Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)
What does it mean to follow Jesus? What does it mean to be His disciple or apprentice?
Where are the ways in which our lives are different? Where are the ways in which our lives are the same?
I drink a cup of tea either way. But as Jesus’ apprentice, what is at all different? I drive my car either way, but how am I changed? I sleep. I wake. I eat. I take a shower. I talk and laugh with friends. I listen to the radio. I look at people – different sorts of people – out my car window as I drive by. I go to the store and buy some snacks for people coming over on Friday night. I go to the garage to have my car’s oil changed. I make PB&J sandwiches for my kids’ lunch.
All this – so normal – yet, how is it different, or the same, as an apprentice of Jesus?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Matthew Erickson 
I don’t know if you were looking for comments, but something hit today that goes with this thought that you threw… Do we really know WHO HE is? And wouldn’t that be the first step to being an apprentice. I am reading a book that is encouraging me to dig deep in the Word to SEE HIM, to KNOW HIM, truely understand HIS nature, character, behavior, integrity… KNOW HIM.
I’m definitely looking for comments, Anita. We clearly cannot follow Jesus – be His apprentice – unless we first know Him. We have to start there if we are going to truly shape our lives around following Him.
What do you think it looks like …to begin to practically conform our lives to His purposes?
To be an apprentice or follower of Jesus, we need to “think” like Jesus. What this means is that we need to see the world from His point of view. I think I am talking about developing a Biblical Christian Worldview. What is that? It’s a way of dealing with the world and all our encounters in such a way that we act like Jesus twenty-four hours a day because we think like Jesus!
How do we do that? Well, most of us at one time lived our lives as employees. We had a boss or supervisor who we tried to please in order to be successful. Like it or not we were apprentices of them in that knowingly or not we were being mentored by them. In a way, we looked to them and our decision making was influenced by them. Wow! We trusted in them to give us true good and reliable information. So they shaped our worldview in a very significant way.
Well, in the same way, if we really believe in Jesus, have committed our lives to Him, we should want to know what pleases Him and be obedient in doing it! How do we do that? Spending time with Him and learning what pleases Him and then doing it! Yes, we will be misunderstood and look different from the world. Yes, it’s a battle. Put on His armour.
Don’t know if this is what you are looking for.
Check out the book, Think Like Jesus: Make The Right Decision Every Time. George Barna.
Thank you, Richard. I particularly like the idea of making Jesus our ‘supervisor.’ If we consider Him keeping attention on our activities, then we will be mindful of how we live.
I like to think of this relationship more as a mentoring relationship. This gives me the idea that we walk with Him, learn from Him, and have a conversational learning relationship with Him.
I’ve not read the Barna book that you mention, but look forward to taking a look at it.
I mentioned about being a “Success” in our job.
What does it mean in Jesus’ eyes to be a success?
I believe it has to do with discovering and fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives. Not what the world wants, but what has God assigned me to do? 1 Co. 12:7 In that way, success is different for each person. I can’t compare myself to someone else. But it does mean using my talents, gifts for His glory instead of chasing fame and fortune for my benefit.
Hey, Matt!
As I was reading your blog, you got me thinking about doing the ordinary, everyday things of life – like drinking tea or driving down the street – how are these done as a disciple of Jesus?
To do these things as an “apprentice” of Jesus, the verse that came to mind was 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” This is how we do the mundane in a Christ-like way – look to see how God’s glory is enhanced and acknowledged in the activity.
So how can we drink tea to the glory of God? One place to look is in 1 Timothy 4:4-5: “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
If we receive and drink our tea with thanksgiving, grateful to Him who provided it for us, we can do so to the glory of God. If we do so with with love in our hearts, sharing even our tea with others in Christ’s mercy, we do so for the glory of God.
Or take driving. That, too, can be done for the glory of God if we are thankful for the ability and resources to have a functioning car (unlike 95% of the world). We can drive to the glory of God if we consider others and their well-being before we cut them off. We can drive to the glory of God if we use the cars we have been blessed to have stewardship of for purposes consistent with our calling (Ephesians 4:1) and Kingdom purposes, such as to share Christ’s mercy or to reach out in love to others.
And I could go on. My point is that, just as Jesus did all for the glory of God, we, too, act as His apprentices when we do the same. Philippians 2:1-11 reminds us to take the same attitude as Christ, who humbled Himself for our sake – all for the glory of God.
So how do we do our apprenticeship under Christ? Behold Him, imitate Him, and seek His glory in all we do!
Jim, I appreciate the way that you recognize the simple joys that should well up in gratitude to God in Christ from us. Too often, I slip by the everyday things and am looking for something “deeper” than what is right in front of me.
What a true apprenticeship we would have if we could live out those words from 1 Corinthians 10:31 that you mentioned: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
I think by deeply knowing Him and His Word; it follows that we will make changes to be more like Him. Just being in His presence changes me. I think being an apprentice is allowing Him to live, move and have my being and do with it what He desires.. There in is the key to whatever is practical application. Hear Him, Surrender to Him, and Obey Him.
“Hear Him, Surrender to Him, and Obey Him.”
I love that, Anita. Keeping our personal connection with Jesus is the key to being His apprentice.
I think a good part of discipleship and the Christian life is learning to be what we’ve already become. Christ in us means we have been fundamentally transformed, and yet we may not allow that indwelling power to transform some areas of our life until we spend time getting to know Him and letting Him live and love through us. We’ve been changed to the core…we just don’t always live it.
Michael, I agree with you that discipleship must involve giving God every area of our lives in order to live for Him. There are places taht we tend to hold back from Him. What do you think it looks like to give every area to Him?
I would say in each area of lives, whether it’s parenting, loving your spouse, dealing with a co-worker, leadership decisions, etc. giving an area of our lives to Him is the choice to operate in the “flesh” or in the Spirit. Understanding the difference is the key, and that comes about through maturity and a deepening knowledge of Christ and an abiding in His Spirit.
So, you are saying that the key in giving areas to Christ is for us to look at different areas of our lives in order to understand whether we are “keeping in step with the Spirit” or succumbing to fleshly thinking/living. That makes sense.
I think it begs the question of whether we actually take time to assess those things under the Spirit’s guidance or not.