Rising Above Low Expectations: A Higher Calling

I think it is pretty safe to say – unfortunately – that, in this day and age most people have a certain idea about these strange creatures called “teenagers.” There are three things that can define male and female teens:

Males:

1. They sleep a lot.
2. They eat a lot.
3. And they waste most of their free time.

Females:

1. All they can think about is how they look.
2. All they can talk about is how they look.
3. And they waste most of their free time.

This is a sad truth, and one that teens themselves seem to accept easily.  They are fine with doing the bare minimum and thinking that they will have time to change the world when they are not in school. But the reality is that right now is the one of the most opportune times they have to make a difference.  So why do they waste it?  They have succumbed to the low expectations of our culture.  And the even sadder thing is that, when asked, they probably would not say that it was wasted.  But I would pose a question to these guys and gals: how is playing a video game you have beaten a hundred times changing the world?  Is spending an entire day trying on clothes you probably will never buy changing the world?

Now we come to the good part: there is hope!  But it requires teens to do a very challenging thing: change.  This is a word that has been thrown out there recently, and, while some might consider it a bad thing, I think that, put into the right context, it is a very good thing.  The change that teens need to make is to break out of the low expectations that our society gives them and take action to change the world one little bit at a time.

But how are teens supposed to do this?  Well, there are many different ways, and it would take me a very long time to list all of them.  However, I will give one today.

One of my favorite places to look for great examples is history.  Over the eons, there have been many great men and women who have broken out of the mold and gone on to do great things.  Here, I would like to highlight one particular character from the time period of antiquity.  This is a young man you all have probably heard of, but really did not consider the fact that he did some of his most daring feats when he was a teenager.

When Alexander of Macedon (later known as Alexander the Great) was sixteen years old, his tutelage under Aristotle came to an abrupt end.  His father called him to step up and become regent of the Kingdom while he went to conquer a nearby land.  Alexander did as he was asked and was named regent over all Macedon.  Remember, he was only sixteen!  During his father’s absence, there was a revolt in one of the city-states. Alexander responded quickly, and crushed the rebellion before it started.

In the next couple of years Alexander showed great leadership skills on the battle fields and also a great loyalty to his country and family.  It is even said that, during a battle, he saved his father’s life even though he was ordered to retreat and save himself.  In the years to come, he was to see his father assassinated and then rise to become the king of all the territories belonging to Macedon.  Then, he began one of the largest conquests this world has ever seen in the shortest amount of time.  He was twenty when crowned king by his people.

Alexander is a marvelous example of a young man who rose to a calling and went above and beyond the call of duty to better his country and the world around him. Couldn’t he have just hung around his splendid palace, enjoying all the benefits of being a prince and then later a king? Couldn’t he have exercised his powers and forced all his subjects to bow down to him and become slaves for his own glory?

Let me tell you a little about what would have been different if he had:

1. The lands known as the Balkans would have remained colonized by barbarians.  The western people who lived there (known as the Romans who conquered Alexander’s kingdom later on) would not have gone on to colonize a little island to the west known as Britannia.
2. The great empire of Persia would have remained Persian, and there is no predicting what the differences would be.
3. Egypt would not have been conquered, and there would have been no Library at Alexandria and no Lighthouse at Alexandria, and one of the greatest Roman emperors (Julius Caesar) would not have been influenced by that very special woman Cleopatra.
4. And, most importantly, the Greek language would not have spread the way it did over all the corners of the known world.  Then – three hundred years later – the gospel would not have spread as it did.  Instead, it would have remained in the “west” because the apostles would not have been able to utilize the roads which he built.

Alexander the Great was a teenager who did not settle for an easy life of privilege, but chose to do hard things.  Would you say he made a difference?

I would.