-
This weekend our water heater started to leak, so the plumber came (George). He is no longer a young man and we have had several conversations through the years about the lack of young plumbers. But, on this visit, George had a new apprentice, who just started this summer, after just graduating from High School. I told George that I was happy to see he had a new apprentice, but George said the chances of him sticking around are slim. Generally speaking, most apprentices don’t like the hard work, leave after getting their first level license, or decide they don’t actually want to be plumbers for the long-term. It sounded a lot to me about the problems we have in our Church.
Christianity was meant to be something that we all apprentice in. Jesus clearly set it up that way. He called a handful of men around him and then trained them in what it meant to do what he did, live like he lived, say what he said, etc. It took years of hard work, trial and failure, and a lot of live-on-life investment into others. They still all ran away and one ended up betraying Jesus.
The Church today doesn’t operate in this manner. We suffer from a lack of community, deep relationships, evangelization, and little to no apprenticeship into what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Where there is community, we usually stop after giving a few basics. Think about how much time Jesus spent with the 12 apostles. They had hours together, almost every day, for three years! So how do we think we can learn what it means to be a Christian by gathering with a few others for 1 or 2 hours a week? I understand that modern life may not lend itself to such intense discipleship. Still, we have start to prioritize relationships with others more, if we are to truly grow in our discipleship.
We really don’t need a new strategy of evangelization or discipleship, rather we need a renewal and commitment to re-learn the model and strategy of how Jesus did ministry. It is done in an intense and intentional building up of relationships that are ordered toward following Jesus. I call this Apostolic Apprenticeship.
"Apostolic Apprenticeship" = Learning how to follow Jesus by following a more mature Christian, who intentionally helps you close the gap between who you currently are and who Jesus wants you to be.
Later on, you will have others who ought to apprentice under you. If we look at the life of Jesus, he taught his disciples to go and do the same thing he did with them, with others. We can learn this from the New Testament, regarding following after Jesus:- Is not meant to be done by yourself
- Can’t be done well if you don’t change
- Can’t be done by just attending a class, being in a program, or going to an event
- It is long, hard, and meant to be done in deep intentional Christian friendships.
- It is supposed to be shared with others
- There are stages we must go through
These stages are just like any other apprenticeship. Doctors, electricians, carpenters, etc all have to start to learn from others in the field. The same is true for a disciple of Jesus.
Stages of Apostolic Apprenticeship
1 - I do - you watch
Right after Jesus calls his first disciples, we see him driving out demons, healing others, and preaching. Jesus did all the work and his followers watched what he did. This is the first step - learn by watching. Unfortunately, this is where most Catholic ministry gets stuck - into passive consumption of teachings. We have classes, conferences, videos, etc. Most of it is aimed at our intellect (which needs to happen and isn’t a bad thing). Still, we can’t just stay in this stage and say we are Jesus’ disciples. It is supposed to be so much more.
With our own apprentices, they can watch us lead a Bible study, teach a class, start a conversation with a stranger, go on a mission trip, listen to us preach the kerygma to them, etc.
2 - I do - you help
Later in the ministry of Jesus we see him feed the crowd by performing the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes. Here Jesus does the hard work of performing the miracle. But, he has his apostles assist him by handing out the food. This is where Jesus does and the apostles help.
With our apprentices, this can be when I do most of the leading of a small group, but ask my apprentice to lead a closing prayer. When I coordinate a funeral meal and ask someone to bring food. Where I answer tough questions an agnostic has, but my apprentice tells his testimony of conversion.
3 - You do - I help
A man comes to Jesus that the disciples tried to cast out a demon from his son, but they were not able to do it. So, Jesus casts it out. Later, they ask why they couldn’t cast out the demon and Jesus says that some can only be cast out through prayer and fasting. They were active in ministry, but not ready to do it by themselves. They needed help still.
With our own apprentices, this might be done when the apprentice leads a small group and I handle the prayer. When they organize a mission trip and I help coordinate the discussions at night time. When they take the lead in door-to-door evangelization, by starting the conversations and then ask me to pray if we get the opportunity to do so.
4 - You do - I watch
Jesus sent his disciples out 2 by 2. They not only take the lead in ministry now, they are mostly self-sufficient. They came back and discussed what happened with Jesus. They were ready to be by themselves, but still needed support, encouragement, correction, praise, technique, etc.
With our own apprentices, this can be when we start to have them work one-on-one with others and then report what is going on regularly. When they start to do street evangelization and I tag along for support and to watch, but not participate.
5 - You do - others watch
After Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples had to take the lead. But, they didn’t do it alone. Each Apostle took on apprentices. Paul had Timothy, Titus, and others. John had St. Ignatius of Antioch. Peter had Mark the evangelist.
With our own apprentices, we need to call them, live with them, form them, show them what it means to follow Jesus, teach them, guide them, correct them, and then send them out. We don’t abandon them - we empower them!
-------------
The biggest gap we have right now is the low number of Catholic leaders who know how to guide an apostolic apprentice. This is because they have never apprenticed under another Christian themselves! So, it will take a bit of experimentation, messing up, trying again, and learning from our mistakes to fill this gap. It will also mean that those of us who are doing this kind of work will also need to be generous with those looking to learn about it.
Furthermore, we need to be very patient. It isn't quick or easy. But, Jesus had a bigger problem - he had to save the world. We don't. So, let him do his job and we can focus on our own.
Let us return to the model of Jesus. The world needs this kind of renewal.