Journal of European Baptist Studies, 2017

ink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. 47 Ambition can be redeemed from ‘What’s in this for me?’ to ‘What’s in me for others?’ We need a two-pronged approach in teaching twenty- somethings to balance ambition with contentment. On the one hand, practising contentment will not feel ‘natural’; indeed, like all practices, it must through diligence and the power of the Spirit become second nature. On the other hand, contentment is not gained through repressing questions; these must be allowed, while also offering guidance toward resolution of their doubts. Forums, classes, and sermons can boldly engage ‘the frontier where the struggle for faith is most clearly and urgently drawn ’, 48 teaching the adequacy of Scripture for faith and practice amid tensions of unresolved issues. Leaving Room for Protest Simon Oxley advocates that protest is needed by the community; change will not occur without some prophetic discontent. He notes that conformity can be just an easy way out of hard thinking . 49 Gerald Schlabach urges that we heartily develop the practices and virtues that make it possible to reform, protest, and even dissent out of love for one’s Christian community — even while sustaining a doggedly loyal commitment to ‘hang in there’ with those among whom we disagree. 50 In recent years, much has been written about ‘information cascades’, in which convictions are formed not by personal study but are based on others’ opinions. While developmentally expected among teenagers, this habit does not reflect the maturity and appropriate self-authorisation 47 C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory’, rev. edn (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), p. 26. 48 Wilbert R. Shenk, Changing Frontiers of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999), p. 138. 49 Simon Oxley, ‘Nurturing Conformity or Dissent. What is the Function of Christian Formation?’, Journal of European Baptist Studies 14:3 (May 2014), pp. 34-46. 50 Gerald W. Schlabach, Unlearning Protestantism: Sustaining Christian Community in an Unstable Age (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2010), p. 32. Blomberg, Contentment 55 desirable in young adults. Today’s ‘plugged-in’ twenty-somethings are often unaware that social media algorithms offer them ‘more of the same’ and not the actual variety of viewpoints on a given topic. 51 A simple exercise to teach this important point is to have a group google the same topic and observe the differences in the top ten returns suggested to each person. In discussion groups and studies, leaders must create a safe place for disagreement, invite each person to contribute, and model how to assess opinions, while respecting the person. Young adults are learning to learn, and the process can be encouraged when mentors are intentional in their own dialogue