I spent some time recently visiting the website, “The Rebelution,” blog of Alex and Brett Harris. What amazing young men! Their parents must be so grateful to be blessed to have raised up young men who are walking in the faith and encouraging others to do the same.

The motto of the Rebelution is “Do hard things.” They describe their ministry this way:

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 premise is that the current “teen culture” and the low expectations that our culture has of young people, is a relatively new phenomenon. The word “teenager” wasn’t even in existance until the 1940s.  In previous generations, young people were expected to be mature and responsible. I can’t begin to summarize the incredible information and encouragement that they give on their website, but I will quote a few examples they give of “teenagers” of the past:

David Farragut, the U.S. Navy’s first admiral, became a midshipman on the warship Essex at the age of 10. At the age of 12, a mere boy by modern standards, Farragut was given command of his first ship, sailing a capture vessel, crew, and prisoners, back to the U.S. after a successful battle. Young David was given responsibility at an early age, and he rose to the occasion.

The father of our country, George Washington, though never thought to be particularly bright by his peers, began to master geometry, trigonometry, and surveying when he would have been a 5th or 6th grader in our day and ceased his formal education at 14 years of age. At the age of 16 he was named official surveyor for Culpepper County, Virginia. For the next three years, Washington earned nearly $100,000 a year (in modern purchasing power). By the age of 21, he had leveraged his knowledge of the surrounding land, along with his income, to acquire 2,300 acres of prime Virginian land.

They go on to say:

After reading the examples of great men of our country’s past, we should recognize that there is no reason why a 13 to 18 year old cannot behave as a responsible adult. History proves it is possible. Diverse cultures confirm its validity. The only thing holding young people back in America today is the twine of this perpetual recess called adolescence and the twig of lowered social expectations. We expect immaturity and irresponsibility, from ourselves and from one another, and that is exactly what we get.

The call is to not settle for the status quo, but to “do hard things.” The culture expects little, but God expects more.

A person could spend hours on their site, but I’ll leave you with just one video that I watched that made me laugh. While humorous, it does make a very clear and important point. It is called “Eight Reasons Why I Don’t Share My Faith.”

Way to go, Alex and Brett!