Spiritual Formation in Emerging Adulthood

A Practical Theology for College and Young Adult Ministry

Setran, David P., Kiesling, Chris A.

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781441242884
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The shift from adolescence to adulthood, a recently identified stage of life called "emerging adulthood, " covers an increasing span of years in today's culture (roughly ages 18-30) due to later marriages and extended education. During this prolonged stage of exploration and self-definition, many young adults drift away from the church. Here two authors--both veteran teachers who are experienced in young adult and campus ministry--address this new and urgent field of study, offering a Christian perspective on what it means to be spiritually formed into adulthood. They provide a "practical theology" for emerging adult ministry and offer insight into the key developmental issues of this stage of life, including identity, intimacy and sexuality, morality, church involvement, spiritual formation, vocation, and mentoring. The book bridges the gap between academic and popular literature on emerging adulthood and offers concrete ways to facilitate spiritual formation among emerging adults.

1 | Faith

The Emerging Adult Landscape

The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call “ourselves,” to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be “good.” We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way—centered on money or pleasure or ambition—and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And that is exactly what Christ warned us you could not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown.

C. S. Lewis[1]

Fine.” That seemed to be Jim’s go-to reply when asked about his spiritual life. Twenty-seven years old and a former student of David’s, Jim had spent the previous hour excitedly recounting some of his key accomplishments since graduation. After a transitional year at home, he had completed a master’s program, started a new romantic relationship, and landed a job with a great salary and benefits. He was beginning to think seriously about marriage and looking forward to the prospect of buying a house in one of the city’s better neighborhoods. He noted repeatedly that he was enjoying his new freedom and attempting to make the most of each day, soaking in all that the city had to offer: concerts, museums, parties, and sporting events. “It’s been a whirlwind,” he remarked, “but I’m loving every minute of it.”

Jim’s eager posture dropped significantly, however, when asked about his faith. “It’s fine,” he noted, stating that he still held firmly to his college-age beliefs. Jim had been a solid disciple of Jesus as an undergraduate, involved in various ministries and eager to share his faith with others. In the years after graduation, he had not been able to find a good church, and he didn’t know many people who attended church on a weekly basis. He said that he still read his Bible, though not with the regularity that marked his college days. Graduate school had been so intense that he found himself unable to get involved in ministries or evangelism. “I still believe the same things,” he suggested without prompting. “I still have my faith. I just don’t have a ton of time to give to it right now, but that day will come again soon. I’m doing fine.”

“Fine.” That word, in many ways, seems an apt description of the spiritual formation landscape during the years of emerging adulthood.

The “Religious Slump” of Emerging Adulthood

While each story is unique, Jim’s account is certainly characteristic of larger trends. Research on emerging adulthood is fairly consistent in proclaiming this to be a stage marked by widespread religious decline in the areas of belief, behavior, and the subjective inner life. On the cognitive level, there appears to be a moderate erosion of basic belief in the orthodox tenets of the Christian faith. While 78 percent of 18- to 23-year-olds claim to believe in God without reservation—certainly a sizable majority—this represents about a 7 percent drop when compared with American teenagers. Furthermore, this decline is actually sharper among those who spent their teen years within the church. Conservative Protestants, for example, see an 8 percent decline in belief in God while mainline Protestants see a more precipitous 17 percent decline.[2] In every religious tradition, emerging adult belief in God is also lower than belief in God for those over the age of 30.[3] Fewer emerging adult Protestants see God as a “personal being involved in the lives of people today” while a growing number identify God as “not personal, something like a cosmic life force.”[4] Basic belief in God’s existence and personal involvement, therefore, reaches its lowest point in the years after high school.

When it comes to more specific beliefs, the drift from orthodoxy is still pronounced. A declining number of conservative and mainline emerging adult Protestants believe in a divine “judgment day,” and fewer believe in the existence of angels and divine miracles. Members of this age group are also more likely than any other to disavow Jesus’s sinlessness and to doubt his bodily resurrection.[5] Among evangelicals, those between the ages of 18 and 30 are significantly less likely to view the Bible as the literal Word of God and more likely to approve of homosexuality than their older counterparts.[6] While other beliefs—such as the reality of life after death and the existence of heaven and hell—seem to remain fairly stable or even increase from the teen years through older adulthood,[7] the larger picture indeed demonstrates what sociologist Christian Smith identifies as “general shifts away from certainty about God . . . and definite belief in other traditional, ‘biblical’ teachings.”[8]

