Do Hard Things

A thriving Christian counterculture will fight poverty, heal disease, and expose corruption even as we earnestly fight against the sin and spiritual darkness at the root of all suffering.A generation of rebelutionaries will write books, direct films, raise and train children, design buildings, run for office, and make scientific and medical discoveries. We will strive to bring the truth of God’s Word and the gospel to bear on every area of life we touch.

Do Hard Things

Do Hard Things is no ordinary self-help book. It calls for teenagers to rebel against the culture’s low expectations and throw themselves fully into service for God. It challenges teenagers everywhere to get out and do hard things.

And if you’re not a teenager, don’t stop reading yet! The principles of this book apply to everyone.

There is nothing I can say about the book that the book itself can’t say better, but I’ll try to summarize the main points and mention what I’ve learned from it.

Back In The Day

The authors take the first chapters to introduce themselves and the birth of the rebelution. What is the rebelution? They explain:

The world rebelution is probably new to you. To be honest, we made it up. We combined rebellion and revolution to form an entirely new word for an entirely new concept: rebelling against rebellion. More precisely, we define rebelution as “a teenage rebellion against low expectations.”

Do Hard Things

The book goes back to days of old, when fifteen-year-olds could join the military and a twelve-year-old was given charge of a ship. The authors explore the hard things teenagers used to do—before the word “teenager” existed—and how they became what they are now.

Following the lives of a few particular teenagers from history, the Harris twins expose the “Myth of Adolescence” and how it is holding teens today back from their full potential. They bring together Scripture and history to show how teenagers today are capable of so much more than what they do.

Expectations Are Everything

The problem of rampant low expectations will be an obvious one to many of my readers. It has been a problem for years.

Any more, teenagers are expected to be rebellious, immoral, and disrespectful. Most parents would be happy if their teen made their bed and got good grades. No one is surprised when a teen is involved in drugs, because everyone expects it. (Of course, those doing wrong hold full responsibility for their actions; I’m not saying this excuses them.)

I think this lie of low expectations has crept into Christian circles as well. Sure, most Christian teens aren’t doing drugs or part of gangs, but they’re just existing. I feel even Christian people don’t expect them to do anything big.

Do Hard Things tells of a better way. It says that the teen years are not a time of wastefulness and irresponsibility, they’re the launching pad for the rest of your life.

Do Hard Things

The first third of the book lays the foundation, but the second third is where it “gets good”—as if the book weren’t good up to that point. It covers five kinds of hard things, how to do them, and examples of them in action.

The first kind, things outside our comfort zone, spoke to me the most. Everyone, not just teens, tends to find their comfort zone and construct a twenty-foot-high fence around it. Anything outside the wall is deemed too hard to try.

Do Hard Things challenges you to follow God’s leading anywhere, even if it means venturing outside the confines of complacency—which it usually will.

Generation Rising

My favorite chapter has to be “Generation Rising.” It shows how the Rebelution movement can change the world if enough teenagers rebel against low expectations. Business, art, politics, medicine, all walks of life need Christians who will influence the world with the Truth.

I think Christians in “secular” jobs is something that is not emphasized as much as it should be. Yes, pastors, missionaries, and others in the ministry have high callings (I’d even say the highest calling), but those in everyday jobs are vital as well. If there are no Christian businessmen, who will support the missionaries? If there are no Christian doctors, who will hear the pastor preach?

This was the most exciting chapter for me, because it takes a break from talking about the rebelution on an individual level and talks about the world-wide implications. It talks about the three pillars of the rebelution: character, competence, and collaboration.

Overall

Do Hard Things is a life-changing book. Some parts are encouraging, some are challenging, and some make you want to get up right then and do something hard. By the end, you’ll see how these ideas are already changing lives all over the world, and how you can join the movement too.

My overall thoughts? Read the book. If you’re a teenager, read this book. If you’re tired of existing in your complacency, read this book. You won’t regret it.

Yes, it will be hard. But we’re rebelutionaries.
We do hard things.

Do Hard Things