The Apprentice – Jesus' Style Series

Luke 5:1-11 - The Apprentice – Jesus’ Style

I don’t know how many of you have watched any of the reality show The Apprentice. It is a show about a group of would be executives trying to impress Donald Trump above and beyond their other competitors in an attempt to become the managing director of one of Trump’s companies.

Donald Trump is by his own admissions a self made man. He is a legend in New York where he is based and has extensive interests in real estate, gaming, sports, and entertainment. He is primarily a developer and owns a huge amount of land in New York and elsewhere which includes buildings, hotels, convention centres, etc.

Well the show started with 16 wannabes, but each week one has got fired because they didn’t make the grade. One got fired because they were impulsive and erratic. One got fired because she accepted the blame for her teams failure without defending herself. One competitor got fired this week for not standing up for her self when slandered by another competitor. For Donald Trump, not standing up for yourself is an even greater sin than being unprofessional. And so it goes on.

What Donald Trump is looking for in an apprentice is very different to what Jesus looks for in his apprentices. If I were to list some of the attributes that Donald Trump is looking for they might look like this …

- Self Motivated

- Able to lead a team to success against all odds

- A Problem Solver and planner

- Confident, Capable, Proud

- Articulate and Professional

- Intelligent, Well presented, Good looking

- Successful in the business world

- Able to make money – quickly

- Resourceful

- Able to stand up for one’s self

Donald Trump is looking for a person who is the best of the best. He is looking for someone who will be successful. So often in this world, unless you are an achiever, you don’t have a hope. You are not worth anything at all. You are a loser.

Has anyone ever dreaded the team selection process where teams are picked one person at a time. “I’ll take Pete.” “I’ll take John” “I’ll take Craig” and on it goes… It is fine for those who are popular or good at what they do. But for the average Joes and Mary’s it can be an embarrassing experience. Nervously waiting, hoping that you are not the last one picked. It is even worse when the teams fight over the last person isn’t it – You can have George – No you have George! No I insist!

Tonight, I want to look at what Jesus looks for in his apprentices. What is it that Jesus looks for when He is picking a team? And how does this compare against what the world looks for. Some of you may be thinking – I didn’t know God had an apprenticeship program. He does of sorts. We commonly use the term disciple for Jesus’ apprentices. Both are learners. Both are followers. When you think of an Apprenticeship such as boiler making or catering, it is usually for a set duration. But Jesus’ apprenticeships are lifelong.

If you’ve got your Bibles there, I want you to open them to Luke 5:1-11. This was a passage we looked at in the morning service when we looked at being Made for a Mission. What is mission by the way – “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity – Col 4:5”

We said then, that in order to accomplish the mission God had for us, we had to be dedicated to step out of our comfort zone and move into the deep water. We needed God’s inspiration to move to where the fish were. And we needed motivation to do something. That’s all about what we need, but tonight, I want to look at what Jesus is looking for in his apprentices and encourage you that you are qualified now for his service.

So lets read Luke 5:1-11 which records Jesus recruiting his first disciples.

When I read this, I see 5 clear differences between Jesus’ selection criteria and that of Donald Trump.

1) Jesus welcomes people with SELF SCEPTICISM (vs 5). Peter and his crew were sceptical of their own abilities. They doubted themselves. They had been out all night and hadn’t caught a guppy. I don’t think they were at the stage where they doubted their ability to ever succeed at fishing, but they were certain today wasn’t the day. They doubted their ability at that time to be successful. Peter said. “Master we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything”.

By contrast, doubt of yourself or your ability is seen as a weakness. I can’t imagine Donald Trump hiring a CEO who doubted that he could achieve results. He wouldn’t waste time on him or her. No, our world doesn’t look for people with doubts about their ability. It welcomes people who are confident, who are capable and willing to give anything a go. People who succeed are people who believe in themselves.