Rebels at War: a must read

Thinking that going against the grain will give us more of an “edge” and others would accept us, better yet respect us a little more.

Maybe it’s the shock factor we go after, so we do the opposite of what people expect, the unimaginable and form an identity from that. If you asked someone years ago what a “rebel” was considered, most likely you’d get a similar answer all around. A troublemaker, someone who wreaks havoc and causes others grief. In our generation, rebels go out and get tattoos, piercings, have sex out of wedlock, treat people unkindly, and drink their way to relief. Rebels are impatient, disrespectful, and do the opposite of what authority asks. I could continue, but you get the point. And after all of this, somehow have also gained the “cool” card.

All throughout history, there are rebellious individuals who have gone against the flow and have been counter cultural, but for one purpose: to change the world. People we would consider history makers, but never a “rebel”. But isn’t a rebel just someone who goes against the flow? Take for example Gandhi or Martin Luther King. What about Jesus Christ or even Mother Teresa? These folks left legacies by choosing to be revolutionary, and live a radical lifestyle in order to see change in our world. Martin Luther stood for freedom and took action, and dared to go against what people expected of him to see a revolutionized culture. Jesus showed loved to everyone the world considered “unlovable” like the children and the poor. Mother Teresa spent her entire life giving, serving and building a legacy that will change the world years beyond her physical life. Years later, or in some cases thousands of years later, we are still talking about their lives and celebrating what they did to change the planet. All over the world, there are ministries, charities, organizations and marathons in honor of them. We have days set aside in our culture that are specifically dedicated to celebrating the life of these individuals and all of the ways they helped mold our world to be a better place. Aren’t these world changers considered rebels too? Oh how our souls wage war, flesh against spirit. We so badly want to be good people, but we can’t get out of this crisis of searching for who we are and longing to be different. Aren’t we tired of everyone doing the same mundane agendas? We’re like robots, doing what the culture considers acceptable. What an elementary subject, but sometimes in our, complex adult lives we just need to take it back to the basics for five minutes. What we used to consider a rebel is really just being like everyone else now a days. Who is a modern day rebel? Is it you? So many of us let life pass us by without doing something extraordinary. If we really want to be a rebel, let’s start changing the world. Putting more emphasis on family and details that will last a lifetime that is counter-cultural. Want to be different and go against the flow? Here’s an idea, how about feeding the homeless; no one else is doing it. Want to wreak havoc in your circle of friends and opinions of others? Save yourself for marriage like your grandparents did and date the way no one is anymore. Actually respect yourself enough to wait for someone worth it. If we really want to find your identity, serve others. We can get involved in a charity or community outreach. When I have done this, I am guaranteed that supernaturally, I found my identity immediately, because I believe whether we choose to or not, we were all created to make this world a better place. How are you being a “rebel” these days? Why are we looking for our identity in what has proven over and over to be a temporary relief? And so, we continue to do everything we think is going against the flow which ends up, in reality beings exactly what everyone else is doing too. We are desperately searching for our individuality, yet we look at people doing good in the world and assume they are just born a world changer. No, they’re just a bunch of rebels!