This morning I was reading a post I made earlier this year about 17-year-old Jaime Coleman, who collected over 4,200 pairs of shoes for the people of Karogoto. If you haven’t read it, go read it now — and even if you have, it won’t hurt to read it again.

Brett and I love coming across young people with stories like Jaime’s. We love sharing them because they inspire and challenge us. Nothing is better proof of the truth of the Rebelution than when ordinary young people live out its message. But we also love the opportunity that real-life stories provide to learn about how God wants to use each of us to do hard things for Him. Jaime’s story is no different.

Dream Big or Start Small?

The main lesson I want us to learn from Jaime is that she didn’t set out to collect 4,200 pairs of shoes, travel to Africa, or be invited to the White House. Her desire was to participate in the work of her local church. Her goal was small: 150 pairs of shoes. And even now, she refuses to take credit for what God has done.

“People keep telling me to look at the wonderful job that I have done,” she explained to the Scranton Times-Tribune, a local newspaper. “But, I didn’t do it. I believe in God and He took this simple dream and turned it into [what it is now].”

Brett and I never want to discourage rebelutionaries from dreaming big, but we’ve also observed that God usually passes over the person with big plans in favor of the one who has a heart to love others, to trust Him, and to take that first small step for its own sake — whether it’s starting a blog or a Bible study, shooting free throws — or, like Jaime, walking barefoot around a high school track with friends.

Faith, Humility, and Availability

What Brett and I don’t want is for you to read stories like the ones here on the blog (or in Chapter 11 of Do Hard Things) and think that to “do hard things” and glorify God, you need a plan to accomplish something “big” or “great.” Stories like Jaime’s should reinforce the reality that what God is looking for is faith, humility, and availability — not glory-seeking, selfish ambition, or an idea that God is most glorified when we impress the most people.

What does that look like in practice? One of the questions we get the most from other young people is, “I want to do hard things, but I don’t know where to start! What should I do?” The answer is that you start right where you are: being faithful in the things you already know God wants you to do. If we aren’t willing to do hard things at home or at school, we’ll never be ready to in the outside world.

Pursuing Faithfulness, Not Success

Being a rebelutionary does not — and cannot — mean that we ignore small ordinary things in order to do big impressive things. Being a rebelutionary means committing to doing even small ordinary things extraordinarily well. As each of us are faithful in that, God will be faithful to prepare us for whatever it is He has called us to do — whether it be today, tomorrow, or ten years from now.

For some of us it will be big, for some it will be small — but only in the world’s eyes. Whether big or small, God will be glorified — and the world will be changed by a generation that gives up the pursuit of success to pursue a life of faithfulness.

That’s when the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Young people are pretty good at memorizing. We’ll memorize our favorite scenes from movies. We’ll memorize songs. We’ll memorize jokes. We’ll memorize tongue twisters. We’ll memorize lines for plays, information for quizzes, and speeches for competition. For most of us, memorization is not that hard and will never be easier.

But of all the things we have stored in our minds, readily available, far too little of it is Scripture. The verses we memorized as kids are crowded out of our minds by trivial “stuff.” Consistency, meditation, and dedication (the hard, little things) are lacking. Instead of the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” we have an empty scabbard. Movie lines an are a poor defense against temptation.

Nothing will better equip us to live as rebelutionaries than for “the word of God to dwell [us] richly” (Colossians 3:16). That’s why Brett and I are so excited about a new project we just found out about. The National Bible Bee is a first-of-its-kind annual competition that challenges young people — age 7 to 18 — to make a passionate commitment to Scripture memory and Bible knowledge.

The National Bible Bee already has almost 350 officially registered Local Bible Bees in 49 of the 50 states — and over 6,000 enrolled contestants and counting! The top contestants from around the country in each age group will advance to the national contest at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. — and unlike most other competitions, there really are no losers in this Bible-focused event.

Visit the official website to find and register for a Local Bible Bee competition near you. The deadline for enrollment is April 30th — just 12 days away!

+ www.BibleBee.org +

The call to “do hard things” is a call to be different. That is why we are so excited about a great new book by our friend, Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vih-jin), called “Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different.” This is a perfect book for rebelutionaries.

Tullian argues that “Christians make a difference in this world by being different from this world; they don’t make a difference by being the same,” and he explains exactly what that looks like with regards to community, lifestyle, work, money, relationships, worship, and the church.

Take a minute to watch Tullian explain why he wrote “Unfashionable” (above, or on Amazon.com) and check out this review at TrevinWax.com. This would make a highly worthy addition to any rebelutionary’s summer reading list.

© 2009 GizaraArts.com

Zac Sunderland has received a lot of attention for his holy ambition — attempting to become the youngest person ever to solo-circumnavigate the globe. But what most of the mainstream media coverage doesn’t mention is that Zac is a strong Christian, homeschooled, and a true rebelutionary — with terrific fashion sense.

A few days ago, Zac was asked about his collection of very stylish “Do Hard Things” t-shirts. Here’s what he said in a recent post on his blog:

Seth Spearman asked if the “Do Hard Things” shirt that I wear is related to the book Do Hard Things by the Harris brothers.

Yes it is. My mom heard Alex & Brett on the radio one day and bought the book. She went on their web site but they did not sell t-shirts there (at least at that time) so she had one made online. Someone saw a photo of me in the shirt and word got to Alex & Brett who sent me a few of their shirts and another copy of the book. It is a great book for young people to read. It shows a pattern of lower and lower expectations from today’s youth and destroys the myth that that is how is needs to be. Young people can do hard things!

Thanks for the shout-out, Zac! We and many other rebelutionaries around the world are praying for you. Stay strong and make it back safe. Soli Deo gloria!

+ ZacSunderland.com +

Brett and I recently had the opportunity to sit on a Christianity Today panel on the “emerging church” at the Christian Book Expo in Dallas — along with experts Kevin DeYoung, Tony Jones, and Scot McKnight.

To be honest, we were a little bit intimidated to discuss such an important (and controversial) topic with men who are much older, wiser, and more learned than we are. Our goal was to listen, ask questions, and to bear testimony to what we do know — a newer generation than the emerging generation, a newer movement than the emerging movement.

We’re talking about a generation of Christian young people who passionately pursue timeless truth and biblical orthodoxy, and at the same time are deeply committed to really living out the life, love, and teachings of Jesus Christ. We’re talking about a movement of rebelutionaries.

Brett and I certainly shared some of Kevin’s frustrations about the discussion — and I know Scot and Tony were frustrated as well. But at the same time, we were encouraged by how the panel ended — with hope for a new generation, grounded in love and truth, living it, and proclaiming it boldly.

Some exciting news — and a call to action! John Robert Moore, a 19-year-old rebelutionary from Texas — whose film The Widow’s Might beat out Fireproof and Expelled for the Best of Festival and Audience Choice Award at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in January — passes on this update: The Widow’s Might is getting a limited theatrical release across the country, starting April 13th — just about two weeks from today.

If you want to help spread the message that young people are capable of far more than what society expects, this is a terrific opportunity to support a long-time rebelutionary who is making some waves. As with any theatrical release (and even more so for limited runs) the first week is critical.

We’re encouraging you to do hard things — make sure you and your family (and your friends) make it to the nearest screening. What’s more, we encourage you to champion this effort by spreading the word. You can find a list of theaters and times by clicking on the above image (or just click here). Catch the movie trailer below, which can be imbedded on your blog as well.

UPDATE: Even if there are no showings in your area, check out the location listings and alert friends or relatives in areas where it is. Every bit helps!

For more background, read this letter John wrote to rebelutionaries last year.