A Rebel’s Manifesto by Sean McDowell
Some of our more seasoned saints may recognize the name Josh McDowell, Josh McDowell was a well-known Christian apologist. One of his most popular books was “Evidence that Demands a Verdict”. Now Josh’s son, Sean, has written several books himself and really has a strong social media presence. One of his more recent books is titled “A Rebel’s Manifesto: Choosing Truth, Real Justice, & Love amid the Noise of Today's World”. In this book, Sean covers a variety of topics including Homosexuality, Suicide, Racial Tension, and Abortion amongst many other things. Each Chapter discusses the truth of the subject from a biblical perspective and the author will also give some practical ways we as Christians should respond. I highly encourage you to read this as it will likely in some way strengthen your understanding of what the Bible says and how we as Christians should respond.
The first chapter of the book is titled “Standing for What is Right”. In this chapter, Sean describes two situations in which Christians were faced with difficult decisions. One, for example, was how a girl was given an assignment in a college psychology class, to review a pornographic film as part of her grade. The answer may seem simple, but for this young lady, the decision was not so simple. She knew if she stood up for what was right her grade would suffer, but at the same time, she knew that God called us to be sexually pure. What could she have done? What would you have done in this situation?
Now I hope and pray that this same situation isn’t happening on the campus of WT, but unfortunately, these types of issues are far more common than we think. Just last week Buffs for Christ was doing a prayer table on Campus, right next to us there was an organization that was handing out condoms, STD testing kits, and even plan b pills. As they were handing these items out they were telling students “You can get rid of a baby, but you can’t get rid of an STD.” This is the kind of stuff our students are facing every day! I had the notion to go make flyers that said “No Sex, is the safest sex” as I mentioned this to a student, who claims to be a Christian he told me “Dont be that guy!”, and I wasn't quite sure what he meant, so after a short conversation he told me “For those who don’t know Christ, this is the best option (referring to the table handing these products out).” I responded to him by saying, “I think Christ is the best option for those who don't know Christ.” I want to hold true to God’s word, and doing that may make me a “rebel” in today’s world, and that is ok. We just need to learn how to approach these hot topics with grace and love.
We live in a post-truth society, which means that the average person doesn’t believe in an ultimate truth rather, they believe that what is true for one person may not be true for the other. So our world, unsurprisingly always seems to take the wrong stance. They choose what is pleasing to them or what makes sense to them, rather than obeying what is pleasing to God. When people face situations like the one mentioned above, where they are left to make a decision on where to obey God or follow the world, the answer may seem easy, but I can assure you it isn’t. Do we begin to ask questions, like Should we suffer for doing the right thing? Doesn’t God want us to be happy? Is there a way to succeed in life and honor the Lord? These are all questions Sean asks in this first chapter.
Sean says, “The most important questions we ask are not about what we accomplish but how we live. The most important questions are not related to what career we choose or what college we attend but, rather, what and whom we live for.”
We must recognize as a church that times have changed. The struggles and temptation student face now are very different than the issues students faced 60 years ago. Students today are worried about things that many of you never thought of at their age, things like sexism, school shootings, sexual identity, and many other things. For most of you reading this, it is likely that growing up Christian Morality was generally accepted as good, but that is no longer the case. In our world today Christian morals are seen as hateful, mean, and wrong.
However our world changes, and no matter how bad things get for Christians there is one thing that never changes God. His standards never change, even if the world’s standards do. God expects us to stand up for what is right, despite the consequences and He gives us the strength to do just that.
This article is just paraphrasing the first 2 pages of Sean’s book “A Rebel’s Manifesto” I highly encourage you to get the book and read it through. You can order it on Amazon using the link below!
