In the United States, you’re legally considered an adult on the day you turn 18. Once you’re 18, a variety of privileges and responsibilities are yours: You can vote, own property, buy tobacco, marry without parental consent, be tried as an adult if you commit a crime, and buy things from infomercials on late-night TV. So congratulations to your high-school seniors. If they are 18 or older, society says they are an adult; but is this really what adulthood is all about?
My hunch? The average high-school student already knows there’s more to being an adult than simply reaching a particular birthday. There are more questions to answer, more things to figure out if you’re really going to be an adult, especially a mature adult who follows Jesus.
I wrote Following Jesus into College and Beyond with the prayer that it’ll help students figure out how to become an adult fully mature in Christ. You will not become a mature Christian automatically when you turn 18. You become one when you’ve fully engaged the journey toward maturity. Sooner or later everyone will become an adult. I know you want to help the students in your care get there before you’re 40 years old! Trust me, I know some 40-year-olds who haven’t made it yet!
Think about covering the following three areas to help your students grow into mature, Jesus-following adults. Whether you have one month or years of relationship left, consider helping your students first discover who they are. Every student is wrestling with questions, such as: Who am I suppose to be? What do I know to be true? Can I doubt sometimes? These fall under the Identity category.
Second, help them work through their Choices. We need them to fully understand their decisions really matter and bigger responsibilities and consequences, good or bad are coming after high school.
Finally, help your students know where they fit. This is their Belonging. Deep down they want to know what the world has for them and what God has for them. We have theological answers to give them. Let’s intentionally walk alongside of them as they discover their Identity, Choices and Belonging matter to us and to God.
Adapted from Jeff Baxter’s new book Following Jesus into College and Beyond (Zondervan).
Jeff Baxter received his doctor of ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and spends much of his time studying, writing and investing in the next generation at Starbucks while sipping on a peppermint mocha. He has spent more than 15 years ministering to adolescents. To keep up with Jeff, go to www.sacredoutfitter.blogspot.com.
