyball team walked in. His very first question was ‘have a big night last night hey? I sure did, wasn’t home till 3.’ Do you know how I had to respond to him? ‘Nah mate, I was actually in bed by 8.30pm’ Right at that moment I saw in his eyes him thinking ‘rrrriiiigggghhhhttt…LOSER’. Now, I don’t particularly care if he DID think that, I’ve grown out of being TOO caught up in what others think of me (well mostly)…but it just highlighted in my mind how far my walk with Jesus IS from where they are at…and it made me think how hard it is to BE a young adult Christian AND still fit in with young adult culture.
Most of the not yet Christian young adults I know are all about partying, getting smashed, having sex, ‘living it up’. Now whilst this isn’t ALL young adults, I think it is safe to say its a fair proportion. In the city this was ok, there are enough people around that I could find young adults that weren’t necessarily into this…but the %’s are a lot smaller in the country! If I am to reach this town for Jesus, these are the people I will have to mix with…yet I don’t even know where to BEGIN. It would be so much easier…if I just wasn’t Christian. And THIS is, I think, the thing many young adult Christians find themselves saying…its just too hard!
One lady I know down here has a son, about my age. He believes in Jesus, believes everything he has heard…but he loves the life of a young adult so much that he admits he would find it too hard to be a Christian, so he doesn’t bother trying.
My best mate who I grew up with believes in Jesus, believes in the Christian gospel, but he just isn’t willing to give up the young adult lifestyle and follow Jesus. He reckons he will just wait till he is older and then maybe he will think about it…
This is a significant problem that I think we face with young adults today, the pull of culture is so strong that it is very hard to be in it and NOT of it. I see myself and just HOW different I am. I struggle to hold conversations with people my age that aren’t Christian because my life is SO caught up in Jesus…I am finding it very hard to find the balance, to be Christian but still be able to interact outside of it.
Anyway, this entry kind of rambles…but you get the point. Its hard to be a young adult Christian, either you go too far and become almost ‘too’ Christian, or you end up falling into the culture so much that you lose your Christianity. The happy medium, much like any age group, is ever so difficult.
June 7, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Unfortunately it’s not just a trap for young players. The pull of the prevailing culture will always have a strong influence.
Even in most churches you can see that many of the adults have bought into the bigger, better lifestyle lie. They’re working hard to pay off a home that’s way bigger than what they really need and has all the latest gadgets and gizmos. It’s not being out partying that keeps them from a true commitment to Christ, it’s the career and materialism treadmill.
June 9, 2008 at 10:52 am
I hear you Middo. Being in a small town as well, I know EXACTLY what it’s like (except here there’s even LESS to do than in Margs so there’s a great focus on getting smashed). I joined my netball team to try and get out of the Christian bubble and I too am finding it hard. Normally there’s not much time to talk before the game and afterwards everyone just leaves straight away because some of us have a fair distance to travel. But last week I had my first actual conversation with one of my teammates. She’s a thirty-something married mum of a two-year-old son and even she mentioned drinking was one of her main pastimes. It’s hard to know how to be in the world yet not of the world but take heart. Keep going. Are there any Rivers people playing volleyball as well? Sometimes it’s helpful having at least ONE other Christian around for support. If there aren’t any, could you encourage some to play? Someone mentioned once that we Christians often think we have to reach people BY OURSELVES but remember that Jesus sent them out in twos.
As far as the young adult thing goes, I’ve seen it too. It’s sad, I just prayed for a good friend of mine who was such a noticeable Christian and ‘on fire’ for God when we were at high school and she played an integral part in introducing me to Christ. Now she hasn’t gone to church for years and is in Perth totally wrapped up in the young adult culture of partying, drinking and materialism. I’ve tried to remind her about all she taught me but she’s quite releuctant to discuss it. This has happened to so many young people I know both from Albany and Perth. I don’t know if they really were Christian or if they just grew up in a Christian home and went to church because of that. It’s hard to say. Sometimes all you can do is pray.
I reckon Rodney’s right though. The temptations are different for different age groups.
June 9, 2008 at 11:15 am
binge drinking sure has creeped up on us…as a society I mean. Its all about escape, from the drudgery of life. Life without purpose easily erodes into one good time after another…and for young parents of today (my target) what was the pattern of the youth is modified into their behaviour of today.
I reckon the biggest threat now is the mining lifestyle…extraordinary money at the cost of a present father…for the purpose of getting a ‘Tom Tom’….
June 9, 2008 at 11:26 am
I’m with you there about the ‘Mining’ Mark. Even amongst my church community we have lost 1-2 families ‘up North’ and have a few who work the on for a while, off for a while lifestyle.
Its hard to combat, especially as in one case, the Father spends more time when he is home than he used to spend with his old job, where he got to live at home always. But I wonder if the deeper issue isn’t the amount of time spent, or even the quality time, but the priorities? Choosing to work away for significant periods of time, even if it means freeing up more quality time…could that bring about other issues?
And amongst young adults, so many of my Albany friends are ‘putting off life’ for the next 4-5 years to ‘work on the mines’ and get set up ‘for life’. This is both Christian and not yet Christian alike. Putting their hope and trust in money earnt in the next 4-5 years. I can’t help but wonder what damage may occur for this ’setting up life’?
June 21, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Great post Middo
I’ve been working with the YA’s in my church this year & your insights help me understand their world a bit better
Thank you