Be Irreverent

By Harlingtton Ariza

Introduction
Yes. Be irreverent. This is the best advice that I can give you today. If you really want to succeed, live truly to truly live, be irreverent to the world. I know you want to enjoy your life and enjoy success. You dream of achieving and above all feel fulfilled. Being happy satisfied, and fulfilled is what many men and women pursuit daily. Unfortunately, they do it wrongly by been reverent and obedient. I want to give you the opportunity to be rebellious, disobedient, courageous, and adopt a different mindset. You have been programmed to conform, accept, follow, respect, and submit. But now I am giving you permission to be different, an outcast, black sheep, and a misfit in this world. This new way of thinking and behaving will enable you to be transformed in a way you ever imagined. Before continuing let me tell you what this short-essay is about. This essay is about giving you a new mindset that will empower you to live a life without boundaries, abundantly, richly, enjoyably, happily, and purposely. This book will confront you in your most deeply thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Be Irreverent actually aims that the reader questions the worlds beliefs and standards and behave irreverent towards them.

Warning: This book is deceiving and will change your life for the better.

Caution: This book will confront you.

Challenge: Do you want to change and live abundantly? Are you courageous? "Do not tell others about this essay without reading it first" I love you too much and that is why I encourage you to be irreverent. If you answered "yes" to my challenge above, continue reading. Otherwise, keep being the nice person others want you to be.

The World Religion

In basic terms, religion is a set of beliefs and practices followed by people in order to provide an account for their existence and spiritual tastes. You are already familiar with many religions and their sub modalities. Among the majors religions are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. Some are more structures than others and with more protocols and rituals. Nonetheless, regardless of their structures they all fit the above definition of religion. On the other hand, there are people who claim no religious affiliation or belief in God. Unfortunately to those people, I have to inform them that their actual belief of not believing in a specific spiritual community or philosophy is by itself a religion. This is the type of religion that I

am referring to. Therefore, my definition of religion not only subscribes typical devotees such as Christians, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., but also reaches people who call themselves atheists.

What Religion do you belong to?

Your worldview depends pretty much on the community you congregate with or agree with. In most part, all religions have their own life style, way of thinking, and traditions. Adherents tend to comply and submit to what they believe philosophically and therefore live accordingly. Even though you do not practice a specific common religion or major philosophy, the world around you (people, trends, fashion, technology, social fads, etc) have formed a mindset. For example, if you disagree with structure religions or spiritual communities, you are a post-modernist who believe in freedom, no religion, integration of people, and improving your community as you pursuit a string social agenda.

Scrambled Eggs of Religions

In a world interconnected with technological advances, especially social media a.k.a. YouTube, Tweeter, Facebook, MySpace, etc., people share information and ideas at a rapid speed. This fast information sharing has connected people like never before. On the other hand, technological advances in the transportation industry allow people to move easily from place to another. This movement and inter-connection have allowed people to come in contact and explore different spiritual philosophies and also religions. Without adherent officially to a new religion, people can adopt easily new ways of thinking and religious styles. For example, one does not need to live in Israel to become a Jew. In addition, one does not need to dress like people in Biblical times in order to become a Christian. Thus, it is common for people to belong officially to one religion, but adapt practices or traditions from a different one.

Do you eat Religious Scramble Eggs?

May be and you have not even noticed. Even though I am Christian myself, I am advocating for loyalty to the old traditions and practices and reject the new type of world religion. Therefore, you have mixed religions if you believe in God, but practice pornography whenever you have the opportunity. Most religions, if not all, would consider watching pornography a dirty behavior that enslaves your spirit. In a nutshell, you can adhere to a specific religion or philosophy, but there is a chance that you are borrowing from others at the same time.

Don't Be Stupid. Decide Now (Titus 2:6, 12)

My friend, I want you to be aware of the ideological warfare, but also about the spiritual battle today. Even though structure religion has been criticized, the alternative is no better. We have seen an exponential growth of social justice groups, organizations, public programs, etc. and that aim to help the poor, the unprotected, the environment. These are good things in it, but unfortunately there is another degradation affecting a lot of people. There is an underground current propelled by greed and freedom that is impacting negatively many people, especially the youth. If you are in your teens and early twenties, you might feel what I am talking about. There is the perception of popularity, celebrity, and expectation from the individual that subscribe simultaneously with a lifestyle that is unhealthy and not sustainable at least for spiritual and emotional health. If you are reverent, then you will accept what the world system or religion offers. You will not only accept, but also practice its lifestyle in order to fit in and make other people happy. Your initial intentions may not been wrong and well grounded, but along the way you begin to be molded and transformed by this society's agenda.

Contaminated by Others
At some point in your life you had or will feel negatively influenced by other people who call themselves religious. In my case, many that call themselves Christians have confused me. As a young guy in my early twenties, I expected more from my Christians friends who behave not differently from those who are not religious. My friends drank heavily, watched pornography, were unfaithful to their couples, and did not seem so much in love with Christ. At some point, I

started to become like them. It is easy to be influenced by other when you do not have deep values and anchors for your life. This is the purpose of this book to remind you of your values and who you are in God, so you do not have to conform to this world system.

