Never Surf Alone

I first learned to surf in 1986 while living on Oahu.  I had always wanted to learn how to surf and so one of the seniors at Hawaii Baptist Academy took me under his wing and taught me how to surf.  Some of the most relaxing and refreshing moments have been spent on the waves of the 50th state (No, I don't surf in Cali because the water is way too cold for me).  But there is an axiom which is of great benefit to anyone surfing:  Never surf alone.  Most of the time, this is for safety reasons.  There have been times when a friend has had to pull me out of a perilous situation because the waves broke my board and I could have drowned or drifted off to sea.  There have been times when we have been surfing and sharks have shown up, so we were able to stay safe by paddling in together.  There have been times when we were surfing and a swell came in, bumping the height of the waves up dramatically.  We needed each other to give us the confidence to take off on those mammoth waves and make it to shore safely.  But most of the time you want a friend with you when you are surfing to multiply the pleasure.  I remember my first big barrel at Ala Moana Bowls as my friend was paddling out of the shoulder of that wave watching me lock in deep.  I remember surfing on the North Shore with a friend when a whale began to breach just a few hundred yards from us.  I remember being out in the line-up with a friends at Threes in Waikiki and seeing a pod of dolphins swim right between us, close enough for us to touch them.  Most of the time "surfing" is actually spent sitting on the board in the line-up waiting for waves.  Having a good friend gives time for good conversation and helps those lulls in the waves pass more quickly.

I was thinking about that this morning on my bike ride to work as I reflected on yesterday's sermon about accountability.  It seems to me that most followers of Christ avoid accountability because it sounds like someone is always going to be on your case.  Someone is going to be checking up on you to make sure you are not slipping up and sliding into sin.  Someone is hounding you to point you in the right direction when you are having struggles or confusion.  In other words, we think accountability is having someone to rescue us when we wipe out or challenge us when we don't charge the big waves.  To a certain extent, this is true.  We all need someone who will be there as a human voice speaking God's Word into our lives.  Read Philippians 2:19-30 and you will see that even the Apostle Paul had Timothy and Epaphroditus with him to assist him and help him in his time of need.  So if Paul needed a brother in Christ to keep him in check, don't you think we need that also?

However, most of our journey with Christ is not spent with some great temptation or struggle.  Most of our journey is spent seeking to live for Him in the mundane, everyday moments of living.  There is no calamity or heart break, just the ups and downs in the typical day.  It's kind of like the surfer waiting for a wave during a lull.  Having a brother/sister in Christ who is intimate with our lives allows the journey to be more joyful and have someone who celebrate those small successes.  It's nice to have someone hooting encouragement as we try something new for us, like teaching a Sunday School class, witnessing at work or praying aloud for the first time.  That's why a true follower of Christ does not detach Himself from the body of Christ, even if there have been some issues.  One day, we want someone to share our overflowing joy with when our grandchild did something marvelous and the next day, we need to listen to a brother/sister share their overflowing joy when their grandchild has done something marvelous.  This multiplies the joy when we have someone involved in our journey.

To do this means we must take a risk.  We must open ourselves up honestly to someone and let them see that we struggle.  They need to know that we don't have it all together, even though we try to project that every Sunday morning.  They need to know we are vulnerable, weak and struggling, but desperately want to honor Jesus in our total being.  This is risky because they may let us down.  They may not really show the caring and compassion that we need.  They may be just as human and fallible as we are.  Yet to never risk is to miss out on the truth of Christian fellowship.

So this week, make sure to call your prayer partner you met with yesterday in church.  If you weren't at Hillcrest on Sunday, ask God to put someone on your heart with whom you can have contact with three times this week.  Remember to share:  What has God revealed to you lately?  What is one struggle you are facing?  How can I pray for you?  Do that for the next two weeks and see if this doesn't make your journey even more enjoyable.  Just as the surfer should never surf alone, the Christian should never walk alone.    So perhaps this Sip from the Well will allow you to refresh a fellow pilgrim on his/her journey with Christ.