Even when basic beliefs remain intact, there is widespread recognition that religion declines in subjective importance during the emerging adult years. When comparing 18- to 23-year-olds with those between the ages of 13 and 17, the National Survey of Youth and Religion (NSYR) found significant declines in the percentage agreeing that faith was “very important” in daily life, coupled with a strong increase in the number claiming that faith was either “not very important” or “not important at all.”[9] Perhaps even more telling, these declines were quite sharp among those affiliated with conservative and mainline Protestant churches. Among conservative Protestants, the move from the teen years into emerging adulthood was marked by a 13 percent drop in those claiming that faith was “very or extremely important” in shaping daily life (down from 70 percent to 57 percent). Mainline Protestants saw an even greater decline of 16 percent during this transition (down from 49 percent to 33 percent). According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the declining perceived importance of religion is also evident when comparing emerging adults with those in older groups. While 59 percent of those over the age of 30 see religion as “very important,” 45 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 state the same. Even among the religiously affiliated, those over the age of 30 were 9 percent more likely to see religion as “very important” than religiously affiliated emerging adults.[10]

Despite these moderate changes in belief and in the subjective sense of religion’s importance, scholars across the board agree that Christian practices and institutional participation are far more likely to decline even when beliefs remain intact. In addition to widely publicized declines in church attendance, to be discussed in detail in chapter 4, a host of other spiritual disciplines become less prominent in emerging adults’ lives. Looking at professing Christians, the NSYR identified declines between Christian adolescence and emerging adulthood in the frequency of daily prayer, Bible reading, Sabbath observance, religious singing, reading of devotional materials, and personal evangelism.[11] Among conservative Protestants, for example, a mere 10 percent in this age group read the Scriptures daily, down from 16 percent in adolescence.[12] Comparing emerging adults to their elders, the Pew Forum found that 34 percent of religiously affiliated emerging adults read Scripture weekly, compared to 41 percent of those age 30 and above. Similarly, 58 percent of religious emerging adults pray daily, while 66 percent of those 30 and over do the same. Another independent study found that, while 46 percent of older, religious adults take part in devotional practices, only 33 percent of religious emerging adults do the same.[13] The erosion of Christian beliefs, therefore, is coupled with a similar erosion of Christian behaviors. Smith estimates that about 50 percent of emerging adults remain stable in their faith commitments and practice while 40 percent decline and 10 percent increase in commitment, leading him to assert, “Emerging adults are, on most sociological measures, the least religious adults in the United States today.”[14]

Yet there is a psychological component to this as well. In light of these figures, it is perhaps not surprising that a growing number of emerging adult Protestants, on a very personal level, feel distant from God. In a recent study, only 35 percent of conservative Protestants in this age group indicated that they felt “extremely or very close” to God, down from 48 percent among teenagers in this same group. Mainline Protestants experienced an even larger decline. While 40 percent of mainline teenagers felt “extremely or very close” to God, only 22 percent of emerging adults felt the same. Such statistics are important because they reveal not only a decline in religious belief and practice but also a waning subjective sense of God’s presence in their lives. Speaking of the comprehensive cognitive, behavioral, and affective declines in these years, Smith concludes, “Some or even many American youth go into something of a religious slump during these years.”[15]

Interestingly, while such data reveal troubling declines in measures of faith during emerging adulthood, other research presents a far more positive picture of spiritual interest among members of this age group. A number of studies seem to indicate that spirituality is on the rise among emerging adults. In an ongoing analysis of the spirituality of collegians, for example, the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA discovered that students across diverse institutions have “very high levels of spiritual interest” and desire to spend ample time “exploring the meaning and purpose of life.” According to this research, four out of five students claim that they “have an interest in spirituality” and that they “believe in the sacredness of life” while two out of three state that “my spirituality is a source of joy.”[16] Fifty-eight percent indicated that integrating spirituality into their lives is “very important” or “essential.”[17] In addition, this research seems to indicate that increasing numbers of college students are engaged in a “spiritual quest,” a broader search for meaning, purpose, and inner peace.[18] While women generally rate higher in spiritual interest than men in these areas, these studies seem to point to a generalized intensification of spiritual awareness during this stage of life.[19]

The explosion of spiritual interest, such authors suggest, is a result of many age-specific events. Separation from parents, in and of itself, can spark spiritual reflection since emerging adults gain a deeper sense of responsibility for their own lives and spiritual commitments.[20] In addition, as Alyssa Bryant and Helen Astin have discussed, the new experiences and challenges of emerging adulthood also foster spiritual awareness.[21] Many are confronted for the first time with worldviews and lifestyles different from their own, sparking questions about truth. Others, faced with vocational decisions, begin reflecting on their purposes and contributions in the world. Some lose parents or grandparents, heightening reflections on eternity. Collegiate exposure to national and global issues awakens concerns for justice and equity. Some even argue that changes in the brain during emerging adulthood—including synaptic pruning and continued myelination in the prefrontal cortex—enhance the physiological possibility of deep spiritual reflection and interior processing.[22] While many of these researchers would concur that measures of religious practice and church involvement decline during these years, they would argue that this simply represents a revised and perhaps evolving perspective on faith. Many speak of this generation of emerging adults as “spiritual but not religious,” caring more effectively for their interior lives even as they eschew doctrinal creeds and formal participation in religious practices.[23]

