Doing Hard Things

Brett and Alex Harris are people that I greatly admire. They run the website http://www.therebelution.com/ that encourages young people to shun low expectations and do hard things that honor God. They have also written a book called Do Hard Things that has already made it to the top of Christianity on amazon.com.

On their blog they have an interesting article about an 18-year-old that has become mayor of his town of 8,000. The new mayor ran on the money from his summer job and had to be written in because he was too young to get on the ballot. He also only won by two votes.

Anyway, I found the response by Alex and Brett equally interesting.

Dear Michael,

The Rebelution is extremely excited for you for many reasons. Bur primarily because you are one more example of how our culture doesn’t quite know what to do with young people who take initiative and “Do Hard Things.”

The media blitz that you’ve faced has granted us small glimpses into the mind of a young man who wasn’t about to run a half-hearted or half-way campaign. And we are sure that your faithfulness in smaller areas prepared you for the larger task as Hillsdale’s new mayor.
We applaud you Mr. Sessions, but we would also like to offer you the following counsel:
Don’t Stop! Keeping “Doing Hard Things” in public and, more importantly, in private.

Remember that despite the blatant abdication of modern “celebrities” and leaders, you are a role model. Live like one.

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)

Remember that in our “Fast-Breaking News” society, you can be picked up and dropped again by the media in the twinkling of an eye. Don’t let it upset you.

Fight Pride Constantly! I recommend that you read the short article, “How To Fight The Sin Of Pride Especially When You Are Praised,” by Pastor John Piper, as well as C.J. Mahaney’s new book “Humility: True Greatness.”

Realize that nothing would be a greater shame than for the highlighting of your competence to be the undoing of your character.

In Christ Our King,
Alex & Brett Harris

They also included the following disclaimer in the post.

Disclaimer: The Rebelution applauds Michael Sessions for his competence and character, as evidenced by his initiative and drive during his campaign. However, at this time, our readers must understand that — to our knowledge — Michael has made no reference to God, in gratitude or otherwise, and his political leanings are largely unknown. Because of that we encourage our readers to use discretion by only admiring, as we do, the positive, known characteristics of Michael Sessions. Please keep him in your prayers.

I thought they did a great job of congratulating this young mayor while reminding him of (or possibly introducing him to) the Lord. I thought it was good that they pointed out their admiration is limited to what they know to be good about Micheal Sessions.