We hear so much talk of people rebelling.  Going against the system or against the norm.  Non-conforming.  We see this a lot in our youth and even into adulthood.  Rebelling to us can take on many different forms and looks or it may involve different actions one takes.  One may look at going to college as conforming so they don’t go to college as one example.  Often what I have found is that many forms of rebelling come out of brokenness and/or lead to a life of posing and hiding.  The same can be said for those that don’t do the “rebel things” but put on a fake posing smile about their life to hide their brokenness.

What I have discovered though is that there was one and only one real rebel.  This is the person who is Jesus Christ.  You want to talk about a rebel?  Jesus was the ultimate rebel.  The ultimate outlaw.  Why do I say this?  Simply because he chose to directly challenge the norms of society and religion.  He chose to walk in Truth no matter what it took and didn’t bow or compromise any part of Himself that would take away from His calling from the Father.  Jesus was a rebel by the standards of this world and today would be a rebel by the standards of this world.

Jesus lived by a different set of rules that were not governed by this world and by society.  He was a sanctified trouble-maker in the fact that he lived by this set of rules and never once even with all of the temptation and suffering and ridicule He faced, did he compromise those rules or given in and capitulate.  He stood toe to toe with the Pharisees and religious self-righteous.  He stood toe to toe with Satan.  He broke the rules because of the authority and mission He was given from the Father.

Jesus also did something else that we find it so hard to do in this world.  Simply trust in the Father and surrender to His will.  He knew he was about to be tortured brutally and sent to die.  He knew it was coming.  With all that, He still wanted the Fathers will done.  Jesus was fully human and suffered more than we could possibly imagine in order to set us free.  Jesus loved the Father just as the Father loved Him.  If you just turn to the Gospels and study, you see time after time the rebellion of Jesus Christ on earth.  From challenging rules on hand washing, to healing on the Sabbath, and to clearing the temple with a corded whip He made.  It’s there as plane as day for us to see.

This world has become so jacked up and corrupt and our lives are so full of junk and brokenness.  Whether we rebel in our worldly way or conform, we are filled with it and we simply do what Jesus never did.  We fall away from the Father and compromise our faith through selfish self-reliance or out of fear of the world.

You want to be a real rebel?  A real rebel is one that never compromises their faith and seeks the will of the Father in all they do.  Jesus was that to perfection.  I know none of us can ever be that kind of perfection, but he was what being a man as all about and rebelled by standing on Truth.  This is something we need to try doing ourselves.  Don’t let the world dictate to us and don’t let our brokenness force into hiding and capitulation that this is all that life is about.  Jesus brings healing and restoration to our brokenness.  His rebellion paved the way to our the grace we now live in and the glory that is ours through a life filled with Christ.

Jesus had what John Eldredge referred to in his book Beautiful Outlaw a “scandalous freedom.”  Eldredge states that “the risks Jesus is willing to take with reputation is simply stunning.” Most of us would not be willing to do what he did.  Would not be willing to stand in the way of world religions and traditions to stand on Truth and by the will of God.  Jesus knew His purpose was going to do what was needed to fulfill that purpose.  He was not going to intimated into compromise.  Bottom line is, if you want to do something rebellious for real, stand true to your faith in Jesus and to the Word of God and never, under any circumstances, compromise the Word to satisfy worldly, post-modern, and religious views.