The Rebelution (Part 3)

After a break, Brett delivered the message of the second session.

Brett’s point in this session was to explain what “do hard things” is all about; telling both why we should do hard things, and how we can go about doing them.

He started off by telling the story of his first shower [http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2006/05/my-first-shower-nearly-killed-me], in order to show how the big challenges that we face now are no different from the ones we have already faced and overcome (like learning to walk, becoming potty trained, or taking a shower). Yet for some reason, the older we get, the more we define our limitations by what is easiest for us – so often, we write off the opportunity to grow by taking the attitude that we are “not a people-person,” or “not a math-person,” or any number of “well, I’m just not a *insert noun*-person,” and we limit ourselves only to things that come easily; but if our little siblings were to say the same kinds of things, we would be not only shocked, but we would under no circumstances allow them to get away with it – I mean, can you imagine a three-year old saying “I’ll never get this bathroom thing – I’m just not a toilet person”? Or what about a ten-year old saying “making my bed is so hard, I’m just not a blanket person”?

We live in a culture that expects us, as both teenagers and adults, to survive (be potty trained), but not to thrive (know complex algebra). But God isn’t glorified when His people don’t use what He’s given them…He is glorified when we do hard things, not easy things.” We grew as kids by doing difficult things – so that’s what we need to do to keep growing, because doing hard things is what living breathing people do (if no-one did hard things, the human race could never have survived).

So how are we supposed to go about actually doing hard things? And what does doing hard things look like? Brett explained seven different aspects of doing hard things:

1. Doing hard things looks like trampling sin in our life
We must fight sin because it is the most destructive thing to God’s work that can happen – sin is always bad; yet at the same time, sin is often the “easiest” option. Being a slacker is wrong, but easy, while being diligent is right and hard. This is why we must fight against sin as long and as hard as we can.

2. Doing hard things looks like battling discouragement and complacency
Fighting discouragement is important for several reasons
· First, because strength does not lie in giftedness – it is achieved. Thus, we must not lose hope if we fail while trying…even though it is very cliché, we should “try again.”
· Second, because worthwhile things are not easy – they’re hard! So if things get tough, we should not become discouraged, but rather press on even harder…which is the third reason
· Because worthwhile things are hard – we should never give up when we meet resistance, we should keep going.
Complacency, which is a smug self-satisfaction, is the greatest enemy to growth, because it is an attitude of “I’m good enough and don’t have to work anymore” – if our purpose in life is to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and growth means doing hard things, then complacency is 180° from what we should be doing.

*If anyone remembers them, I’d appreciate the list of things that Brett gave that might be occasions for complacency “top of the class, likely to be president…” – I was listening, rather than writing notes and can’t remember the 6 or so examples that he gave.*

[The question I put in my notes was “How Do We Fight This??” – this is the very thing that I must constantly guard against, because God has blessed me with great ability (at least in school), and it would be extremely easy to slip into a complacent mode of thought and action.]

Doing hard things is about building muscle – something that requires diligent exercise…relaxation does not build muscles. And it’s not only physical muscle, it’s spiritual muscle (exercising our selves unto godliness), and mental muscle (training our renewed minds {Rom. 12:1-2} to think as Christ does).

3. Doing hard things looks like doing more than is required
Brett explained the history of the Vikings, talking about how they were the fiercest warriors in the world – feared by all. One of the reasons that they were so terrifying was their strength…which they gained through exercise. How? By rowing themselves to the battle – they didn’t use slaves to row their boats…they did it themselves, and because of this, they grew far stronger than they would have otherwise. How does this apply to us? We need to go the extra mile, challenge ourselves, because doing more than is easy is the very thing that increases our strength.

4. Doing hard things looks like getting over our fear of failure
“There is nothing stupider, (perhaps this is a bad word in some families, but it is true) nothing stupider than not doing what we know is right, only because we fear that we’ll fail.” Brett went on to explain why we should not fear failure, starting with an example: if he challenged everyone in the auditorium to 100 push-ups, chances are that there would be a few really strong guys who would take up the challenge…and even more certainly, Brett would lose – probably not making it even close to 100 – so why do it? Brett pointed out that, even if the strong guys make it to 100 fairly easily, they did not grow stronger at even close to the rate that Brett would (even though he would probably fail). The lesson: it’s okay to fail while trying hard things, first because you actually tried (rather than giving up without even starting), and second because you get stronger even though you fail.