Taking the Leadership for your Life

Leadership is easy and you can start leading your life. The topic of leadership has become so mystified, exalted, and confused that people are even afraid to start leading. The good news is that you do not have to feel this way anymore. If you want to start in being a great leader, my recommendation to you is to start leading yourself. Leadership guru, John C. Maxwell, advises that if people are willing to lead themselves responsibly other will follow him. If you are not willing to follow yourself why would anyone else want to follow you. I am advising you to take leadership of your life and start becoming irreverent to the world's religious system. If you want the better for your life, you need to drill this attitude deep down your conscious and subconscious.

I Double Dare You

You are dared by your "friends" to conform and be reverent to todays standards. I double dare you to be irreverent and be weird. I do not want you to be another person in the crowd. I am actually suggesting you to distinguish yourself. It will not be easy in the short term, but you will reap greater benefits in the long run. It is always easy to follow the crowd, but it takes character to do what is right. Marring Luther King Jr. once said, "It is always the right time to do the right thing." Then, go ahead and say no to the world's expectations and say YES to Jesus.

The Best YES ever

Someone one said that our lives are the sum of all the decisions we made. What we say YES or NO has power to affect our lives positively or negatively. Thus, decisions can be very crucial and critical for our immediate present and future. This book is not a How-To book on how to decide about your career, whom to marry, what car to buy or what type of clothes to wear. This is a book about making only one decision and how your life can be transformed either positively or negatively.

Whom do You Want to Please?

Whom are you pleasing with your actions? Are you really trying to please yourself, other people, or both? Here lies a possible danger that can set you up for failure. Not all of your actions will be beneficial to you even if the aim is to make you happier. It is even worse if your aim is to satisfy others' expectations. At the core of our intentions lies a deeper truth. What standards are you conforming and obeying to? If you have worldly standards you might not be pleasing God and therefore being considered cool by people by inadequate to God. On the other hand, if your standards are godly then you will have God's approval, but maybe the condemnation from the world. You know why? Your worldly friends will disapprove you, because you are a MISFIT.

You; The Misfit

It is ok not to fit in. Believe me when I say you are doing yourself a favor. Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computers always considered himself a misfit. Even in 1984 when unveiling the first Mac Computer, the introduction video restated exactly Steve Jobs's rebelliousness against technology standards of his time. Steve Jobs was brave enough to be a misfit and he became a success. Steve Jobs actually changed the world of computing forever and influenced several other industries.

Do you like to Follow the Crowd?

Are you avoiding the hurt of being rejected? You should not continue with this attitude. If you continue accepting other people's expectations as your own, you will become just average, unhappy, and ungodly. I remember that I was always a misfit in my teen years. People made fun if me for the way I dressed, talk, and my religion; Christianity. Today, I can say that I have saved myself a lot of pains and misfortunes, just because I did not follow the crowd. Unfortunately, This was not always the case. There was a certain period in my life when I was about to start my college life that I decided to fit in and thus making wrong choices.

How can you fail?

By being reverent. I was having a wonderful life right until the beginning of my college years. Even though, my parents had constant problems, financially we were always struggling, and I was just making sense of this world, I had in overall a good childhood. I say that it was good; because I was surrounded by amazing people who helped me cope with my struggles and who influenced me greatly. I remember my pastors; Alvaro and Emelda Padilla, Arturo and Margarita Real, Rafael and Dorcas Rivera, and Edwin and Olga Rodriguez.

Be tasteful and Bright!

Instead of conforming to people's expectations, become an agent of change. You see, when you decide to lead your life with purpose, you will find divine support. Jesus himself presents us with a better alternative for our lives. The Bible shows in Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus' expectations for us [all of his followers]. Jesus wants us to give flavor and light to a world that is tasteless and in darkness. What a beautiful call. Are you up to the calling? Say YES. You are the salt and light of this world. The main purpose of this essay is to create awareness in you of what is happening in the world. I want to give you the opportunity to consider a different alternative for a better, happier, and significant life.

Don't be a Fool!

The book of Proverbs is an amazing book for people who want to be wiser. If you grab a Bible and start reading and applying its basic and common sense principles you will live an amazing life free of stupidity and nonsense. You see the world criticizes the Bible for being outdated and inapplicable, but what it offers certainly is useless and significant. I am not talking about becoming smart in academic and professional endeavors after reading the Bible. However, you might also achieve that. I am talking about living wisely and happily. Solomon, a Jewish King in biblical times who surpassed in wisdom, because he put his trust in God, wrote the book of Proverbs. You too can become wise if you sincerely and genuinely give God a chance to work in your life.

God's Track Record

God has never fail and never will. If you read the Bible you will see that Gods plans always come to pass. He always has a plan to make his will happen. There are dozens of stories in the Bible that show God as his best; creation, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Moses, Samson, all the prophets, Jesus, the disciples, the Apostle Paul, etc. God always wants us to be successful in his presence.

Summing up
The truth is that world-reverent people are following a script for their lives doomed to destruction. It is like the script in the movie The Matrix. If you really want to succeed, please God, and become what God created you for, then you have to become irreverent to the world.

Credits
All the above reflections and thoughts come from the Bible. Also, all the images were copied and pasted from Google images. Therefore, I give full credit to the designers and owners of these pictures. Since this essay is not for business purposes, but to help people think irreverently, I wend ahead and use the available resources. I thank all of you. !