Josiah Road

Rebelution

posted by Kaylan Christopher 14Oct

Alabama State Supreme Court interns. Grassroots statewide campaign directors. Web site designers and bloggers. Published authors. Conference speakers. These are just a few titles that 19-year-old Alex and Brett Harris can officially add to their resumes.

These twin brothers from Portland, Oregon, may seem like normal teenagers. They love filmmaking, music, basketball, soccer, and food. But, in fact, they aren’t. They have started “The Rebelution”—a “teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture” that began in August 2005.

Sons of homeschool pioneers, Gregg and Sono Harris, and younger brothers of speaker and best-selling author, Josh Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye), the twins released their first book for teens in April titled, Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations.

Recently, they spent some time on the For Faith & Family radio broadcast where they commented on this initiative.

According to these revolutionaries, today’s society associates negativity and trouble with teens, and “allows, encourages, and even trains young people to remain childish for much longer than necessary.” Not to mention that the “media-saturated youth culture is constantly reinforcing lower and lower standards and expectations.”

The Harris brothers said the best years in teenagers’ lives are wasted—never giving them the chance to reach their God-given potential.

“We live in a culture that wants to tell us how to act, how to think, how to look, and how to talk. It tells us what to wear, what to buy, and where to buy it. It tells us what to dream, what to value, and what to live for—and it’s not Christ.”

They referenced Paul’s words as a way toward change: “When I was a child I spoke…thought…[and] reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. … Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Corinthians 13:11, 1 Timothy 4:12).

This duo hopes to challenge young people to join “The Rebelution,” refuse to be defined by our culture, reject the lies and corruption of the media, and return to biblical and historical levels of character, competence, and collaboration.

The battle cry of “The Rebelution” is just three words. Do hard things—that are outside your comfort zone, that go beyond what is expected or required, that are too big to accomplish alone, that don’t immediately pay off, and that challenge the cultural norm.

They said, “Our uprising is against a cultural mindset that twists the purpose and potential of the teen years and threatens to cripple our generation. Our uprising won’t be marked with mass riots and violence, but by millions of individual teens quietly choosing to turn the low expectations of our culture upside down.”

“When we make a decision to obey God—even when it costs us something—and to live out our faith in our day-to-day life, it will be hard, but it will be good. And it will be good because God loves to bless us when we are faithful to stand for Him.”

For more information about the Harris brothers, “The Rebelution,” and how you can join in, go to the rebelution website.