The Apprentice

With the popularity of Donald Trump’s tv show The Apprentice, people have begun to look again at what it means to be an apprentice.  Everyone watches The Apprentice to see who will be next to hear the now-famous words from Donald Trump, “you’re fired!”  According to Miriam-Webster an apprentice is:  one bound by indenture to serve another for a prescribed period with a view to learning an art or trade: one who is learning by practical experience under skilled workers a trade, art, or calling.  One of the reasons that the idea of an apprentice has survived for thousands of years is because it works.  When you study under someone, learn what they do, and then try it yourself under their supervision you really do learn the trade or craft that you are studying.  Lots of college programs require some sort of internship or field education as an attempt to replicate the idea of an apprentice because they recognize the value behind that kind of study and experience.  

We are always learning from someone, regardless of our stage in life.  We watch our parents and learn from them.  We watch our co-workers, our spouse, our friends, our boss, maybe even someone we admire but may not ever meet.  We are always watching and learning from people.  Most of us will never be an apprentice to someone like Donald Trump but the question for us is who are we an apprentice to?  Becoming an apprentice is a choice.  We choose who we would like to study under.  We choose who we listen to, who we will learn from, and who we will try to be like.

As Christians there is no better choice then to be an apprentice to Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the ultimate example of love, care, concern, faith, and loving confrontation.  Theologian Dallas Willard put it this way “Trusting Jesus and becoming his disciple is the same thing.  I like the word apprentice because it means I’m with Jesus learning to do what he did.  When you look at the first disciples, that’s what they were doing.  They watched Jesus and listened to him, and then he said, ‘Now you do it.’”  Becoming an apprentice to Jesus not only means learning what he did and how he did it, but then doing it.  Being an apprentice doesn’t just happen, it is a choice we make to intentionally study under someone and it requires time and effort.  We have to take the time to study what Jesus did by studying the Bible and spending time in prayer, and then we have to take the time to practice doing it.  No apprentice is expected to get it right the first time but every apprentice is expected to try, to keep trying, and to listen to the gentle corrections needed to help make sure we learn how to do it right.  The apprentice slowly but surly learns the craft of the master.

There is nothing to lose in being an apprentice to Jesus.  We can learn from the Master, and we can become more like him every day.  We can learn to love as he loves, how a deep faith can transform our lives, and how to be the hands and feet of Christ in our broken world.  But like any apprentice, we have to take the first step to intentionally become an apprentice of the Master, and then we have to continue to study and to practice what we learn.  Pick up a Bible and spend time in prayer, and I can promise you that you will never hear those now-famous words “you’re fired.”

 God Bless, Rev. Liz Arakelian, www.LivingHopeEC.org