Interview - The 07 Rebelution Conference

A while back I said to myself, 'Self, why don't you try your hand at an interview?'. At the time I said this this to myself, the Rebelution 2007 Tour had just wrapped up, and even more interestingly, two ladies that had attended the Indianapolis conference commented on my blog, which you are currently reading (yes, that's right, you are reading Jeffrey Hendricks' blog, not Aristotle's, Plato's or Einstein's, and no, I never make adynaton statements about myself, how dare you think such a thing!). So, I asked these two ladies if they'd be patients for my first interview. Anyways, here goes...

First, what is the Rebelution and what is the Rebelution Conference? Good question. I really don't know a whole lot about it, that's why I conducted this interview. It is a blog founded by the Harris Twins, Alex and Brett. In their words, this is The Rebelution:

The official definition of the 'rebelution' is "a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture." When you look around today, in terms of godly character and practical competence, our culture does not expect much of us young people. We are not only expected to do very little that is wise or good, but we're expected to do the opposite. Our media-saturated youth culture is constantly reinforcing lower and lower standards and expectations.

The word 'rebelution' is a combination of the words "rebellion" and "revolution." So it carries a sense of an uprising against social norms. But in this case, it's not a rebellion against God-established authority, but against the low expectations of our society. It's a refusal to be defined by our ungodly, rebellious culture. Actually, we like to think of it as rebelling against rebellion.

And it's exciting, because the Rebelution has really become a type of counter-cultural youth movement among Christian young people from around the country, and even around the world, who are not only rejecting.... continued

The Rebelution tour 2007 was a four city tour (Indianapolis, Denver, Dallas, and Sacramento), with a total of nearly 5000 teens and their parents in attendance.

The two ladies who have brilliantly answered my oft complex and circumlocutious questions are

Elisabeth + Kirsten Gruber

15 year old twin sisters from Cincinnati, Ohio - Elisabeth and Kirsten Gruber. The Gruber's both head up ministries in their city. Elisabeth runs a food drive for the Cincinnati City Gospel Mission, and Kirsten is head of a personal care items drive. They have a website and blog called The Twin Place.

Jeffrey Hendricks: First off, before I dive down into the specifics of the conference, what was your overall impression of the conference? I know that is a rather broad question, but what did you think of the entire thing?

Elisabeth Gruber: It was genuine and motivational. The Rebelution people genuinely cared about everyone who attended, and the message they were sharing was genuine. I found it extremely beneficial, and well planned out (and I absolutely LOVED it!). It was so inspiring and motivating to hear Alex and Brett talk about The Myth of Adolescence and Doing Hard Things. The conference sessions were really interesting and entertaining. (There was one game that they did about 10 or 11 times total, where Alex or Brett would shoot off a pump-air foam rocket out into the crowd, and whoever caught it would get a book)

Kirsten Gruber: My overall impression was that Alex and Brett were truly living what they were saying. They (and their family) honestly and genuinely wanted to see every person at the conference be blessed and to go out to do great things for Christ. Everything Alex and Brett were saying proved how much they truly want this generation of teenagers to be on fire for God. From the beginning of worship time to the end of the fourth session, it was such a blessing. I am more than positive that just about every single teenager walked out of that building with a new desire to go out and do hard things for Christ.

JH: One of the biggest questions I have is about the crowd, the audience. What was it like? If I am not mistaken, the conference consisted mostly of kids (teenagers), a lot by themselves, right? I guess what I want to know is, if any person happened to walk into the conference, without knowing what it was, would they know it was a group of Christian kids being challenged to Do Hard Things, and set their world on fire for Christ? This is kind of a tricky question I'm trying to ask. Maybe another way to ask this would be, would a normal passer-by see The Rebelution Conference as a bunch of young punks, or was there an air of 'Holiness' that is present When 'Two or three are gathered together in my [Christ's] name?'

KG: There were over 2,000 people at the Rebelution Indy Conference, making it by far the largest turnout. Of that group, I think it would be safe to say about (at least) 75% of young people had their parents with them. There were some who came in a group with a chaperone, and some who came by themselves. But the majority of everyone had their parents with them... Other than "The Call" Nashville (it was on 7/7/07), I don't recall ever seeing so many people in a room before. It was so wonderful to be able to see so many young people praising God.
Rebelutionaries are definitely truly and honestly counter-cultural. I had the chance to meet several the day before the conference during the set-up time. They were (and are) such an inspiration to me and were so encouraging when we were talking. The rebellion against the low expectations was SO obvious in their lives; they didn't have to say anything about it. It was written all over their faces; their attitudes were that of love, kindness and willingness to do what's right. It was like they were doing their best to make their lives windows so everyone can see Jesus shining through. Honestly, it feels like no matter how I say it I can't give them justice with words. I am so happy and proud of the Rebelutionary sisters in Christ that I met at the conference. They are trying their best to serve God with their whole hearts.

