There are three kinds of people in the world, those who make waves, those who ride waves, and those who sit on the beach.
Wave Makers
Wave makers are those who innovate, create, and change the direction of culture and society. They are often well known, and people who know about them feel very strongly one way or another about them. Such people are catalytic, sparking great excitement or great contempt. Steve Jobs is a wave maker in the technology realm. Brian MacLaren is a wave maker in Christianity. He may be the father of the Emerging Church movement, and people who are aware of him think that he is either a genius or a heretic. I’ll withhold judgment for now.
There are really more wave makers than you might think. The problem with being a wave maker is that it is hard work, and often involves swimming against the tidal wave of tradition. As a result, most wave makers are never heard of, because most of them drown. Though wave makers are necessary and needed, being a wave maker is risky and tiring.
Wave Riders
The second type of person is a wave rider. This is the person who waits in the water for some brave soul to create the wave, and then they jump on for the ride. They are students of culture and can feel the subtle changes in the current of society. They look for patterns and new developments, and upon sensing them, paddle madly to catch the next big wave. The most dedicated wave riders will ride one wave for a while, and then paddle back out to wait for the next one.
There is risk in riding waves, but not nearly as much as in making waves. As such, there are always a lot more wave riders than wave makers. Most wave riders survive, but the drawback is that most of them do not become well known. A few will get book deals and prominent leadership positions, but most will just keep riding waves. Another drawback is that many wave riders are criticized for “going with the flow” and just following every new wave that comes along.
Sand Sitters
Finally, there are those who sit on the beach and watch it all happen while soaking up the sun. They are the sand sitters. They either “Ooh” and “Aaah” at the wave makers and wave riders, or criticize them and tell each other what they would have done differently if they were the ones out in the water, braving the sharks and rip tides. There is nothing really wrong with sitting on the beach, enjoying the rays of the sun. After all, the wave makers and wave riders need someone to cheer them on.
But sand sitters have the danger of getting burned. If they aren’t careful, never get out and splash around in the water, and fall asleep on the beach, they end up with nasty sunburns (Read 1 Cor 3:15).
So what kind of beach goer are you?
Hi Jeremy,
I like your analogy.
At a real beach, the ones IN the water are more likely to get sun burnt than the sand sitters.
😉
David
David,
Good point.
Have you ever burned the soles of your feet? Ouch.
I’m more of a pool person. Sand just gets everywhere.
Bullet,
I personally can’t stand water at all, unless I’m on top of it skiing. But I agree with you about the sand. I hate it when it gets up inside your suit…
I have been doing some more thinking about this analogy, and recently wrote this:
Wave makers are those who create the waves. They are extremely creative people who think of new ways of doing things, and come up with new ideas, and have the ability to get them out to large numbers of people. Wave makers initiate change in cultures and world views. They expand horizons. Do old things in new ways, and even do some new things. They are inventors and innovators. They create waves.
Then there are the wave riders. These are the people who surf on the waves created by the wave makers. They didn’t make the waves, but they have fun riding on them, feeling them out, and inventing new stunts to practice on the waves. The feel the currants under their boards, and respond with stunning quickness and fluid grace to perform amazing feats. Some of them have become so good at riding waves, that other riders come to them to study their style and learn their tricks. They are happy to do this, but their thoughts are always on the next wave, watching and waiting for it to arrive. For they are wave riders.
Finally, there are the wave watchers. This group, the vast majority, sits on the beach, in the warm sun, and watches the wave riders do their stunts. For the most part, this group is unaware of the wave makers. They really don’t contribute to the wave in any way, but they get excited and are entertained by what they see. Sometimes they cheer on their favorite rider and make him a celebrity. The wave riders love this, for it is one of the reasons they ride waves in the place – to get a following. The wave makers don’t mind the wave riders getting most of the glory, because they are off doing what they love, creating new waves. Some riders look scornfully at the wave watchers, wondering why, if they like to watch surfing so much, they don’t get out of their beach chairs, and try surfing for themselves. Some watchers do try, maybe out of adventure, but mostly out of guilt, and some do in fact become riders. But most simply return to wave watching. Some of the watchers, having tried riding, do little but complain about the wave makers and the wave riders. The waves are too big, they say. The waves were unnecessary. Why can’t the ocean be calm? These critical wave watchers often start discernment clubs where they read papers and listen to lectures about why waves are bad and what makers and riders should be doing instead. These critical watchers often gain large followings of other watchers. Nevertheless, they too are part of the equation. They are wave watchers.