Apprentice to Jesus

Jesus’ disciples were his apprentices – they walked with Him, and became like Him and eventually did what Jesus did.

John Mark Comer says of this idea of apprenticeship, “Transformation is possible if we are willing to arrange our lives around the practices, rhythms, and truths that Jesus himself did, which will open our lives to God’s power to change. Said another way, we can be transformed if we are willing to apprentice ourselves to Jesus.”

The goal of apprenticeship as we orient our lives around Jesus is three-fold:
1. Be with Jesus (gradually you start to become like Jesus)
2. Become like him (eventually you can’t help it & you begin to do the things he did)
3. Do as he did

The idea of apprenticeship is not foreign to us. As a teacher, I had several apprenticeships in my college training to become an educator. Early in college, there were scheduled visits with teachers of various grade levels: to watch what they do (teaching style & classroom discipline); see how they interact with their students; how to write lesson plans and then I had the opportunity after several weeks, to practice all those things with the teacher available to guide me.  Then the semester before graduation, every college student in the Education field would take a semester to student teach.

Every day, I went to the elementary school, met with the teacher I was apprenticing with, watched her and learned from her~ all about teaching.  Then slowly, I would be given a subject to teach and then another was added until in the last month of the semester, I was teaching everything with the classroom teacher monitoring me, giving advice & suggestions. This did give confidence before stepping into my own classroom. This idea follows the three-fold goals above.

My son-in-law is in the plumbing trade. He will apprentice for several years before he becomes a lead.  He follows his lead: Be with the lead. Become like the lead. Do as he does/did.

The way of Jesus is not just a theology (things we believe) but it is a way of life.

The first goal is to BE WITH JESUS: To spend our waking moments aware of His presence and attentive to his voice.

The model Jesus gives us is in John 15: ABIDE in me and I in you.  Abide means to dwell, to remain, to make your home in; Jesus uses this word 11 times in ten verses.  What Jesus is saying is that in order to prioritize connection, we need to disconnect from other things.

This isn’t something new ~ we all abide in something. This is the place our minds turn to when we aren’t busy with something; where we go when we have free time and where we give our money & attention to.

If you are not sure what you are abiding in, take a look at your calendar; we prioritize what we enjoy.

We don’t just add Jesus to our life, we rearrange our life around Him, to make Him our focus.  To be intentional with this relationship, take steps to slow down & create new habits.  What can you cut out to make room for Jesus?

AW Tozer said that as we “set the direction of our hearts toward Jesus” something miraculous takes place in our inner being ~ a soul habit or heart habit. What does this look like? Taking moments in the day to contemplate Jesus ~ I’m looking at Jesus and he is looking at me and we are loving each other in those moments.

To become like him, it isn’t something that can be rushed; it happens through an in depth process of training.  Apprentices of Jesus are those who intentionally arrange their lives around the goal of spiritual growth and transformation into maturity. Jesus is looking for those who are choosing the narrow road ~ to walk with Jesus to become like him.
 
Second goal is to Become like Him: This is spiritual formation. We are all being formed into someone or something. It happens to all of us. We want to pose the question: Who am I becoming?

Spiritual formation is happening to all of us. We are being either transformed into the love and beauty of Jesus or malformed by the twisting of sin and darkness leading to death.

Spiritual formation is the Way of Jesus. It is a long, slow process of transformation, laying our lives on the altar & becoming living sacrifices. Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers & sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy & pleasing to God.”  We yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Our job is to make ourselves available.

In order to become like Jesus, we need intentionality; we must choose. The river of this culture will sweep you away if you are not purposeful day after day.

Spiritual formation isn’t a set formula ~ it may help to have a plan but that in itself is not the answer.  It is the “long obedience in the same direction”.

Imagine an umbrella with God's love at the top, able to flow over & through the fabric of the canopy like gentle drops of golden love.  Under the umbrella, at the tips are several other parts that help our spiritual formation:  Community is at one tip. This is the church gathering, small group, friendship with others that shape us.  Spiritual practices are at one tip. This is solitude & silence, reading the Bible, prayer, generosity, etc. The disciplines we practice in our spiritual growth. At a third tip is life experience, which includes your upbringing & family life, occupation, sorrows & joys, if you are married or single, where you live, age you are, things you have experienced along life's journey.  And the fourth tip is Truth, having your mind renewed by the word of God; getting the Word into your heart & mind.  God's love touches every area at the tips of the umbrella. As we give ourselves to apprenticeship to Jesus, all of the above will be affected & will influence your spiritual growth.  
 
Third goal is the Do as He did:  The end goal is to grow and mature into the kind of person who can say and do the things Jesus said and did. How would Jesus live is he had my gender, place, personality, age, life stage, job, resources and address? How would he show up to the world?
There are three categories for what we see in Jesus’ earthly life:

1. Making space for the gospel ~ Jesus’ mission was to seek and save the lost; he walked with people and talked with people and ate with people. Hospitality is a way of being in the world, with a heart posture toward others.

2. Preaching the gospel ~ Everyone is preaching a gospel, but the apprentices of Jesus preach His gospel. There are gospels everywhere! The gospels of American nationalism, capitalism, LGBTQI+ pride gospel, democratic socialism gospel, communist gospel, mindfulness gospel, mystical gospel, secular humanism gospel, etc. We preach Jesus’ gospel of the Kingdom!

3. Find where God is working and join him ~ Some examples: encouragement to someone; prophetic word; praying for someone; inviting someone over; sharing your testimony of what God has done in your life.
 
Part of doing what Jesus did is to demonstrate the gospel, the miracles of Jesus.  Practice with the Holy Spirit as you pray for healing of body or mind– Do you know anyone who is sick? Anyone who struggles with depression or anxiety?
 
Paul tells us in I Corinthians 14 to desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. Verse 3 gives us the boundaries of prophecy, “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort.”
 
The Lord may call you to partner with Him in the area of justice. We cannot allow secularism to define what justice is.  The Word of God is our authority and speaks to what true justice is. Justice aligns with God's heart – justice seeks to make wrong things right, crooked things straight. Practicing justice is joining God in seeing the created order put right.

Jesus told the disciples to “go into all the world” or we could say it this way, “as you are going into the world, partner with Jesus”.

I Peter 2:12 says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though, they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits.”  As believers, we want lovely, beautiful lives that model Jesus’ life and community.

Lastly, remember that the way of Jesus is not a sprint or a checklist—it’s an apprenticeship. A long obedience in the same direction. One marked by presence before productivity, formation before action, and love before influence.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. The invitation is simply to stay close—to be with Jesus, to let Him form you over time, and to trust that doing as He did will flow naturally from who you are becoming.
​
Questions to ponder:
1) What might God be inviting you to rearrange so you can more intentionally make your home in Jesus?
2) As you look at your life over the past season, in what ways do you see yourself being formed—for better or worse?
3) Where do you sense a need for deeper transformation?