Alex Harris and Brett Harris are challenging the status quo with: Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, garnering a Foreward by Chuck Norris, 2008, Multnomah Books ISBN-10: 1601421125. What might the prospects be for a hard cover manifesto challenging teenagers to work hard by two 18 year olds? Astonishingly it reached #5 on Amazon on March 25th.The Harris’ launched TheRebelution.com. It has already received 16 million hits. They just finished a Rebelution conference for youth attended by 2,200 at one stop of a seven stop tour.I have found their writing very challenging and stimulating, and I look forward to reading their book.
They are carrying forward the high standard set by William Wilberforce of taking on a seemingly impossible task and achieving it, as depicted in the movie Amazing Grace.
Let us likewise ‘rise up’ to accomplish the hard but worthy goals set before us.
Following are some extracts from Alex and Bret Harris’ writings, with links to get a flavor of their challenge to have done with lesser things.
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The Rebelution: A Challenge for my generation: Brett Harris
Should I ignorantly assume that the blessings I have received in way of gifting and talent, position and family, country and freedom, have been given blindly and without purpose? Should I, heedless of their potential, throw these things away for the sake of convenience? Will I take the road so often traveled and go with the flow rather than against the current? Will I choose the fate of the common man or that of the uncommon man?
Needless to say, a life of sin and sorrow is readily available to all, whereas a life of purity, honor, and virtue is only granted to a precious few. The gifts necessary to change the world are as rare as the man who tries it, while the ability to conform to the world is evident in all its abundance.
The path of the righteous man is overgrown and seldom used. It is a lonely road, often uphill and through deep valleys. The common way offers many amenities, it is a well-worn path, easily traveled and with plenty of company.
Righteousness is work comprised of fleeing from temptation, running to Christ, fighting the good fight, running the race, and wrestling with myself. Complacency, however, offers a road devoid of care. I give myself to the very things I should flee from and fight with. So much easier to choose, so much simpler, and just what we want—yet not what I want.
To change the world God has changed my heart. To fight the fight God has won the war. To run the race Christ has set me free. All this is mine through Christ Jesus my Lord, yet this is the road often missed, often forgotten, often ignored.
The harder road lies before those who choose life and godliness, yet the greater destination, a glorious paradise and a wonderful feast.
This is the path I have chosen, to follow God and to do His will—to change the world, to be a leader—to shine as a light in the darkness that I’ve been placed in, not by chance, but by sovereign purposeful design. Should a candle set in a dark room assume that darkness is his fate? Would it be acceptable for the candle to make peace with the darkness? Not when he holds the potential for glorious light!
Therefore I must take all precautions to guard myself in all holiness, righteousness, and purity. Sin cannot be endured. The war is on, the fight is God’s—therefore I will be victorious. No truces will be made; no terms will be accepted. Victory is my end and that through Jesus Christ.
Reminding myself that one slip will destroy all possibilities of great service I will take and pursue all measures of accountability and protection. For if sin reigns I am ruined, and if it gains I have lost.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love I am not consumed, for His compassion’s never fail. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”
In what confidence, you ask, do I make such resolve? Not in my strength for it has failed. Not in my previous accomplishments for they are pale. Not in hope of willpower for it is weak and corrupt. Not in conscience for it is dull. Not in my head, or arms, or legs, or hands, or feet, or anything in me that could supply strength physically, mentally, or spiritually, for they have all failed. They have all fallen short. They have all broken promises they vowed to keep. They have never brought me true or lasting success. They never will. I have no hope in myself.
In what confidence, you ask, do I make such resolve? I make resolve in the strength of God, in the grace, mercy, and power of Jesus Christ. In the salvation I know I have through Him. From the righteousness I have received from Him, from the robes of white that cover my sin, from the blood that was spilt for me, for the love that I feel in His embrace, for everything that is not me and is Him—in this I trust and in this I rest my hope.
You may wonder on reading this whether I will follow through with this resolution. Will it be only sad irony ten years hence that such a thing was ever written by these hands? Will this be a scrap of broken dreams and aspirations? Will I forget in an hour what was so clear and true now?
The answer to those questions will be decided by where I put my trust. Know this to be true: if my trust, despite my words, is in myself, then laugh at my humiliation. What a fool I was. Yet if my trust, as my words testified, is in God, then know with unwavering clarity that there is nowhere I will not go, no mountain I will not climb, no success that will not be realized, as long as all is done for God’s glory and in His strength. If my trust is in Him, then honor Him for my success. It will be beyond my dreams and yours if He can only pull my trust to Him for its eternal resting place.
Who am I? I’m a rebelutionary.
