Biblical Rebellion

Two of my favorites, LeCrae & Driscoll,

combine their musical and verbal skills
to challenge us in the new song,
"Rebel":
"I know in our day, rebel means sinner.
But everyone is sinning, so it's no
longer rebellious to sin. Jesus was a
rebel
who
was
countercultural."
"You're just a conformist if you're drunk and naked, driving
around on a loud motorcycle, smoking cigarettes, and breaking
commandments, and getting pregnant out of wedlock. Everyone's
done that; that's so tired! If you really want to be a rebel,
read your Bible. Because no one's doing that. That's
rebellion-- that's the only rebellion left!"
Yes!!! Get in the Word. It's the only inoculation against this
money-idolizing, sex-worshiping, power-seeking, comfort-focused
culture
of
ours.
Scripture internalized into our hearts and minds will change us,
from the inside out. Yes!-- I want to be a rebel. Rebellion in our
day means obeying God instead of pleasing self... living for the
long haul instead of for today... and instead of listening to the
words of Katie Couric, Tyra, Oprah, the latest best-selling novel, or
Osteen (him OR her), meditating on the timeless, perfect words of
God.
Father God, enable us to be rebellious towards our culture. And to
live in radical obedience towards You. Don't let us stay
comfortable in sin-- shake us up! Do whatever it takes to seize us
with your great affection. Draw us to Your Word, so that it can
rightly divide the right and wrong in our lives and ultimately draw
us to You.

Jesus, the Counter-Culture Rebel

with a Cause
Sometimes Jesus words shock me because they are so
offensive to my own culture. Jesus has a lot to say to us today.
His words still indict and call us to a new, counter-cultural way of
living.
These statements are a powerful reminder that Jesus, fully God
and fully man, could have easily conquered the world. (He had the
power.) Instead, the Good News is primarily an insurrection of the
heart. He knows that capturing a mans body without first
capturing his heart is a fruitless effort. Until we fully surrender our
lives to Him we will not be changed and we will not see the
change we long for. (Romans 12:1)
Here are 10 counter-cultural rebellious phrases from
Jesus ministry, as captured in the Gospel narratives:
1. On breaking the Sabbath to heal a woman: You hypocrites!
Doesnt each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey
from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 1Then should
not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has
kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the
Sabbath day from what bound her? (Luke 13:15-16)
2. Dealing with religious elitists. Blessed are you when people
hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject
your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that
day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.
For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. (Luke
6:22-23)

3. About self-righteous religious people. It is not the healthy

who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners. (Mark 2:17)
4. An indictment on stingy, rich givers. Truly I tell you, this poor
widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They
all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in
everythingall she had to live on. (Mark 12:42-44)
5. Redefining the nuclear family. Here are my mother and my
brothers! Whoever does Gods will is my brother and sister
and mother. (Mark 3:34-35)
6. On self-righteous preachers. But do not do what they do, for
they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy,
cumbersome loads and put them on other peoples shoulders,
but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move
them. (Matthew 23:3-4)
7. On conflict in your life. Therefore, if you are offering your gift
at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister
has something against you, leave your gift there in front of
the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and
offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)
8. On the Temple, the center of religious life for the Jews. Do
you see all these great buildings? replied Jesus. Not one
stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown
down. (Mark 13:2)
9. About people who think they deserve heaven. Truly I tell you,
the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the
kingdom of God ahead of you. (Matthew 21:31-32)
10. On religious people questioning the power of government.
You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the
coin used for paying the tax. They brought him a denarius,
and he asked them, Whose image is this? And whose
inscription? Caesars, they replied.Then he said to them,

So give back to Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is

Gods. (Matthew 22:18-21)
Sometimes we need to be reminded that telling the truth is the
most loving thing you can do. And Jesus isnt calling us to reform
the establishment hes calling us to counter it with a new way.
Yes, hes calling us to join in him a rebellion of the heart.