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Change Your World

Take it from Josh Harris. When God's behind your dreams you can't help but change your world.

by Carla Barnhill

Picture this: You're in a huge auditorium with more than a thousand high-school students. You're here for a youth conference, and you're pumped. Then you remember who the main speaker is. It's … You.

If you're Josh Harris, this scenario isn't one of those nightmares you have the night before giving a speech in class. It's a dream come true.

Since he was 15, Josh has been turning his dreams into reality. And, boy, he's had some big dreams. He's started a video production company, published his own magazine, written a book, and developed youth conferences that sell out all over the country. Oh, and he just turned 22.

"I don't think you have to wait until you've figured out what you're going to do for the rest of your life before you can follow your dreams," says Josh. "I tell people to go ahead and live them now! Don't be afraid to follow what God has placed on your heart. Being young is no reason to wait for God to use you."

A Radical View
Josh's "go for it" attitude comes naturally. "My parents showed me you don't have to do things the way everyone else does them," says Josh. "For instance, I was home-schooled from the time I was 5. Back then, there were very few people doing homeschool, so my parents were pretty radical to try it."

In Josh's opinion, homeschooling made him the adventurous guy he is today. But as grateful as he is now for his homeschool experience, he didn't always feel that way.

As a kid, Josh was involved in gymnastics. By the time he was 13, he was doing well enough to work out with some of the high school guys. They got Josh thinking about everything he was missing by being homeschooled. He says, "They'd talk about going out and getting drunk, who they slept with, and all that kind of stuff. It was really tough for me because I wanted to be one of the guys. And I started lowering my standards. Not that I got involved in those things, but I just started to accept the stuff they did as OK. I started to resent homeschool. And my relationship with God went downhill.

"Fortunately, I got involved in a great youth group that helped me get re-focused on God. And I stuck with homeschool, which really was the best place for me.

I know a lot of public-school students who are great at letting their faith shine in school. But I just don't think I could have resisted all those temptations."

In the Beginning
So Josh approached homeschool with a new appreciation. He began to realize that homeschooling actually gave him some great opportunities to explore his interests. "At one point, I wanted to be a director," says Josh. "I invested in some video equipment and spent hours learning how to use it. I even started my own production company called HizWay Video Productions."

But after running the video company for a couple of years, Josh found himself itching to make a difference in the world. So he talked to his dad.

"My dad had been traveling the country, doing workshops on homeschooling for parents and students. I figured, if I'd struggled with being homeschooled, maybe there were other kids who felt the same way. So I asked if I could give a short talk at one of the workshops."

Before long, Josh was a regular part of his dad's events. And as he met other homeschoolers his age, he started to see a real need for getting homeschooled students linked together. For Josh, the answer was obvious: A magazine.

"I called it New Attitude," says Josh.

"I envisioned a real generational movement, a we-can-change-the-world kind of thing. I didn't know anything about design and layout, writing or doing interviews. But I knew I could learn. I didn't know anything about video equipment when I got involved in video production, but I'd figured it out. I knew I could do the same with the magazine."

It didn't take long for New Attitude to take off with homeschooled readers. Eventually, the magazine had nearly 5,000 subscribers and its own site on the Internet. But again, Josh wanted to do more.

On the Road
When Josh thought about his readers, he knew they were struggling with issues like dating, sex and keeping their faith alive. He knew from his years of traveling with his dad that an energy-packed conference was a powerful way to get people excited about making changes in their lives. It was time for Josh to hit the road—this time, on his own.

"I got in touch with a woman in Houston who wanted to organize a conference for homeschooled teens," says Josh.

"I put together a brochure and scraped together three messages. I practiced giving them to my mom and dad in the living room.

"There were 450 people at the Houston conference. The next year we booked four New Attitude conferences. And that's when it exploded. At one sold-out conference, there were over 1,100 students."

As successful as the conferences were, Josh still faced some major hurdles. For the first time, his age became a factor. Josh learned that some people wouldn't come to the conferences because they thought he was too young to have anything important to say. "I just tried to laugh it off," he says. "Other people were saying the only reason the conferences were working was because of my age. I couldn't win! So I figured it wasn't worth worrying about what other people said."

A Change of Heart
But there were also personal hurdles to clear. Josh says, "About the time I was starting the magazine and the conferences, I was really struggling with whether or not to go to college. I thought, What if the magazine, the conferences, fall apart down the road? Am I going to run into some brick wall if I don't go to college right now?

"But one day I met with an older guy I really respect. He said something that just blew me away. He said, 'Josh, there's no such thing as security.' I realized I'd been wanting some guarantee that I'd never have any problems. But the fact is, you can't look for security apart from God. Once I realized that, my outlook changed quite a bit. I had to stop seeking security and start seeking God first.

"Till then, my prayer had always been, 'Please God, bless my plans,' instead of, 'God, show me your plans for me.' But now I don't think I have to have some big game plan for my future. God's taken care of that. I just know I want to be a part of impacting my generation for Christ. And however God uses me to do that is fine with me."

The Next Chapter
So what else is going on in the life of Josh Harris? Plenty!

A new book. Titled I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Josh's book deals with his changing attitudes on dating and romance. If you've ever wondered how Christians can develop radically different relationships, you need to read this book. With an introduction by Rebecca St. James, I Kissed Dating Goodbye is available in Christian bookstores across the country.

A big move. Josh recently moved to the East Coast, where he's being discipled by a group of pastors. Says Josh, "I've realized the importance of the local church and I'm excited about finding my place in it."

A cool Web site. New Attitude magazine is no longer being published. But you can still hook up with Josh and other homeschoolers through the New Attitude Web site (http://www.newattitude.com/~joshuah/).

A busy fall. Check out one of Josh's New Attitude conferences:

August 2
Denver, Colorado (303) 649-9811

August 16
Atlanta, Georgia
(770) 928-9327

September 27
Orlando, Florida (407) 740-8877

October 11
Phoenix, Arizona (602) 894-5535

November 8
Kansas City, Kansas (913) 268-6300

November 22
Baltimore, Maryland (717) 872-7917

Copyright © 1997 by Christianity Today International/CAMPUS LIFE magazine.
July/August 1997. Page 34

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