Christian Living Discipleship
November 2005
One image Jesus gave us about the Christian life is discipleship or apprenticeship. At age 12, my brother Raymond took me to Edmond to become his apprentice. Edmond was a master woodcarver. I am thankful to both who saw a woodcarver in me. I still carve as a hobby to this day. A follower of Jesus is as disciple and a disciple is an apprentice. (See Acts 6:1, 2, 7).
As a master woodcarver Edmond had a unique style. He expected me to imitate him. I watched, studied, and copied him. I compared my work to his. There were other apprentices in the shop. Some were further along the journey, some came after me. No matter! Our teacher got his business because he had a style all his own. As long as our work looked like his, he was pleased. Being an apprentice to Master Jesus is similar. To do the Christian life is to learn to imitate him in love, obedience and service.
Here is how this might work out in reality.
One day legalists brought a woman to Jesus caught in bed with her neighbor’s husband. They expected Jesus to give her a tongue lashing to haunt her for a lifetime. Instead Jesus loved her out of her sinful lifestyle by not judging her. Because she encountered true love in Him, he expected her to quit lusting after the cheap love. In imitation of Jesus, a disciple treats all others in like manner: with love. The Christian life is imitative not just ideally but really and actually. Instead of shunning, shaming and shouting at the sinner, a disciple cares enough by not judging. Apprentices of Jesus watch, observe, study, and imitate the Master. They are known by imitation. If the life of Christ is about anything it’s about loving God and others. Just like the carver carves like his teacher, the Christian apprentice loves like his Master. This kind of love is not worked out on the spot. Rather, it is hammered out on the benches of prayer, solitude, silence, fasting and humble submission to God in imitation of the Master.
Edmond was also my teacher. With every new order, he explained the style, the wood, the overall look he was creating. He was not the only master woodcarver in town, but he taught his style to his apprentices. That’s how his unique style lives on. At times one of the apprentices did the teaching. But it was always what Edmond wanted me to learn.
As an apprentice of Master Jesus, I ask myself often, “Who is my teacher?” All of us learn the Christian life from someone. Who is that someone for you: A pastor, wife, children, others? Another may teach me but it’s always about what Master Jesus wants me to learn. Even the Apostle Paul would say, “Imitate me as I imitate Jesus Christ.”
Who is an apprentice? One who learns to mimic his master in love, service and obedience. The most rewarding compliment I received from Edmond and others was that my style of woodcarving was like his. Discipleship is walking in the footsteps of the Master. He is my teacher and my example. How about you?
Send this Column to a Friend
Past Columns
- The Slow Cure Of Anger June 2010
- Wrath Or Anger? May 2010
- Losing Lustful Passions April 2010
- The Slippery Slope Of Untamed Passions March 2010
- Dealing With Gluttony February 2010
- Gluttony January 2010
- Sloth’s Solutions December 2009
- Sloth, Not The Animal Kind November 2009
- Fighting Against Envy October 2009
- Envy: Why Not Me? September 2009
- More Columns from Walking with the Master
Subscribe to Updates