Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

You may be thinking you are not in an apprenticeship. The term and reality are not possibly as common as they once were. From the earliest times in Egypt and Babylon training was set up and organized for craftsmen of all types to teach the next generation the skills and crafts that would be needed. In the Roman Empire many of these skilled artisans were slaves. 

Later in the 13^th century the same idea led to the formation of craft guilds and master craftsmen sought recruits to work closely with them for a training period for seven years after which the recruit could join the guild. Even lawyers served in apprenticeships earlier in history.

Apprenticeships were fairly common in the American colonies and Benjamin Franklin served as an apprentice to his brother in the printing trade. Over many centuries apprenticeships evolved and continued in various forms.

When our son followed my husband around as a young boy, one fun moment was when he learned he could jack up our little 1965 VW like his dad. Then later as a teen he learned how to handle tools and car repairs, we didn’t call it an apprenticeship and yet it was in many ways as he became an adult and then passed them along to his son.

“I did it!”

When our daughter learned about cooking and the art of making a good homemade pie crust ( a legacy in my family), it might have been much the same. A great memory for me is a few years ago when she came home with her two daughters so I could share how to can and preserve peaches the way my mother did.

What stirred my thinking was when our pastor said in a recent sermon, “Life is an apprenticeship.”  We tend to not think much about it as we continue into adulthood and have most of the common skills needed to be on our own. But we are missing a bigger picture I think. If we call ourselves Christians are we being discipled by someone more mature than we are in our faith and understanding? Is this life an apprenticeship for eternity perhaps?

If so then beyond any human mentors or disciplers we know or have known, would it not be Christ who would be the best master to apprentice under? He is the only one who does it perfectly and can accomplish the best in and through us.

“We think we know what is best for us, but we don’t. We think we are able to rule our own lives, but we aren’t. We think we can defend ourselves against temptation,  but by ourselves we can’t. Every human being is in need of a king. All human beings need rescue, forgiveness, justice, mercy, refuge, and protection that they are unable to give themselves.” 

Paul Tripp

No matter how independent we want to be or think we are, we need a “Master” at life to show us how to live it and walk it out moment by moment. Who better than Jesus? But that means we broaden what we think it means beyond our usual understanding of being an apprentice. It isn’t so much about the doing of those things we see Jesus did although that can be part of it. It’s first and foremost about being like Him. Then what He can do through us flows out from being like Him.

To become like someone else we need to spend time with them in all different settings. In ancient times some apprentices lived with the one they hoped to become like. Have you noticed how much the disciples of Jesus learned by being with Him. They were with Him when He was out walking, eating, hanging out with friends, and visiting family. They got to see how He noticed and took time for people others shunned or scorned – lepers, blind men, cripples, adulteresses, and more. Yes, He taught them things but his most powerful venue was showing them because they were with Him nearly all the time during his public ministry unless He sent them somewhere on his behalf.

If we are going to be in a life apprenticeship it doesn’t mean we skip quiet times of devotion, church activities, corporate worship, and all we get involved with doing, but I think it does mean we don’t leave Him there when we leave those places of activity. It means we look for and want Him to be with us in all those ordinary moments of our lives as we shop, do laundry, cook, clean, and dozens of other things so He can help us see life through his eyes instead of our own. Then we might notice our neighbor doesn’t seem as chipper, the clerk at the store seems discouraged, our children’s teacher seems worn out, and in the noticing we can be a means of grace to them. We miss them if we leave Him in church, Bible study, or in our chair time with Him.

We are called to be like Him, represent Him on this earth and if we aren’t sure what that looks like, maybe we need to get to know Him better. Maybe we should sit in silence with Him versus having prayer that is a one-sided monologue. Maybe we should slow down and see how He lived when He walked the earth.

Maybe our pastor spoke more significant words than we recognized when he said, “Life is an apprenticeship.” 

How is your apprenticeship going?

Photo by Pam Ecrement