The Dangers of Delayed Adulthood
In her August 18 article of “What Is It About 20-Somethings?” for The New York Times, Robin Marantz Henig gives the new developmental theory of “emerging adulthood” a thorough treatment. She analyzes this theory of “emerging adulthood” well, but seems to favor it slightly by the article’s end. (Her leading questions at least lead me to that conclusion.) I, however, will very bluntly state that I believe “emerging adulthood” is better expressed as “delayed adulthood.” “Emerging” is simply too positive and too deceptive a word for the phenomenon, just as Dr. Mohler entitles in his blog about this phenomenon: “Why aren’t ‘Emerging Adults’ Emerging as Adults?” “Emerging adults” simply does not mean what it would seem. “Emerging adults” are really “delayed adults,” and this has grave consequences for the church.
Ms. Henig’s article is 10 pages long online, and my comments on her article required multiple blogs. Rather than making a series on this that would span weeks, I have already written all of my posts about her article and formatted them into a single PDF document. (For those of you who don’t have Adobe Reader, you can download it safely and virus-free here.) Below is an outline of my special blog series on The Dangers of Delayed Adulthood.
- “A Stage We All Need to Adjust To”?
- “Grown-Ups and Not-Quite-Grown-Ups”
- The Real Causes of Delayed Adulthood
- The Self-Confessed “Double-Edged Sword” of Delayed Adulthood
- Jennifer’s Story: “It’s Somewhat Terrifying”
- Virginia’s Story: “Almost As If”
- Julie’s Story: “A Double-Edged Sword”
- Conclusion
- Failure to Leave and Cleave
- Why the Problem of Delayed Adulthood Matters
- The “If” That Falls Flat on Its Face
- Resources
- Primary Resources
- Resources from Things That Are Above
As an explanation of why you should read this special PDF blog, consider this:
In Hosea 4:6, God says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I have rejected you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” This is a solemn warning from God. We must not reject knowledge—which comes through the Bible—nor forget God’s commands. He commands that children be trained in the way they go, that they be taught to be godly men and women, not taught to be self-absorbed half-men and half-women who are not “emerging adults” but are delaying adulthood. Let us be faithful to the Lord our God; that is why this issue [of delayed adulthood] matters!
You can access the PDF from this link.
