Q&A with Brett Harris

(Note: This article first appeared in my Church's newsletter last March. Since many of you, my audience, are looking for, or going to attend, a college, I thought I should share this before it becomes completely stale. This is a very interesting article for me because this was my first time interviewing someone.)

Writing a bestselling book (Do Hard Things, Multnomah books), authoring the most visited Christian blog on the web (TheRebelution.com) and being much sought after speakers, Brett Harris, along with his brother Alex, accomplished a great deal. Their message to teens is to shake off low expectations and live to Christ’s glory- doing hard things that makes you grow. Having just begun attending college, Brett Harris sat down with me to discuss how college affects a God-fearing teen’s (also called a rebelutionary) pursuit of Christ. Here is our conversation:

Q As rebelutionarys moves off to college, their time that they had as teenagers becomes taken up. Does this hamper the rebelutionary’s ability to do great things for God’s glory?

A Absolutely not! . . . Absolutely not at all. It’s a way to prepare, a way to launch yourself into the rest of your life.

Q What would you say the attitude of a rebelutionary should be entering college?

A The first thing any young Christian should do is become surrounded by good believers and make college the primary season of primary spiritual growth.
A rebelutionary’s goal is to really learn. Priority will be actual preparation, not a good time, not school games . . . The goal is growth, not good grades . . . Life starts now, not after graduation. . . While in college, look for opportunities to serve God and make room in your schedule for that purpose.

Q Anyone can go to college, how do you go about it for God’s glory?

A The Bible says, “whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God”. For the college student, bringing glory to God involves more than just Bible reading, chapel, church, and other religious activities. It involves writing papers, investing in relationships, etc. etc.

Q So Christianity should permeate every aspect of your time in college.

A Exactly. When doing an activity, you should ask, “God, what is your purpose for this activity and how can I glorify you in the way I perform it?”

Q Now this question has been bouncing around in my head for some time. Do you find that as you set out to do a hard thing, it feels daunting, but looking back, you consider the thing which you thought was hard, not that hard after all?

A Doing hard things is like exercise. I began working out when I started coming to college. When I began, I could bench press 150 pounds. I could have said ‘great! I can bench press 150 pounds’ and just kept on lifting that weight without trying to build my strength. But that wouldn’t be beneficial to me. Being stuck in your comfort zone is bad, no matter how big it is. Alex and I could continue to write books and hold conferences. But that would be easy for us and we wouldn’t be growing. Right now, we’re focusing on the small hard things; we’re just going to be normal students. You do something, gain skills, build, to have the strength to do new things later on.

Q So if you continued with the conferences and the books without growth you would be hypocrites to your own message.

A Yes

Q How has the Rebelution changed since you have published your book?

A It has grown. More people are accepting the message, including secular people.

Q How does the rebelution change as the teenagers who have heard the message move into work and college?

A Hopefully, the Rebelution causes a momentum and mindset that carries into the rest of life. God’s principles apply not just to teens; it applies to all Christians of all ages. We have received feedback from adults, home school moms, business professionals, and all sorts of people. Everyone, not just teens benefit from this message. Alex and I wrote to teens because we were teens at that time and that was the audience we could speak credibly to.