Discipleship #4 - Apprenticeship

So far, I have written about the farming and family metaphors for discipleship. This week, our focus is on the third metaphor, apprenticeship.

I have had three main apprenticeships: as a viola student under a master teacher at the Conservatorium, as an academic under my PhD supervisor, and as a church minister under the Senior Ministers at St Hilary’s Kew.

To be an apprentice is to work alongside your master, observe and copy them, and learn their technical skills. Paul writes to Timothy, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). Timothy had been his apprentice. Still, he wanted Timothy to get his apprentices from the church in Ephesus.

Discipleship, by its very name, is about learning disciplines – techniques or skills. As a viola apprentice I had to learn how to make a variety of beautiful tones by scraping the horse hair of my bow back and forth on the strings of my instrument, I had to learn to put my fingers in the right spot at the right time so that I was in tune and rhythmically accurate, I had to learn how to interpret the music in an artistically satisfying way, and to play with others so that together we could make an even more beautiful sound. This all required discipline and technique learning through observation, correction, and 10,000 hours of hard work.

Christian discipleship also requires discipline and the learning of technique from a master teacher. Prayer, for example, can be done by anyone at any time. However, helpful techniques can also be developed so that you can pray more effectively. Do you know how to pray with people who are really sick? There are techniques for that. The same is true for Bible reading and leading others in Bible study, for sharing your faith with others, for being an active and engaged worshiper in Sunday services, for serving others, for pastorally caring for people, for giving financially to the church and to missions, for fasting, meditating, and resisting sin and growing in holy living, to name a few. There are also techniques and disciplines for how to be a Christian single person, have a healthy Christian marriage, be a good Christian friend, and parent.

We should spend our lifetime learning these skills. Being a disciple is not about being entertained, having a consumer experience, or attending a social club. It’s about following Jesus through the complexities of life—and that does require developing skills. Don’t worry—Jesus doesn’t need us to be expert disciples from day one, but he does want us to be committed to being lifelong apprentices.

Once you have had some time as an apprentice, you can start to have your own apprentices. While a viola apprentice at the Conservatorium, I also had my own students. Similarly, growing up, I was apprenticed as a disciple by my mentors at church, youth leaders, Bible study leaders, and older Christians whom I looked up to and wanted to be like. Soon, I nervously got involved in disciplining others. To this day, I have people who disciple me and others I disciple.

If you are an apprentice builder, then that is a formal arrangement. But you can also informally learn some of the skills to be a builder, perhaps by watching your parent at home use the tools. In the same way, sometimes our discipleship apprenticeship happens formally through a program at church and other times it occurs informally through relationships. As parents, it is slightly scary, whether we like it or not, that we are apprenticing our children as disciples. They are watching and observing us. What are they seeing? What skills are they learning? If you feel inadequate as a parent in discipling your children, don’t worry, that’s quite normal. The good news is that there are skills you can learn.  

How are you going as an apprentice disciple? What skills would you like to develop? Do you have anyone speaking into your life? We all need someone to show us how to grow or correct us if we go off the path. Also, who are you apprenticing if you have been a Christian for a while? I would love to see Merri Creek be a church of masters and apprentices.

Peter Carolane

Senior Minister