EG: Suprisingly, there were only about 25% of teens who didnt have their own parents there...the others were with a chaperone of some sort. 2000 people attended, and we gave out all 1000 keypads to teens/preteens. (Kirsten and I worked one of the registration sign in tables, so we saw)
I think they would definitely know it was a Christian function... during the worship time, it was so amazing to see other teens also worshipping the Lord. And there was an obvious focus on the Lord during the whole time... at the closing of each session, Alex or Brett would challenge us all to discuss among ourselves for a few minutes a cetain aspect of something that was talked about (I'd give you some examples, but I don't remeber any of them). It was so cool, because during the worship time, I could even feel the presence of the Lord in the building.
And no, I don't believe I saw any "punks":o)... there may have been a few that could be considered that way, but not on the outside (none that I could see anyway...). There probably were some few with a punk spirit (as in, apathetic and rebellious), but that can be found almost everywhere. As Kirsten mentioned, there were a lot of homeschoolers, Chritian schoolers, and some public schooled kids. Almost all of them though looked and seemed like the typical homeschooler. (I'm not sure how to describe what a typical homeschooler looks like...its more of just a way about them... its a good thing though [and I can say that because I am homeschooled but have also been to Christian school for 8 yrs, and have been around public school type kids]
I think the rebellion against low expectations in Rebelutionary teens are fairly apparent... I'm sure it would vary from person to person, but as a whole, I think it would be apparent that they are different from "typical" teens. But I am a part of that whole, so I can't exactly see it from the outside or "the big picture".
As I had mentioned previously above, the Lords presence was certainly at that conference... and 25 teens and young people got saved! It was so amazing. When Mr. Harris was speaking about the Importance of Character, he had asked that anyone who does not know Christ or who have only been nomial Christians (as in, "in name only" Christians) who want a real relationship with Christ to stand up; we all joined in prayer with those who stood, and the 25 accepted Christ into their hearts. :oD (yay!)

JH: Now for just one more question. I know there were a few different topics (the conference info page listed four: The Myth of Adolescence, Do Hard Things, Character Counts, and That's What Friends are For), but what was the main message, or challenge, that you walked away with, convicted to apply with all your might?

KG: Hmmm... That's a difficult question, because all of them were very different... But I think if I were to name the number one conviction with which I walked away, it would be this: I need to honestly and truly do my absolute best to glorify God with what I do. Before the conference I was really nervous to try something difficult and hard, because I was terrified of failing, and that somehow (for some reason) God would be disappointed in my efforts (if I did fail). However, after the conference, I realized that those feelings were completely un-based on truth, because at some point, I will fail. Failing and learning from those mistakes is how we [eventually] succeed. But God won't be disappointed if I truly tried my best at something and still failed (in that case I am to keep trying till I succeed; I should not just say, "Oh well..." and forget about whatever it is).

EG: I think that the main challenge was for us to use our teens years to the best of our ability, and not "sell ourselves short" by accepting and limiting ourselves to keep within the boundaries that society places on teens in this culture in regards to excellence and success. We are not to allow ourselves to give up or not attempt hard things, just because we fear failure. And to not back down from doing harder things in life just because they take more time and energy than we'd like. And that we need even in teen years to do what is right, because the character we build in ourselves now is the character that will stick with us when we grow up.
We didn't end up hearing most of the last session because we were helping to sort keypads, but the above paragraph was what challenges I remember from the first 3 sessions.
Probably the biggest challenge though that I walked away with, was not allowing fear of failing to hold me back from not only doing hard things, but also not allowing fear of failing to hold me back from what plans the Lord has for my future.

JH: Thank you both for your well thought out answers to my sometimes odd, or complicated questions. I appreciate the time ya'll sacrificed to give a review, as it were, of The Rebelution Conference. God bless you both.

EG: Thank you, Jeffrey, for allowing us to share the impact that the conference had on us with you. God bless you too!

KG: You are very much welcome, Jeffrey. It was a pleasure to answer the questions. God bless you, brother!

There you have it folks, intelligent (on the Gruber's part) analysis of the Rebelution Conference.

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