Encouraging Teens to Do Hard (and Worthwhile) Things
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What’s Up:
Ask some adults what they think of when they hear the word teen, and you’ll likely get some dispiriting responses. Some might say teens are “lazy,” “selfish” or “pampered.”
Those perceptions may be changing—thanks in part to twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris.
Alex and Brett, 21, recently published Start Here, a follow-up to their testament to God-centric activism, Do Hard Things. Both books encourage readers to drop the remote and pick up the cross—sacrificing their time and using their talents to help others.
“We invited our peers to choose to do hard things for the glory of God and, in the process, turn the world’s idea of what teens are capable of upside down,” Alex and Brett write in Start Here. “We called it The Rebelution—a combination of rebellion and revolution to create a whole new word with a whole new meaning. We defined rebelution as ‘a teenage rebellion against low expectations.’
Start Here, bolstered by the Harris’ Web site and blog, is a call to action and a pragmatic guide. Brett and Alex offer suggestions about how teens can pick a need, work with their churches and raise money for their projects.
Some of those bits of advice are given by real teens who’ve been inspired to join the Rebelution. “What I have found is that in order to do hard things and conquer big challenges, we need to be willing to listen to that little voice the Holy Spirit uses,” says 17-year-old Elisabeth. “The more you listen, the clearer it becomes. In order to do the great things, you first must be a servant.”
Brett and Alex want teens to push themselves to do God’s work here on earth. Perhaps one day they’ll all help change what people think it means to be a teen. “As thousands of young people around the world are discovering,” they write, “doing hard things is the most satisfying, thrilling way to live some of the best years of our lives.”
Talk About It:
Have you ever thought about doing something worthwhile and outside your comfort zone? Something that Alex and Brett would call a “hard thing”? What would that “hard thing” look like? What’s stopping you?
Brett and Alex say some youth would like to start a project, but they can become intimidated because the problems they’re trying to tackle—or the project itself—can seem so huge. They say that’s no excuse to hold back: “Big hard things [are] usually made up of a lot of small hard things,” they write. Once you think of a project, can you carve it in to littler pieces? What would be your first step?
“God didn’t make us to be independent but interdependent,” Brett and Alex write. “A quick look around shows clearly that we were created to depend on others and have others depend on us.” Where can you get support for your big thing: Friends? Parents? Schools? Churches? Who knows more about this thing you’re working on than you do? Can you lean on someone else’s knowledge or experience? Do you want to join someone else’s project?
What the Bible Says:
“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” (
“Be devoted to each other in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor…If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it (
