Failure and Young Men
And how to overcome it
A recent study released by the Institute for Family Studies reports an alarming rate of demoralization among young men:
One possible takeaway from this is that young men should get married and have kids, get a full time job, and/or get a BA. But I think it’s still remarkable that 26% of young men with kids feel like they are failures! If anything, this study shows that the feeling of being a failure is incredibly common for young men. And having worked extensively with young women in my job as a college professor, I can say that many young women struggle with this feeling too. In fact, I’ve found that many older people of both sexes struggle with impostor syndrome and doubts about whether they are “good enough.” And in my experience, many of the same core doubts that trouble older people and women trouble younger men. But on top of those, there are some demographic specific challenges that face young men. My task today is to explore what some of those core challenges are and how we can invite young men, and others, to live into the fullness of who they were created to be before God.
What I think we’ll find is that the absence of clear life plans, the abundance of idolized public figures, the underdevelopment of courage, and the failure to understand grace all lead to an overwhelming sense of failure in life.
