Apprenticeship to Jesus (Discipleship)
The ultimate goal of following Jesus is to Be With Him, Think Like Him & Do the Things He Did. This process of transformation requires the following: 1) Changing the Stories We Believe 2) Daily Practice 3) Authentic Gospel Community 4) Joining Jesus in His Mission.
+ Changing the Stories We Believe
"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2 NLT)
For us to become a new person, someone who resembles Jesus, we must change the way we think--replacing the lies we've come to believe about God, ourselves, and others, with the truth. It begins with seeing God as revealed through His son, Jesus--the clearest representation of God (Hebrews 1:3). Next, we need to see ourselves as God sees us--people he loves so much that He gave His only son that we might be forgiven, made whole, and come to know Him intimately.
Jesus called Satan, the enemy of this world, the Father of Lies. The mess in which we find ourselves began with a suggestion in the Garden of Eden, "If you eat from the tree God told you to stay away from, you won't die; you'll be like God...He's holding out on you! He's not to be trusted." This is the battle we are in. Everything we find to be broken in our lives...every destructive emotion...every act of violence and selfishness...every hateful word...behind all of it is a lie that God and his ways are not be trusted...that He does not have the best of intentions toward us and that we are more qualified to decide for ourselves what is good.
When we allow our thoughts about God to be shaped by the nature and character of Jesus, our lives are transformed!
+ Daily Practice
While walking down a Manhattan sidewalk in New York City, the famous Russian pianist, Vladimir Horowitz, was approached by someone who asked, "Excuse me sir, Do you know the way to Carnegie Hall (the legendary concert venue)?" His reply, "Practice, Practice, Practice..."
At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says the following, "...whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19). At the end of His sermon, he says, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."
How do you live, think and become like Jesus? "Practice, practice, practice." Sometimes called spiritual disciplines, spiritual practices are daily rhythms and habits that invite God to work in our lives and the lives of others. These include but are not limited to the practices of Jesus such as prayer, silence, solitude, fasting, public worship, scripture-reading, service, meditation and observing the sabbath. They also include corporate and private practices that the church has observed throughout its history such as confession & repentance, simplicity, examination, fixed times prayer, communion, relational & emotional health, generosity, hospitality, peacemaking, prayer-walking, taking time for retreat, and more. (See Practices & Habits on our Resource Page for more)
The biggest challenge is just getting started and being patient. When learning anything new, we aren't very good at first. Progress can seem slow if non-existent. Then, after months or even years, we look back and are able to see that what once seemed unlikely has become a reality.
+ Authentic Gospel Community
Is it enough to "practice, practice, practice" and change the stories we believe? No, not really! The most essential ingredient to becoming like Jesus is for each of us to willingly commit to authentic gospel community. Jesus established and built his church, what we are calling Gospel Community, as a place in which the Kingdom of God would be displayed on earth--here and now. What does it look like?
A vivid description can be found in Acts 2:42-47: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Authentic Gospel Community looks like this. It begins with a community devoted to scripture and enjoying one another's friendship--a spritual family that breaks bread and remembers all that Jesus did for and said to them. It is a community that believes prayer matters and expects miraculous signs and wonders..where extreme generosity is the norm, so much so that no one is left in need. Its dinner tables are places of joyful sincerity where God is praised...where there is always a chair left open for whomever God "adds to their number"--no matter their economic status, age, or ethnicity. Even those outside their community look upon them with admiration.
Apprentices to Jesus, what He called His disciples, don't see rugged independence as a strength. Becoming like Jesus and doing the things He did is a team sport!
+ Joining Jesus in His Mission
At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "...whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Even more, after His resurrection and before He ascended to be at the right hand of the Father, He challenged those gathered to, "...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
To be an apprentice (a disciple) to Jesus is to be someone who not only obeys Jesus' teachings, they teach others to do the same. In the Kingdom of Heaven, to be a spiritual adult isn't enough, we must become spiritual parents who encourage and teach others how to organize their life around three things: To Be With Jesus, To Think Like Jesus, and to Do the Things He Did.