Rebellion

I watched the 1953 movie The Wild One over the weekend, starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. They each play leaders of a pack of outlaw bikers, Brando as leader of the B.R.M.C.-Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. In one scene, a girl in a bar asks Brando's character Johnny "what are you rebelling against?" Johnny, in his brooding monotone replies, "what ya got?"

I've been thinking about the word "rebellion" for several days, trying to dissect and understand just what rebellion is, and why we do it. Dictionary.com says, in definition #2-"resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition". In the Christian lexicon, and the broader Judeo-Christian tradition individuals and whole nations are said to be in rebellion against God. As individuals we rebel, or have, against our parents and our upbringing, school authorities, and the laws of the land. We rebel, to varying extent, against the prevailing wisdom of a healthy lifestyle-nutrition and exercise. We rebel, some of us, against accepted conventions of dress and appearance. Everywhere there is a boundary, it seems, someone will test the flexibility of that boundary. I have some thoughts on why rebellion, at some level, is so pervasive as a human trait. I propose, that the opposite of rebellion-or the opposite behavior to rebellion is belief. Or, stated differently, when we have confidence in the correctness or virtue of a policy, guideline, tradition or law we are less likely to defy them. Additionally, when the consequences, the downside, of defiance are sure, and swift, and direct we, I assert, are less likely to rebel. I rebel against my doctor's recommendations of avoiding carbohydrates because the effects, the consequences are, in the immediate sense, unnoticeable and, in fact, seem untrue. The instant gratification from Marino's linguine with marinara are much more real, and believable than the eventual look of disdain from my doctor when he looks at my glucose numbers. We, in large numbers, rebel against speed limits when, for example, 32 seems plenty slow and safe in a 25 zone or 55 feels like we are in every else's way on an interstate. We simply do not believe the posted limits are necessary, or correct, or in the best interest of ourselves or others. But, that unbelieving rebellion against speed limits quickly dissipates when we spot a police car ahead. Now observing those limits are in our best interest! One of my earliest recollections of conscious, calculated rebellion was against the rules pertaining to my walk to and from my elementary school in first grade. I did not believe the rules against stepping on the grass, crossing the street anywhere other than at guarded crossings, or running were valid. I decided, as soon as informed of them, that this was the street I lived on, not Mr. Noble (our principal who was, it seemed, 7 feet tall, looked like John Wayne, and had hands the size of catcher's mits). I had been crossing our street successfully for a long time, knew my neighbors well enough to step on their grass, saw no downside to running and had no fear of the sixth grader safety patrols. I discovered, however, about the third day of my academic career, that those safety patrols reported directly to Mr. Noble, relished reporting infractions, and that he believed in those rules and their enforcement. That was the beginning of a lifelong, continuing questioning of authority and rules. At the heart of my own personal rebelliousness, was the observation that many of the societal restrictions on behavior are arbitrary, not well thought out, and often without predictable consequences. These observations regarding the reasons for rebellion on a personal level also apply when I focus on my diminishing, but real and lifelong rebellion against God, and His laws. At the core is, again, belief-or disbelief. There is, I'm sure, no universal timing or pattern or process by which we cross into genuine belief, but I suspect many share my own struggle and very gradual ascent into "faith" becoming a personal reality. Just like the elementary school "walkers" rules, speed limit laws, and many other policies we routinely rebel against, we know the correct answers to the quiz. Those of us raised in a Christian tradition or engaged with a church as adults can probably accurately recite what the official, correct beliefs are. But, rebellion persists. Do we turn the other cheek? Do we "do unto others as we would have them do unto us"? Do we love our enemies? Do we remember the Sabbath? Do we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, or with the portion remaining after career, or our Lexus, or our Harley? Though it is uncomfortable to admit, it is hard in the 3D, technological, science-as-truth, no moral absolute world in which we breathe to have an instinctive, unwavering confidence in a present but invisible God, a risen, available Jesus, the dire consequences of being in unrepentant rebellion against their Kingdom, and the reward of seeking reconciliation. It is the struggle first illustrated in Adam, repeated over and over in the nation of Israel, and our own individual, personal battle. And, I believe, is why we find ourselves in rebellion. When, in the heart of our heart of our heart, the present God, and the living Christ are as real as the table my feet are on, or as real as Mr. Noble, so, too, is the risk of rebellion, and the wisdom of obedience.