The Rebelution Conference (Part 2)

Back to the Rebelution conference – Portland 2008......


So for the first full session, Alex delivered the message.

He began by saying that an elephant was the pet that he had always wanted when he was younger (I mean…what other kid can say “yeah, I just got an elephant the other day”…you would totally rule the playground!)…but then as he grew more mature, he began to think about how you would keep an elephant from running off – they’re so strong that they are used to pull trees right out of the ground! But the owners of elephants never have a problem with their elephants running off…why? Because they tie some twine around their leg, and fasten it to a stake in the ground – the elephants never run away. What’s so special about the twine?...nothing, because the twine is not what is really keeping the elephant from breaking it and running away; the farmer, when the elephant is young, takes a chain and shackles the elephant to a tree – no matter how hard the little elephant tries, he cannot break the chain, or uproot the tree – the elephant learns that when it has something tied around it’s leg, it can’t get away…when it is tied with the twine, the shackles are not around its leg, they are around its mind. Thus, because it does not expect to be able to break free, it doesn’t even try, and thus never breaks the twine and runs away.

In many ways, we are like the elephant – we have much strength, potential, and energy – yet we are often controlled by culture’s shackles…low expectations. So what went wrong? Why do we have these low expectations, these “shackles”?

What does the Bible say about teenagers? Nothing. The Bible talks about children, and then about men – adults – there is no in-between stage ever mentioned, no mention of a time when responsibility is light and goofing off is okay – so what was it like being a teenager before the current concept of “teenager” came into being (“teenager” was first used in 1941)?

Alex gave three examples of teenagers – George (Washington), David (Farragut), and Clarissa (Clara Barton)…all three accomplished amazing things while still in their teenage years, because they had high expectations and were held to a high standard of responsibility.

So what changed between then and now?

One of the major changes was that in the early 1900s, partly because of the abusive child labour practices, it was made mandatory that children attend school through high school level – this greatly alleviated the child labour problem, but had a side-effect of causing many young people to be idle (rather than actively engaged in productive activities, as George, David, and Clarissa were)…due to this idleness, very gradually youth became consumers, rather than producers, thus creating the expectation that youth would simply be consumers (lowered expectations), and then because they were idle, youth had the opportunity to “goof off” and thus furthering the lowered expectations…so the cycle went on.

Alex quoted somebody [I don’t remember who…argh] as saying that “the current ceiling [of expectations] is where the floor should be” – our culture’s expectations for youth are so low, that “high expectations” are really only the basics!

For example, when Alex and Brett looked up “teens” and “expectations” on Google, they found a website that was for parents who wanted help raising teenagers – and they saw that there was a section about expectations, they decided to take a look, just to see what people were saying. The author first made some general comments which were pretty good, along the lines of “always encourage your teen to push himself,” etc….and then they saw some specific recommendations that parents might take as examples: for early teens (13-15) – they should be expected to make their bed every day, know how to take a message on the telephone, and clean their room (with some help from Mom and Dad); for older teens, the expectations are higher – they should be expected to do a daily chore, keep the gas tank above ¼ full, and clean their room (all by themselves!). Alex and Brett were shocked that this is all that teens are expected to do – quite a contrast when compared to what George, David, and Clarissa were expected to accomplish! Rather than simply live “up” to the current expectations, we should instead “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (I Timothy 4:12).

We are not called to fit in, but to be exemplary! (Romans 12:1-2) We need to wake up to the fact that the low expectations are robbing us!! We are like the elephant, and we need to realize that we can (and should) break the twine of low expectations, so that we can freely and effectively live for God.

So what does a “rebelution” look like? It is where teens take advantage of their teen years, as George, David, and Clarissa did, redeeming that time, and using it for what it is – critical training for adulthood. So the question we must ask ourselves is this: are we doing things now that will prepare us for adult, productive life? Are we doing what we need to do?…or are we doing what we want to do?


Forthcoming sometime in the future will be session #2, with Brett Harris…

The Rebelution Conference (Part 1)

I promised a review of the Rebelution conference, so as I have time, I will be writing a full report -- to begin with, I have the introductory remarks.

Last Saturday, I attended the Rebelution conference – Portland 2008...

Alex & Brett Harris with their father, Gregg Harris

There were four sessions:

1. Alex
2. Brett
3. Gregg
4. Alex/Gregg/Brett



Before launching into the first session, Alex and Brett introduce themselves and explain how the idea for the Rebelution began, and pose the question: “why are we here? – why are you here?”

They explained that they came to the realization that while culture says “it doesn’t matter how we spend our teen years”….it really DOES matter! So they found themselves in the same kind of position as Jeremiah, when God began to use him:

“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.” (Jer. 1:4-8)

Seeing that the culture was saying to those who “cannot speak, for they are but children” that it was okay, they didn’t really need the responsibility – they decided that this message was totally contradictory to the true, biblical purpose of not only the teenage years, but of living at all! So they began writing about “doing hard things” on their blog, and that was the beginning of the Rebelution.

....coming at some point will be the first session with Alex Harris.