Mean and selfish young adults

I just read on the Catalyst blog that according to the Barna Research group young adults are more likely to break behavioral boundaries in cultural, social, and spiritual areas than their parents' generation. The quote at the end of the post really stood out to me:

Barna’s David Kinnaman notes, “The research shows people’s moral profile is more likely to resemble that of their peer group than it is to take shape around the tenets of a person’s faith.”

I find myself with several things rattling around in my head after reading this.

#1. I hope it's not true. But I fear that it is.

I recently taught a group of parents soon to have out-of-high-school children about preparing their kids for life as an independent young adult. I used material from Paul Stanley (who works with the Navigators) about the different life stages people go through. For the 18-30 group, he says that THE question they are seeking to internally answer is "Who Am I?" This question naturally leads someone to live life slightly more selfishly because they aren't 100% sure of who they are as designed by God, and so they seek experiences and feedback in life that will help to answer this question.

As I have worked with young adults now for almost 5 years (and I fear to say this since many of them will read this) I have seen this to be true. MANY of the decisions they make come from a self-centered viewpoint ("what do I get out of this") than from an others-centered viewpoint ("how will this benefit others"). Often marriage helps in adjusting this, but not always. To be fair, ALL people live life with a bit of selfishness, including myself. But on a stereotypical level, this seems to be more true of 20 and 30-somethings than of the generations ahead of us.

Which brings me to my next thought...

#2. Is this a generational difference that Barna is pointing out or a life stage difference?

Barna makes it seem to be a generational thing, almost as if to say "people over 40 are better than people in their 20s and 30s" But I think Stanley would say it is a life stage thing - and I am inclined to lean that direction myself (but willing to admit the power of peer pressure might lend to these survey results which makes it a generational thing).

If the primary internal question people in their 20s and 30s wrestle with is "who am I?", then people in their 40s and 50s wrestled with that same question twenty years ago. And chances are they too bent their morals during that time of life in order to search and test who they really were. Life experience has helped them see that lying doesn't help, that profanity reveals a weaker mind, gossip comes back to haunt you, and more along the same lines. Plus, they've been answering the question "who am I?" and have moved on to different internal life stage questions. So they change throughout life, coming to the point that they are now.

If this is the case, then I expect in twenty years we'll see similar results in a similar survey from the Barna Group. But if it is a generational thing, then I expect we'll see 40-50 somethings behaving pretty much the same way they are now as 20-somethings.

#3. According to Scripture, this isn't anything new.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:20, "...I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder."

The things Barna is reporting has been part of the human condition for thousands of years, due to something commonly known as sin. But perhaps Paul was writing to a group of young adults... :o)

#4. My next thought is "what should I do with this information?"

I don't think I will "do" much with it, except to use it to encourage me to stay with the same path I've chosen in leading the young adult ministry I oversee. I want to help young adults answer the question "who am I?" and a big part of that is helping them see how God sees them in Christ and the importance then of Christlike character. If they are living with godly character, I don't have to worry about the profanity, lying, gossiping, etc. that Barna is reporting to be true of this generation I love and am called to work with right now. Jesus himself said "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." (Matthew 15:19) So we will continue to not only challenge the mind, but impact the heart, to help this great generation be passionate followers of Christ!