Yet while such analyses reveal a purported uptick in spiritual interest, optimistic generalizations can be misleading. Estimates are often inflated because the ever-broadening definition of “spirituality” used by social scientists makes it almost inevitable that they will find heightened spiritual interest among emerging adults.[24] Since definitions of spirituality are generally quite vague—more akin to caring about one’s “inner, subjective life,” finding life meaning, and cultivating a greater sense of “connectedness to one another and to the world around us”—emerging adult interest in spirituality may not indicate much more than a growing self-awareness and exposure to new ways of thinking.[25] There is very little in these definitions that would tether spirituality to any personal conviction or commitment, much less an external faith-based narrative. As sociologist Tim Clydesdale points out,

Asking incoming American college freshmen whether they “have an interest in spirituality” is like asking a soldier in a trench whether he has an interest in world peace or an arguing spouse whether she has an interest in honest and loving communication. To learn that most agree should not surprise us in the slightest. The critical questions are whether indicating interest in religious and spiritual life, world peace, or loving communication makes a difference in present activities and long-range goals, and to what extent.[26]

Furthermore, accounts of widespread spiritual interest seem to be exaggerated. Sociologists do acknowledge that emerging adults are the age group most likely to speak of spirituality apart from religious involvement, but they claim that only a small minority of emerging adults fit the “spiritual but not religious” mold.[27] Among members of the broader population, one study estimates that 10 percent may qualify as “spiritual but not religious.”[28] Smith suggests that 15 percent of all emerging adults are spiritually “open,” meaning that they are “not personally very committed to a religious faith but are nonetheless receptive to and at least mildly interested in some spiritual or religious matters.”[29] Another 15 percent qualify as “committed traditionalists,” finding spiritual meaning and purpose in a formal commitment to a specific faith.[30] The majority of emerging adults, however, view both spiritual and religious matters as of marginal importance in their lives.[31] Smith’s assessment is important: “So yes, some emerging adults, including students in college, are interested in spirituality. But for a good number of them, that simply means doing traditional religion. And for another chunk of them, that means they simply do not want to say that they are positively not interested in spirituality. Yet others may say whatever about matters spiritual but in fact are simply too distracted by other affairs to care very much.”[32]

Smith’s final statement here is important because it demonstrates that most emerging adults are characterized not by religious hostility but rather by a growing apathy and indifference to the life of faith. In their recent survey of 1,200 emerging adults between the ages of 20 and 30, Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer found that only 13 percent considered any type of spirituality to be important in their lives.[33] Similarly, Smith found that emerging adults were largely unconcerned about religion. Since matters of faith are considered “not a big deal” and “not something of central importance,” such topics rarely come up in conversations with friends.[34] In fact, he notes, religion has

a status on the relevance structures or priority lists of most emerging adults that is similar to, say, the oil refinery industry. Of course, people know it is there, and it is important in some removed or distant way. Most people are glad someone is out there taking care of that business. But you really don’t have to think much about it or personally get involved in it, unless it happens to be a personal interest. Religion for the most part is just something in the background.[35]

Overall, then, emerging adults are not antagonistic toward the Christian faith. For most, it would seem, faith is something “neither hot nor cold”—a tasteless product that has been pushed to the periphery of life.[36] Before we construct a positive approach to emerging adult spiritual formation, we must identify some of the reasons for this malaise.

The Sources of Spiritual Decline

The marginalization of spiritual formation among emerging adults is of course a function of many variables, but a few stand out as central to this age group. First, there are a host of new distractions emerging at this time of life that can easily de-center faith commitments. Because emerging adults are often living independently for the first time, there are a number of new life skills required in their attempt to “stand on their own two feet.”[37] While tasks such as setting up bank accounts, paying bills, registering for classes, studying for exams, writing research papers, learning to get along with roommates, and preparing for job interviews may seem fairly commonplace to older adults, emerging adults can find them quite overwhelming. Though the cultivation of the spiritual life may still remain important in a theoretical sense, these other tasks can appear more urgent on a daily basis. In addition, since completion of these tasks often generates immediate feedback and both financial and psychological (identity-related) rewards, it is easy to see why they might rise to higher levels on the emerging adult priority scale. As one study summarizes, “Emerging adulthood brings with it a host of responsibilities (e.g., work, school) and opportunities (e.g., increased autonomy) that simply and subtly crowd out religious participation.”[38]

In his analysis of younger emerging adults in the year after high school graduation, Clydesdale largely confirms this perspective. Most of these individuals, he suggests, spend the bulk of their time and energy on “daily life management,” juggling personal relationships, personal gratifications, and personal economics. In...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Endorsements
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Faith: The Emerging Adult Landscape
• 2. Spiritual Formation: Reversing Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
• 3. Identity: Internalization, Refusal, and Engagement
• 4. Church: Forming an Ecclesiological Vision
• 5. Vocation: Purpose and Providence
• 6. Morality: Training the Dispositions of the Soul
• 7. Sexuality: Forming a Sexual Ethic
• 8. Relationships: Pitfalls and Pathways
• 9. Mentoring: Past, Present, and Future
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Index
• Back Cover