5. Doing hard things looks different for every person
People are different, and have very different gifts, talents, and circumstances; however, differences in gifts or circumstances is no excuse for not doing hard things – but those hard things will take different forms. The prime example that Brett gave was that of men and women – each very different in gifts and circumstances – each has a very different role, but this does not relieve them from the responsibility of doing hard things – it just means that they do different hard things.

6. Doing hard things looks like doing small things…not only big things
It is easy to think of “doing hard things” as involving the “big” things in life – preaching the gospel, going on a missions trip, etc. – but in reality, the hard things that we have to take care to do are the small, everyday things – being courteous, holding the door open, making sure to keep our every action pure, watching the words we speak, cleaning up after ourselves, respecting our parents, loving our siblings, etc. – because “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10).

7. Doing hard things is our best life
Not our easiest life – not even our funnest life…our best life. It will be difficult, perhaps even seemingly impossible at times, but serving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (emphasis on all) will result in our living the best, most productive, and fruitful life, a life that gives God all the glory that he deserves from us. In doing this, not only will we reach our full potential, we will realize God’s full potential for us; we will stretched to our limits, but if our sufficiency is of God, we cannot truly fail in serving him.


That's all I have typed up for now... eventually I'll get Gregg Harris' session posted.

"Non-Vehicle"

I was reading through the Sequim Municipal Code (yes, it's as boring as it sounds) as part of my internship with the City...and I came across this in the definition section:

"'Non-vehicle' is any object which is not a vehicle.' (SMC10.12.010c)

I was like, "Wow...if we have to resort to definitions like this...we have totally lost it!"


Now...having thought about the quote for most of the day...here's my thought: maybe we need to be more blatantly obvious. What would happen if the legal system didn't have a complete set of definitions (sometimes insanely simple ones)? There would be chaos, because people would be using whatever definition they had grown up with!

I think it's the same way with being a Christian -- if we don't make it completely obvious, it is way too easy for people to mistake it for something else: they may think we "are just a nice person"...or "he's a great guy"...or "they're really easy to get along with"...or any number of things, EXCEPT the one that they should say, if we have been dipped in the blood of Jesus and filled with His Spirit.

A Letter

To whom it may concern -- that is, you,

Have you contemplated the goodness of God? It is His goodness that leads to repentance.

His goodness does not consist in forcing every situation to result in the best possible outcome, but in His gracious allowance of our choices, His just reward for our successes and failures, and his provision: for forgiveness of past failures and for exceeding abundant power to succeed (neither of which we deserve)! What then should be our response to God's unpeakable goodness?

First, it should be sorrow, but not mere moroseness. Godly sorrow is contrition -- a realization of God's good standard and our failure to meet it -- deep, no, total regret of our misdeeds and desire to have done rightly.

Second; however, this sorrow should never be our primary mode of existence, because the purpose of godly sorrow is to work repentance. Desire to do right and regret do not make repentance, for repentance is an action. To repent is not to regret our past actions, but to change our present life (that is, our actions); it is also not an incremental change, but a complete, entire, and wholehearted change -- from sinful, selfish motives and actions to reliance on, devotion to, and service to God. In short, repentance is forsaking sinful sef-centeredness and consecrating our life and motives to God, centered on His will, His wisdom, and His lordship as supreme.

Thirdly, our response should be one of continued, persevering submission to God and His cause. Repentance is a start (in fact, the only start), but it is only a start -- we must continue in choosing to act rightly. This is righteousness, for we have not been merely saved from sin (though we do not deserve even this), we have been saved to righteousness. This is the defining mark of every true child of God, for John tells us that in this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: the children of God work righteousness, while the children of the devil work sin (I John 3:10).

Is your life centered around God and His goodness? Or is your life centered around what is best for you and those you love?


In Christ,

Andrew Powers