Written By: Kyle Sullivan | Northeast Regional Coordinator
Photo By: Reed Burr | Media Coordinator
There is something I’ve personally never done before, but I have seen others do. It’s a mistake I wouldn’t have even made starting out. I’ve made plenty of other beginner, kooky moves, but thankfully, I was spared this humiliating error. Just writing this makes me shake my head. That decision I’m talking about is to paddle out without wax on a board: nothing but slick glass. The results are obvious — slipping, sliding and losing the board from under oneself. There’s no progress in getting toward the outside. It’s a tragedy and comical.
I have so many questions. What went wrong? How did they make it from the purchase to the water? Did the surf shop clerk offer wax, and was it confidently turned down? Was it a practical joke? Did they lose a bet? Where are their friends? Do they even have friends? Will I contaminate my reputation if I paddle over and offer them a “pro tip” like “you could use a little wax” or “I know what can cure that problem you’re having?”
Whatever other questions come to your mind, we all know what this poor surfer needs. Someone needs to say something like, “Hey, my friend, you need to put some wax on that thing. It will change your whole experience. A waxed-up board will help you tons!” Someone needs to offer tips to help them take the next step, such as offering to show the person how to properly wax a board. They need information on what wax matches the water temperature and how far up the wax should go. They need the basics.
When we see folks slipping and sliding around in life, and they don’t have a clue, so they are getting in a heap of trouble as a result, what can we offer them? They don’t need any more ridicule or criticism. They probably need someone like you to come alongside them and say something like, “Hey, my friend, I’d love to sit down with you and hear your story, and if you’re willing, I know something that can change your whole life experience. I believe I know what might be missing.”
To sit down with someone and take them through one of the Gospels or Romans in the Surfers Bible is so much fun, even though it may, at first, sound daunting. Answering their questions will grow you deeper in your faith. Inviting them into a community of Christian Surfers at a chapter can open them up to what a tribe of Jesus-loving surfers looks like. God can use you to help them experience the joy of following Jesus and being grounded in the Word of God. The wax of the Christian life is the Bible, guiding us toward Jesus. Jesus is the Word, made flesh, showing us how to be saved. The Good News of Jesus grows us into becoming all that God designed us to be.
From the Surfers Bible we read:
Psalm 119:105
“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and light for my path.”
John 1:1
“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Romans 10:17
“So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”
Acts 4:12
“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we much be saved.”
Who is the Lord bringing to mind that might need a little wax for their board? (Yes, metaphor implied!) In this new year, start to think about how you can help someone avoid those mistakes and apply the “basecoat” they need in his or her life.