Young Americans are restless and on the move. Fifty-nine percent of Americans aged 18 to 35 currently live somewhere besides their hometown. Almost 80 percent have moved once or more (not counting a college move). Forty-one percent of millennials who have moved say their stay is temporary, and 26 percent of them say their primary motive is a fresh start or a change in lifestyle, not marriage, a job, or a home.

Journalist Rainesford Stauffer examines this wanderlust and writes, “Comfort means you’ve played it safe and putting down roots means you’ve missed the adventure of ‘finding yourself.’ This is an adventure that can only play out by ping-ponging from city to backpacking trip and back again.”

She describes her personal experiences:

Each new [move and] new beginning meant new people, new jobs, and new situations, which had to be started from scratch each time. It was supposed to feel like freedom. Instead, all the newness, all the time, felt eerily like being lost… Newness was supposed to make life exciting, not empty. Because I was perpetually starting over, I lacked any ties to people to share new discoveries with... Exploration and all it entails—finding yourself, finding home, finding love, finding likes and dislikes—only works if we give our discoveries a chance to strengthen their hold on us.

Possible Preaching Angles:

Church; Emptiness; Lostness; Millennials; Seekers – More than ever young adults are experiencing the emptiness of this world. The church has a powerful message of true meaning and deep community.

Source:

Rainesford Stauffer, “The Millennial Obsession With Starting Over: We pick up and move from city to city, trying on new identities but rarely sticking with them. It’s going to cost us,” Medium (11-14-18)