Becoming Men: Feats of our Forefathers
Our second article published with Boundless Webzine.
We’re all familiar with names like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These men, along with others, were our forefathers and the founders of our nation. They signed the Declaration of Independence and wrote the Constitution. They won the Revolutionary War.
Not only that, but their incredible accomplishments weren’t limited to their adult lives. John Hancock entered Harvard University when he was 13 years old. Samuel Adams completed his master’s degree before he turned 21. Thomas Jefferson frequently studied 15 hours a day during his time at the College of William and Mary.
Of course, at this point it’s easy for all of us normal people to place these guys in the “superhuman” or “so-smart-it’s-disgusting” category and move on. However, there’s a danger in thinking that God simply blessed America with a generation chock-full of patriotic super-nerds just in time to write the Constitution.
You see, once we label people as a “geniuses” we usually cease to feel the need to learn from them or to be challenged by their example. The truth is that our forefathers weren’t nerds and their early college entrances were not unusual for their time.
Rather, what stood these young men apart from their peers was (1) a seemingly corporate sense that age could not keep them from accomplishing great things, and (2) an extraordinary drive that we like to call the “do hard things” mentality.
As we explore the different ways these traits played out in the early years of some of our most famous forefathers, our hope is that we will all gain a greater vision of our own God-given potential and calling.
George Washington: “He Didn’t Mark Time”
We all know George Washington as the first President of the United States, the Commander of the Revolutionary Army and the Father of our Country. These are impressive titles and the jobs that went with them couldn’t be more difficult.
But a quick glance at Washington’s teenage and young adult years indicates that these weren’t his first big titles or even his first weighty responsibilities. Rather, what comes through is a man who, from his childhood, chose to do hard things, and then did those things to the best of his ability.
According to the George Washington Bicentennial Committee (WBC), Washington was born into a “middling rank” family, lost his father when he was 11, and was never considered particularly bright or educated by his peers. Nevertheless, he developed a “passion for education [that] caused him to concentrate on hard study” and he mastered geometry, trigonometry, and surveying by the time he was 16 years old.
At the age of 17, Washington received his first big job when Lord Thomas Fairfax, one of the largest landowners in Virginia (we’re talking 5.3 million acres here), named him official surveyor for Culpepper County, Virginia.
At the time surveyors were some of the highest paid workers in the country, second only to trial lawyers. This means that Washington, at age 17, was earning today’s equivalent of over $100,000 a year.
Don’t get this wrong. Washington wasn’t an ornament who sat in an office while adult men did the real work. His journals reflect the rigor of frontier life and the WBC describes the appointment as “the fitting of a man’s tasks to the square young shoulder of a boy without cutting those tasks to a boy’s measure.”
Washington was a man at 17 years old.
Three years later Washington received his next big responsibility when the governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed him district adjutant of the militia, with the rank of major.
Then, when word came that the French were encroaching on Ohio territory, Governor Dinwiddie chose young Major Washington to lead a mid-winter expedition to assess French military strength and intentions, and to warn the French to leave.
We don’t know about you, but to us traveling hundreds of miles in the middle of winter to tell a large garrison of French soldiers to pack up and leave doesn’t sound very easy or appealing. That’s because it wasn’t.
Nevertheless, 21-year-old Washington not only successfully carried out this mission, but also continued to serve as a primary negotiator and principle actor throughout the French and Indian War.
By age 22 he had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and by age 23 he was Commander in Chief of the entire Virginia Militia. He’d been shaving for less than a decade, but no one seemed to notice, and we’re sure he never mentioned it.
Perhaps the WBC put it best when they wrote, “[Washington] did not mark time in any of the important positions of his life…. Just as [he] stepped into a man-sized job as a surveyor, so when he accepted Governor Dinwiddie’s mission to Ohio he stepped not only into a man-sized task but into a path which led, as we now are able to trace it, directly to the American independence, of which he was the chosen instrument.”
As The Twig Is Bent, So Grows The Tree
Even if we’d never read a history book and were forced to go solely off of what we now know about the first 23 years of his life, we’d be fools not to predict that George Washington would grow up to be somebody. In fact, we might even insist that he’d become President someday — even bet on it.
That’s because, inside, we all know that young adulthood is not some mystical time period that has no effect on the rest of our lives. These years are the profound shapers of our lives. Here we set our direction, develop habits, and build momentum. As an old saying goes, “As a twig is bent, so grows the tree.”
