12/25/11 The Rebelution: Rebelling against low teenage expectations

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Do Hard Things Tour, video 1 on 12/25/11

The DO HARD THINGS TOUR

Portland, Oregon

Introduction by Alex & Brett Harris

Jeremiah 1:4-8

1.      What did you think of the opening verses, especially vs. 7 “But the LORD said to me: ‘Do not say. “I am a youth,” for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.”

 

 

 

2.      Does the fact that Alex and Brett are only 19 years old inspire you?  How?

 

 

 

3.      Does the teen years matter?  If so, why?

 

 

 

4.      Are teenagers in America shackled by societal low expectations?  Explain.

 

 

 

5.      What would it look like to have young people do more than what is expected of them?

 

 

 

6.      What do you think made 17 year old “shy” Heidi step outside her comfort zone to do hard things?

 

 

 

7.      Have you had a Jeremiah moment?  Do you have one now?  What is it?

 

 

 

 

SESSION 1

1.      The Elephant of India

The elephant is used for heavy labor.  There are elephant festivals in Thailand to celebrate the strength, intelligence and beauty of elephants.  They can play basketball, do dances.  6 ton elephant beats 100 men in tug of war. 

 

The trained elephant of India is a perfect picture of the power of psychological captivity. Tamed and utilized for its enormous strength, the great beast stands nearly 10 feet tall and weighs up to 5 tons when fully grown. Its tasks may include uprooting full-grown trees, hauling great boulders, and carrying enormous loads on its shoulders. And yet, when the day’s work is done and this powerful beast must be kept from wandering off during the night, its owner simply takes a piece of twine, attaches it to a small branch embedded in the ground, and ties it around the elephant’s right hind leg. Reason dictates that the elephant can easily snap the twine or pull the twig from ground, and yet the owner does not worry, fully confident that when morning comes he will find the animal exactly where he left him. And he does.

How is this possible?
The elephant’s training begins when it is still young and considerably less powerful. Removed from its mother, the elephant is then shackled with an iron chain to a large tree. For days and weeks on end, the baby elephant strains against its restraints, only to find that all exertion is useless. Then slowly, over a period of several weeks, sometimes months, smaller chains and smaller trees are used. Eventually, you can use a piece of twine and a small branch, and the great beast will not budge. Its mind is fully committed to the idea that it cannot go anywhere when there is something around its right hind leg.

Is there a rope around your right hind leg or mind?

 

Are we conditioned to give up when things get hard?

 

2.      Origin of Teenagers

 

When did the word “teenager” first come into existence?

First documented use in Reader’s Digest 1941.

 

What did American “teenagers” do in the past (before 1900s)?

In 1900, 1/10 of 14-17 year olds attended high school.  Family and work were their primary occupation, not school.

 

George was born in 1932.  His father died when he was 11.  Not considered bright by peers, he took up trig, algebra, and surveying.  By 17 years of age, he became the official surveyor of Culpepper, Virginia.  He was a pioneer, did frontier labor, measuring uncharted areas.  His tools were heavy chains.  By 23, he became commander in chief of the state militia.  By 43, he was the commander in chief of America’s U.S. Army.

 

How old was David when he worked on the Essex?

He was born in 1801 in Knoxville.  At 9½ years old, he became a midshipman.  He saw his first battle at 11.  By 12, he commanded his first ship.  Farragut

 

How old was Clarissa when she became a nurse?

Born 1821 in Oxford, MA.  Shy, timid, baby of the family.  At 11, her brother fell off the roof of the barn and she nursed him.  At 14, she nursed an entire village  with smallpox.  At 17yo, she was schoolteacher for 40 students.  Clara Barton is the founder of the Red Cross.  Previously terrified to speak to strangers, and terrified at the sight of blood, she influenced millions now with her courage.

 

What do you think about young people given adult responsibilities?

The reason we know their stories is because of the way they spent their teen years.  They were teens before they were adults.  Teen years is a time for critical training, not a disconnected mystical time of your lives.

 

3.      The History of You

What changed adolescence in the 1900s?

Laws passed to protect young people from harsh factory conditions and low education.

 

Active contributors vs. passive consumer?

School stretched out 4 years longer than before.  More idle time.  Whole industry targeting teenagers.

 

Are teen years a vacation?

Vs. training ground and preparation.  Is it a time to kick back and goof off?

 

4.      Low Expectations

What did Google say about teen expectations?

Drugs, smoking, drinking, marijuana, cell phones.

 

What are expectations of teenagers today?

We’ve grown up in it.  We’re blind to what we’ve lost.  The current ceiling is where the floor should be.

 

5.      What the Bible says

1 Corinthians 14:20 “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding, be mature.”

 

1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

 

Timothy 4:12 “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

 

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

 

 

6.      Breaking the Twine

Are we going with the flow and wasting some of the best years of our lives?  Instead of strength, muscles atrophy?  We think we like low expectations, but we’re really being robbed.  The elephant stops as soon as it feels the twine of resistance.

 

How do you become an extraordinary adult?

The Rebelution is a call to break the shackles of what society expects of you.

 

Alex: “Is how you are spending your teen years right now, today, preparing you for the type of future that you desire for yourself, that God desires for you?  Are you doing things now that prepare you for greater things in the future? “ 

These are the foundational questions of this time of your life.  George Washington became the man that he strove to be.  DO the teen years better than ever before, for the glory of God!

 

Any ideas?  Are you having a Jeremiah moment now?  Something God is telling you to do?

 

 

Next Sunday 9:30AM: Brett