Rebels and Revolutionaries

Recently I have come back to my hometown after graduating from college.  There were many feelings and emotions that came with that return to the homeland but one of the really awesome things was being able to come back and work with the youth group that I was a founding member of.  I get to work with a really awesome group of kids that never cease to amaze me!  I look back on who I was when I was their age and the struggles and issues that I faced.  I was always so aggressive; always looking for a fight and usually finding one.  There was a lot of anger and resentment towards people in my life, especially to authority figures because I felt as though I was constantly being lied to by them.  I hated being tied down to stupid rules that I saw as just another way to brain wash and control me.  I went to a Christian school riddled with structure and rules; who’s main purpose it was to guilt us into conformity.  Now… that was a problem for someone like me who’s not hardwired like everyone else and who doesn’t really do the whole guilt thing very well.  I found myself constantly bucking the rider and throwing the reins.  I became known as, as well as self proclaimed, a rebel.  For a long time I felt very justified in my rebellion because what they were doing and how they were doing it was wrong!  When I went off to college I grew up a lot and learned, mainly by failing, many life lessons; one of the biggest being that rebels don’t change the world.  All rebels do is create chaos fueled by bitter, angry people that know how to tear down the walls of injustice but have no idea how to build something from the rubble.  I remained fiery and continued to push the lines but I learned how to do it in a way that pushed people towards change instead of just created chaos.  This summer I went to youth camp as an adult leader and we talked about being a revolutionary.  That’s when it clicked for me.  See, there’s a difference between a rebel and a revolutionary.  A rebel just resists authority for the sake of the resisting; a revolutionary resists in order to make a change.  I have always claimed a rebel heart but I am being transformed into a revolutionary.  There is much that needs changing in our world, in our churches, in our Christian schools… and I want to start a revolution.  I want a revolution that frees people from the oppression of religious nonsense that Christ never supported.  I want a revolution that pushes our churches to pursue love and grace over guilt and greed.  I want a revolution that causes Christian schools to produce kids that want and desire God instead of those that just go through the motions so as not to be caught out of line.  It’s time for a change in our world.  It’s time for us to stand up and start a revolution.