You read about Alex and Brett Harris in Breakaway’s September’s print edition. Those 18-year-old twins from Gresham, Ore., started The Rebelution, a movement challenging teens to “rebel against the low expectations of an ungodly culture.”
So, now you’re ready to join the fight and become a Rebelutionary? But exactly how do you “rebel” on a regular basis?
“What we have found is that the best answer is not a list of specific actions, but a mentality you take as you approach every area of your life,” Alex says. “That mentality is simple, just three words, and it’s the battle cry of the Rebelution movement: Do hard things.”
For the committed Rebelutionary, worldly teenage idleness just won’t do.
“The do hard things mentality is the complete opposite,” Alex says. “It’s how we build character and competence. It won’t drop to meet low expectations, it won’t just do what comes easily and it won’t become complacent. It applies no matter who you are or what level you’re on, because there’s always something harder to do, something that will take you outside your comfort zone and cause you to grow.”
It obviously won’t always be easy, and all this godly rebellion is bound to draw attention sooner or later. Some of the harshest opposition to Alex and Brett’s unique work focused on The Modesty Survey, an online rebelutionary (there’s that word again) discussion on modesty in dress and fashion. Last January, hundreds of Christian girls developed a 148-question survey “that covered everything from glitter lotion to swimsuits,” according to Brett. Then more than 1,600 Christian guys responded with 150,000-plus answers over a 20-day period. The twins painstakingly compiled the results and presented them on their site as a gift to their sisters in Christ on Valentine’s Day.
Certain critics cried “Chauvinism!” or worse. What was the worst feedback the twins received?
“Probably something like: ‘You bleepity-bleep-bleep!’” Brett says, laughing. “We’ve taken a lot of heat for putting on The Modesty Survey, a lot of nasty e-mails.”
Dealing with persecution is never fun—or easy. And the Bible promises it will come to Christ’s followers. But you can beat it. Here are some tips from Alex:
• Take solace in the fact that Jesus dealt with it, too. “We can find comfort that the world hated Jesus first, and that He has conquered the world,” Alex says.
• Be glad that persecution often means you’re being different from the world. “Just like the disciples in the book of Acts,” Alex says, “we can rejoice that we were considered worthy to suffer for Christ.”
• Find some Christian brothers to lean on. “Like it says in Ecclesiastes 4:12,” Alex says. “ ‘Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.’ ” 
Learn more about The Rebelution at http://www.therebelution.com/.
