August 01, 2006

Is there such a things as a rebel with a cause?

Due to recent events in some friends' lives, I have begun pondering the idea of rebellion, being a rebel, if you will. This blog may not come to some conclusions at all (just to warn those who like things wrapped up nicely by the end). Mostly, this is just to get my thoughts out, scattered as they may be. Feel free to comment, by all means, those few of you who do read my randomness that I call blogging.

It all began when a friend of mine made a decision that seemed to contradict everything that he had said over the past year. It was suggested this afternoon that perhaps this decision was a form of rebellion, based on the life that has been led by said friend thus far. Sorry to be vague, but I am a firm believer in not mentioning names or too many facts on such a public domain.

Anyway, my friend really isn’t the point of this. The point is, the more I started thinking about the theory that was given, the more I started really thinking about rebellion, and I came to this conclusion:

To rebel is to be selfish.

This statement may be an overgeneralization—I am not sure yet because I have not really thought through all of the thoughts I have about it. But let’s look at this a little closer for a moment.

What do people do when they rebel? If they have been the good kid all of their lives, they make decisions opposed to that image. Most of the time the decision is based purely on what THEY want personally, and, in the end, many of the decisions they make only end up hurting other people and themselves.

If a high school student decides to rebel against his/her parent, they could make any number of the following choices:
1) Drink/get drunk as a minor
2) Experiment/get hooked on drugs
3) Have premarital sex
4) Sneak out of the house
5) Break curfew
6) Smoke underage
7) Other:_______ (there’s a lot)

Any of these choices have consequences for the student, yes, but it also hurts parents, the future of the students, and others around the student.

Let’s say a student rebels and goes out and gets hammered at a party, and then drives home drunk. There is a car accident. The students choice to rebel has now affected not just him/herself, but the people in the other car, those riding home with the student, parents/relatives of all involved, the cops, etc.

This is just one example. I mean you could take any choice above and make a similar scenario.

When someone is rebelling, they aren’t really thinking about anyone else around them. They are thinking of how great it is for them personally.

Some use the phrase “Jesus was a rebel.” I don’t believe that. I believe that Jesus caused a controversy. But, I think Jesus came and was teaching us the ways our relationships with God and each other were REALLY supposed to be.

Could we call the Pharisees rebels then? Perhaps.

To rebel is defined as 1 a : opposing or taking arms against a government or ruler b : of or relating to rebels 2 : DISOBEDIENT , REBELLIOUS

Note that disobedient is listed as a 2nd definition. Hmm...interesting.

As I said, no conclusions can be drawn right now in my head. This is something that popped up out of nowhere as conversation commenced. Hopefully as I continue to chew on this I can make my thoughts a little more concrete...

In the meantime, be praying for my friend. If the decision WAS made out of a rebellious nature, no good will come of it, I fear.

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