This understanding is what our founding fathers had in common. It was the secret to their greatness. They put into practice the principle of Lamentations 3:27, “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”
As young adults they adopted the determination and high ideals that went on to characterize their entire lives. Their history-making adult years were directly connected to their focused years as young adults.
It is no coincidence that the same Samuel Adams who organized the Boston Tea Party at age 51 wrote his master’s thesis in defense of the people’s liberties at age 21.
It is no coincidence that David Farragut, who became the U.S. Navy’s first Admiral at age 65, was given command of his first ship at age 12.
It is no coincidence that Alexander Hamilton, who became our nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury at age 34, was a clerk in a counting house at age 13.
Likewise, it is no coincidence that, as the primary author of the Federalist Papers at age 32, Hamilton had already been publishing political pamphlets since he was 19.
And, of course, it is no surprise that the same George Washington who became the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army at age 43, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia Militia 20 years earlier.
A Revolution Worth Fighting
Of course, it’s one thing to understand this. It’s a whole different thing to apply it to our own lives. But if our desire is to impact this world for Christ, we have to.
We can learn a lot from our forefathers. They lived in a time very different from our own, but their example couldn’t be more relevant. In a world that is looking to our generation for direction and leadership and finding a bunch of kidults, the commitment to do hard things as young adults is a much-needed revolution.
Don’t get us wrong. Our generation won’t be shooting guns or throwing tea in the ocean. Our enemy today is not King George. Rather we do battle with a culture that looks down on true adulthood and celebrates immaturity and irresponsibility.
In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul writes, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” As followers of Christ, we are called to a higher standard.
We need to be honest with ourselves. Is how we’re spending our time now preparing us for what we want to become? Are we doing hard things now that will equip us for greater things God may have for us in the future? These are the fundamental questions for this season of our lives.
Historian Peter Henriques, author of Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington, put it this way: “Washington became the man he strove to be.”
Henriques’ statement is not only true of Washington and the rest our forefathers, but it’s also true about us. We will become the men and women we strive to be.
Like our forefathers, this generation faces a crisis and an opportunity. A crisis, in the sense that we can no longer afford to avoid responsibility, and an opportunity, in the sense that we can choose today to buckle down and “do hard things” for the glory of God. The future of our nation and our world depends on it.
December 11th, 2006 at 12:20 pm
This is a very challenging post. I often have a hard time taking on responsibility. It is so easy to look at the amazing accomplishments of others and simply file them under the genius category instead of trying to learn from them. When reading about all our forefathers did, I can’t help but think that if that level of commitment was normal back then, America’s youth have fallen far, and based on the laziness I see at my public highschool, we won’t be getting up any time in the near future. Thank you for this call to accept the “opportunity” of hard work and avoid the “crisis.” Your articles are exactly the kind of thing we need to be hearing.
December 20th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
There’s a great book by Bob Buford called Half Time; Changing Your Game Plan From Success to Significance. It speaks to men (and women) who have succeeded in a career and are either retired or mostly independently wealthy. The author inspires men in these phases in their lives to use their gifts and tallents and their new-found spare time to do something “significant.” Thus “From Success to Signficance.” I found myself in that position a few years ago and my pastor gave me that book.
But there’s a problem with this perspective. Why wait till “Half Time” (in other words: mid-life). Our nation has veered to far to the “left” and nothing seems to be able to turn the ship around. “The hearts of the wise incline to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left (Ecclesiastes 10:2) The Christian mid-lifers can’t get it done. The believing youth of today really do need to change the course of our nation.
1 Timothy 4:12 truely is a call to today’s youth. I believe that call is the hope of our future as a nation.
Do Hard Things!
December 23rd, 2006 at 3:16 pm
It is no coincidence that John Hancock, who was the richest man in the colonies, was a smuggler during every single war with Britian.
One thing that really bugs me is that history books portray every person in one of two ways. The book either makes the person out to be a perfect human being or as the worse person who ever lived…eg John Quincy Adams is portrayed in my Jr. U.S. History book as a pimp. Was Adams like that at all?
January 14th, 2007 at 11:55 am
The word crisis was originally a medical term- it was the point when a patient was going to get better or die.
We do face a crisis right now in our world. Are we going to let it plummet into it’s pride of immaturity and irresponsibility? or do we take on the challenge of being servants of Christ doing hard things for him as we live, pray and study God’s word. The result being that through God’s grace people are saved and realise their responsiblities- even young people like us!
May we always pray that God would turn the world upside down that there would be positive effects for lost sinners through his great love.
Thank you for this post- very challenging to a time-wasting sinner!