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Historic Times: A Call to My Generation: Alex Haris
Brett and I firmly believe we are living in historic times. We further believe that God is raising up a generation of young people, specifically those in the Christian, homeschool community, who will one day assume positions of leadership in all spheres of life: social, political, and spiritual. This is not a call for the complacent or the lackadaisical. This is not a call to those who are willing to lower their standards to meet the expectations of their culture. This is a call to the rebelutionary.
While these posts are usually made at the inception of a blog, even in the past 5 days our vision for this blog has become more clear. Announcing The Rebelution… a journal of our thoughts, if you will, through which we seek to discipline ourselves to both contemplate the many things we observe and then to write our thoughts down. However, on an even deeper level, we would pray that God would use this blog to mobilize Christian young people; causing them to 1.) wake up, and 2.) catch fire.
Suffice to say that we would greatly appreciate all of your feedback and support. We would even more greatly appreciate your joining ranks with us to make a mark for the kingdom of God. The beauty of technology is the ability to network. It is both of our hope that we would be able to network with high-quality, like-minded, and motivated young Christian bloggers and then draw from one another in order to firmly cement our existence in the online community, and to do so in such a way that the world sits up and takes notice. I pray that we might make the word ‘rebelution’ a “household-name” in the online blog community, not only as a group of godly young people, but as a reliable source of truth utilized to its full world-changing potential. None of of us, with our limited schedules and busy lives, can be more than a drop in the ocean-sized bucket of the internet community on our own… But together, unified in Christ and through His grace, we believe that we can fill a gap that needs to be filled.
This blog challenges you to throw off the shackles of what society expects of you. The teen years are not a vacation from responsibility. They are the training ground of future leaders who dare to be responsible now.
Let’s start a rebelution.
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The Rebelution – A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations
The official definition of the ‘rebelution’ is “a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture.” When you look around today, in terms of godly character and practical competence, our culture does not expect much of us young people. We are not only expected to do very little that is wise or good, but we’re expected to do the opposite. Our media-saturated youth culture is constantly reinforcing lower and lower standards and expectations.
The word ‘rebelution’ is a combination of the words “rebellion” and “revolution.” So it carries a sense of an uprising against social norms. But in this case, it’s not a rebellion against God-established authority, but against the low expectations of our society. It’s a refusal to be defined by our ungodly, rebellious culture. Actually, we like to think of it as rebelling against rebellion.
And it’s exciting, because the Rebelution has really become a type of counter-cultural youth movement among Christian young people from around the country, and even around the world, who are not only rejecting the lies and the corruption of media-saturated youth culture, but they’re returning to biblical and historical levels of character and competence.
In 1 Timothy 4:12, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” In other words, as young people we are called to be exemplary in all areas of life. Our generation is falling incredibly short of that calling. Instead of serving as the launching pad of life, the teen years are seen as a vacation from responsibility. We call it the “myth of adolescence.” And the Rebelution is all about busting that myth.
The battle cry of The Rebelution is just three words, but it’s an explosive concept: Do Hard Things. That’s it. And “do hard things” is a mentality. It’s a mentality that flies right in the face of our culture’s low expectations. The world says, “You’re young, have fun!” It tells us to “obey your thirst” and “just do it.” Or it tells us, “You’re great! You don’t need to exert yourself.” But those kinds of mindsets sabotage biblical character and competence.
“Do Hard Things” is just the opposite. It’s how we build character and competence. It won’t drop to meet the low expectations, it won’t just do what comes easily, and it won’t become complacent. It applies no matter who you are or what level you’re on, because there’s always something harder to do, something that will take you outside your comfort zone and cause you to grow.
The Rebelution is made up of three fundamental parts. We’ve talked about two of them: character and competence. The third one is collaboration. It’s not enough for us to be individual exceptions. It’s not enough for us to try to ignore the culture. We have to create a counter-culture. The way we do that is by networking, exhorting, and encouraging one another in the fight. By God’s grace, that’s what The Rebelution has become. And when you have a community of young people mutually committed to doing hard things in their teen years for the glory of God, that’s an incredibly powerful thing.
For more of the history of the Rebelution, click here.
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Do Hard Things
The next generation stands on the brink of a “rebelution.”
With over 16 million hits to their website TheRebelution.com, Alex and Brett Harris are leading the charge in a growing movement of Christian young people who are rebelling against the low expectations of their culture by choosing to “do hard things” for the glory of God.
Written when they were 18 years old, Do Hard Things is the Harris twins’ revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential.
Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life and map a clear trajectory for long-term fulfillment and eternal impact.
Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of revolution already in progress challenges the next generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today.
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John Piper: Let No One Despise You for Your Youth
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Go join The Rebelution