Young adults are a simply a different breed.

And there is nothing at all wrong with that.  They are a uniquely unique age group that has a ton of different things going on.  And it is incredibly important for ministry leaders to understand where they are coming from – the YA perspective.

The YA perspective is the attitude, worldview, life situation, outlook, and personality of twentysomethings and young adults.  It is an extremely different perspective than high schoolers, and it is an extremely different perspective than full adults.  But the YA perspective is very important to young adults because it is who they are and where they are right now.

Ministry leaders need to understand the YA perspective if they are going to have success ministering to this age group.  Here are some key points to understanding the YA perspective.

• Young Adults are a group in transition. Whether they are going from high school to college or from college to the real world – young adults live a life of transition.  It also might be geographical transitions – leaving home to go to college or traveling around for a job.  Young adults are transitioning through relationships, careers, and all kinds of thoughts.  They are a group in transition.
• Young Adults are a group of passion. Even though it may be misplaced at times (think of the passion that some young adults have for their iPod or video games or Hannah Montana), young adults are full of passion.  They are passionate about big things, small things, and everything in between.  And the ones who don’t have something to be passionate about yet – they are the ones who are searching for something into which to plug their passion.  No matter how you cut it, this is a generation of passion.
• Young Adults are a group that communicates. It is hilarious that one of the biggest questions about young adults is “How do we reach them?” because this is a generation that communicates more than any other.  Young adults love to communicate.  They do it on their phones, their Facebook pages, their Facebook pages on their phones.  They live in a constant state of communication.  They disseminate so much information every single day.  They pick and choose their messages.  And young adults simply live a life of communication.
• Young Adults are a group with a sense of justice. Maybe it’s because of the increased awareness… maybe it’s because of the ease of travel… maybe it’s because of watching the world deteriorate around them – but young adults are a group with a sense of justice for the world.  They care about what is going on in Africa.  They have a heart for the poor.  They want to give their effort and energy to make people’s lives better.  This is truly a part of who they are; young adults are a justice people.