January 30th, 2007 at 5:51 am
It is very true that these historical figures in american history deserve our admiration for their accomplishments. The biblical principal portrayed through their lives is true, “[as a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7. What we should remember most of all is that Christ is our example, not men. That means following Christ in all of His ways and not what our traditions of Him have taught us.
February 12th, 2007 at 8:02 am
theres a great mith about washington, you point him out that he was so succesfull but you say it hinting that he went against his culture - FAR FROM IT - you would never have even heard his name spoken today if it wasn’t for the fact that he was such a devout studier of culture and practiced daily to fit in as best he could. washington is an example on how to succede by fitting into culture - he was the movie star of his time and its a good thing he wasn’t the only man writing the constition or we would have a monarchy
these men were celebrities, well cultured yes, but they were just a dumb and dog headed at current celebrities, only their collective hatred of the drown crown and Gods grace held this country together and allowed those men to write the constitution. might i also point out it took them 13 years of arguing and they still screwd up major points of the constitution such as slavery, gun and weaponry ownership, and taxes
don’t put these men on a pedestal, you can do far better
March 19th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Should women strive for this category, or is it just for men?
Never mind. I think I know what Christianity says on that point.
May 10th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Hi!! guys This post is a challenge to all the guys on here, I know one thing is for sure it left an impression on me.
Great message!! God Bless.
June 4th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I think the advice on moral living you are giving out to young people is right on target. You encourage both men and women to live strong, brave, and courageous lives for Christ. The leadership of our founding fathers in large part can be attributed to the strong Christian convictions of the mothers of America. Its too bad our young people are not being taught the true meaning of strength. It comes from character. Unfortunately, as the character of America\’s education, religious, and political leaders further deteriorates - our people lose their moral compass. Its time for brave men and women to stand their ground. There is a war against our people and it has begun. Put on the whole armor of God - men and women - because the destruction that faces our nation is an equal opportunity crisis. Its against the guys and the ladies. So take your place for Christ and never show tolerance toward the hatred of our Lord and Savior lest we find ourselves standing with the world and not with Jesus.
August 1st, 2007 at 8:59 pm
In some ways i think it might be easier if our enemy were King George and his army– because the enemy would be recognized as a foreign opponent of which we must be rid…but now our “enemy” (the mindset of this culture) lives among us and is accepted and embraced by those around us, and is in our faces every day, … it is in the media, movies, neighbors and friends, at schools, and even at our churches. It feels like we’re fighting a Civil War… against ourselves, all those around us, and against an entire culture.
~Elisabeth Gruber
September 19th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I think that since the enemy is in our midst it is harder, like elisabeth said. But its worse than a civil war. its like a civil war where we are tempted to give up. God be with you all.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:43 am
[…] The Rebelution addresses this question in their post: Becoming Men, Feats of our Forefathers. Their prescription? For young people to do hard things. […]
October 25th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
This is great. This is just a great example of what we are to become. This generation is this country’s future. No, the world’s future. Someone posting here could be the president of 2024. Someone else could be a great preacher that helps send the great news of Jesus Christ our Savior.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Wow! Talk about a challenging and rather guilt-inducing article… I mean that in a good way. That woke me up a little bit there… I think I’m gonna try to shave off some of the less important things I’ve been doing lately and focus more on “hard stuff” that’s worth doing. Thanks for the wake-up call!!
March 17th, 2008 at 3:10 am
That was another great article, friend. It’s so interesting to read history and to learn from the examples of those who have gone before us. I’ve never read that about George Washington. I really pray that the Lord will indeed help to become the woman that I strive to be! I love the verse, “Do everything HEARTILY as unto the Lord and not to men”. You can really see that passion in the lives of these men. God bless you. Your sister in Christ, Kedesh
July 30th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Wow ! Im a big history buff and I didnt know that.That makes us teenagers look like babies.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Wow! a friend sent me a link of your site and so far so great.You guys have a great ministry here.I am 23 and an African living in Africa.Uganda in particular.The American culture has seeped through to us through the media and is having a terrible effect on the youth.Uganda has the youngest population in the world. 50% of the population are 15 and below.I think your sort of ministry would do alot to help the situation here.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
It is amazing what other people have done. I never new that David Farragut was such a hero. There are countless examples of young people that do hard things like Alex and Brett. When I read the part where they worked for the Alabama Supreme Court, it blew me away! It’s amazing how low expectations others, and even myself, have for young people.
September 21st, 2008 at 11:42 am
WOW! I will try hard to be more like the great men [and women] of our past.