Book Review: Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris

Genre: nonfiction, christian, teen
Pages: 256
First Published: 2007
Class: Man-o'-War
Tagline: A teenage rebellion against low expectations
My tagline: If you want to serve God, you have to face your impossible thing

You, sitting there reading these words. You're scared. You're scared of something big. Something terrifying. Something radical.

You're scared to do hard things. Things that will make you stand out, be different, be weird. Be shunned, avoided, called "loony."

But the willingness to do the hard things is what separates the men from the boys...and the passionate for Christ from the fair-weather "Jesus Christ, Superstar" fanatics.

And in a world of godless adolescents whose only drive is for beating Halo and staying under a size 4, that distinction is the most critical challenge for Christian teenagers today.

Meet the Harris twins, who think enough is enough. In they’re bestselling book, Do Hard Things, Alex and Brett are putting their foot (or feet?) down on the slovenliness of today’s teens and challenging all of them to raise the bar in their daily lives. To break through the restrictive societal view of teens and its low expectations. To be “rebelutionary.”

“Society doesn’t expect much of anything from young people,” the twins claim, “…except trouble. And it certainly doesn’t expect competence, maturity, or productivity. The saddest part is that, as the culture around them has come to expect less and less, young people have dropped to meet those lower expectations. Since most of us have grown up surrounded by these low expectations, meeting them is like breathing to us – we never give it a second thought. And we never realize what we’ve lost.”

This book not only challenges you to go beyond the typical expectations of today’s teen, but to do the radical, life-altering things that Christ calls us to, the things that could change the world. In jaw-dropping, often eye-watering real-life testimonies, the twins introduce us to teens like:

• Zach Hunter, a modern-day William Wilberforce who tackles the problem of slavery…starting the Loose Change - Loose Chains program before he was sixteen years old.
• Heidi Bentley, a fifteen-year-old who was scared to death of phones, strangers, and anything involved with communicating in a public venue…who went on to aid in the grassroots campaigns for Supreme Court candidates in Alabama, doing the job of a twenty-five year old before her teammates realized she was actually only seventeen!
• Theodore, a thirteen year old weakling who wasn’t expected to make it past his 21st birthday…who would later challenge a nation to rise above the hatred and work through the difficult times. His likeness now rises above the plains of South Dakota, alongside Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.
  

And this is just the start. As the Harris' discuss, the adolescent years are the prime time of life, and they have so much to offer! Besides that, teens are known for their all-or-nothing passion when they actually have a dream to pursue. As Zach Hunter quotes from the film, Amazing Grace: “We’re too young to know certain things are impossible, so we do them anyway.”

How much truth is in that phrase, and yet, as the Harris brothers know, nothing is impossible with God, and He can – and will! – give you the desire, the know-how, and the strength to do hard things.

And though its main audience is today's teens, Do Hard Things' message is inspiring for adults too. Best-selling author Randy Alcorn says:

I read countless books but this is one of the most unique, defining and important ones I've ever seen. It is paradigm-shifting, revolutionary, liberating and hope-instilling. While I'd love for every teenager to read Do Hard Things, I'm just as eager for every parent, church leader and educator to read it.

And big brother Joshua Harris comments:

Read it yourself. Every former teen needs this book, too. I know I do. There's no age-limit on the Rebelution. It's never too late to do hard things.*

Read this book, no matter your age. You will truly be inspired to start doing hard things for Christ, and will be motivated to give Him everything you have, for His glory.

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* See these and other endorsements here.