Community: Where Becoming An Apprentice Transforms Us
Hebrews 10:22-25
How many of you are happy with your spiritual life? How many of you would say that you’re satisfied with how you’re growing your relationship with Jesus and that you see the increasing evidence of the presence, qualities, attitudes, and actions of Jesus in your life? How many of you would say that your spiritual life is stagnant and a little stale? Now how many of you would say that you’re actually drifting from God? One of the reasons we see so little progress in our spiritual lives is that we make two fundamental mistakes in the journey of faith.
First, we think that one hour a week is enough. We think coming to church for one sermon each week is enough to grow my faith and transform us into spiritually mature followers of Jesus. We come on a weekend to hear a great sermon (right?), and we decide we're going to make a life change as a result. We walk out the door thinking, "I'm going to change my life and do what I was challenged to do." Then, by three o'clock, when the Saints or Hornets have won again, we have totally forgotten what it is we were going to change. And by Wednesday, you have forgotten 95% of what I’ve said in the sermon. Don’t believe me? How many of you remember the four points on how to impart to others what you have received that I shared last week? What this teaches us is that we need more than one sermon a week to inspire and equip us to become like Jesus. Take a really deep breath … now you've got to hold it…….. until next week. You can't do it, right? Taking one breath is not enough. You see, just coming to worship is like this. You can’t come to church one hour a week to hear the Word, pray to God, listen to a sermon and sing God’s praises and be transformed into a follower of Jesus. It’s just not enough.
John Wesley, one of the greatest preachers of the 19th century and the founder of Methodism in England, said this about preaching, "Preaching alone cannot produce spiritual maturity." In fact, Wesley made it a practice that he would not preach in any place unless there was a small group Bible study there, or at least a place where he could set up a small group Bible study, because he knew that spiritual growth takes place in intimate community, not in worship.
That leads us to the second mistake we make in our spiritual growth and that’s by doing it alone. You and I need authentic fellowship if we're ever going to be transformed in our lives. For most of us that means major life change. Making a major life change is difficult and most people fail because they try it alone. You can't do it alone. How many of you have ever wanted to lose weight or get in shape? That's almost everyone. The good news is that there is a billion dollar industry out there selling you everything in the world to get in shape but most of us try to do it alone. There are even TV shows about losing weight. The reason so many are successful in losing weight on the Biggest Loser is that they do it together. And now they have husband and wife teams, mother-daughter teams, Father-son teams because there is power when we work together to make life change. The fact is in the journey of faith, we don't rely on each other enough. Ecclesiastes says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If they fall down, they can help each other up. But, pity those who fall and have no one to help them up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three is not quickly broken." As an apprentice of Jesus, Your destiny in life is to be like Jesus, and to live like Jesus, you need help from other people around you.
Let’s look at the disciples for a moment. How in the world did a ragtag, uneducated bunch of disciples who never really got what Jesus was all about while he was alive and half the time were clueless, who even abandoned Jesus to die on the cross alone, transform to change the world? Look at Acts 2:42-47, it says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” They were devoted to life in small, intimate groups of people to learn, grow, fellowship and to pray for each other. It was in a small community of believers that's their lives were transformed so they could carry on the mission of Jesus and bring about he salvation of the world.
Why were they so devoted to this? Because they learned it from Jesus. In all His humanity, Jesus who was born into this world so that he might call the people of Israel back to faithful relationship to God and so that He might ultimately die for the sins of the world needed community. With a mission so incredibly large and difficult, He needed the support and fellowship of others. So he called the disciples to join Him in this journey and He walked with them, taught them, inspired them, spent his life and ministry with them until he eventually sent them out. When Jesus died and was resurrected, the disciples knew that they had to lean on each other if they were going to be what Jesus called them to be and to continue His ministry.
True discipleship and life transformation happens only in close relationship with others. I'm not saying don't have your quiet time, because that is a vital piece to knowing and hearing from God. But, without an intimate community around you, you will never grow mature in your faith walk. Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." This axe would never become sharp, unless it is literally engaged with another piece of metal. As tey rub against one another, sparks may fly and the rough edges come off. It takes a lot of work, but the only way metal is sharpened is with another piece of metal. Our spiritual lives are the same. The only way you become sharp is with another person sharpening you. You're only as sharp as the people you choose to be close with. Are you sharp or dull in your spiritual life today? Maybe it's the people you're hanging out with or the lack of spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ that you’re sharing life with.
In this series, we’ve been looking at what it means to become an apprentice of Jesus. We’ve learned three keys to spiritual transformation and becoming life Jesus. The first thing we need to do is to let go of our false narratives of life and instead take on the narratives of Jesus. Narratives are the stories we live by that give our life purpose and explanation. Often our narratives are at work in our lives without our knowing it. We have narratives about God, our self, others and so forth. Many of us have narratives about God that do not match the narratives that Jesus revealed. We cannot change our behavior until we change the narratives that guide us. Second is through soul training exercises. Soul training exercises help us to retrain our mind, body and soul to live and think as Jesus did. The exercises are often simple and usually counter-cultural. Third is the Holy Spirit which leads us to God and empowers us to make the changes we need to make to become more like Jesus. It is the Spirit that enlivens all our efforts to follow Christ. All of this comes from James Bryan Smith and the Apprentice Series he authored. But as he tested this in hundreds of congregations and thousands of people’s lives, he found that those who chose to do the series by themselves dramatically reduced the transformation of their lives to become like Jesus.
That’s why this fourth key of community is so important. Not only were we meant for community but we need community to be truly transformed into the likeness of Jesus. It’s in small group community that life transformation takes place, not in the arena of a large gathering like worship. It is only there that is we encounter each other's lives in a deep meaningful way and share life together but also the challenge of living for Jesus today. That is where we challenge one another and hold each other accountable for the lives we lead.
Becoming an apprentice of Jesus is not only about your life becoming more like Jesus’ life for your sake. You are called to be transformed so that you can be a transforming power in other people's lives. We are called to become more like Jesus, so we can talk Jesus, think like Jesus, live like Jesus, act like Jesus and love like Jesus. You are called to be the living presence of Jesus in that person’s life who is there for the person, ministering to their needs, binding up their wounds, calling them into life with God and challenging them to live the transformed life for the sake of others. You are called to be in community with others to connect them to Jesus. This what Jess did with the disciples. The powerful outcome was that everyone who saw the disciples saw Jesus in them. And when you’re in community with others, joining together in soul training and claiming together the narratives of Jesus for your life, all the people you're in contact with will see and know Jesus in you.
The fallacy we have in our mind is that we can do this faith journey alone. We believe that we are strong enough to live this life alone. You are not! I'm an introvert at heart, and I have tried to live this Christian life alone. But even after all these years, I know I'm so susceptible to these destructive behaviors, and I need you, my closest brothers and sisters, to keep me accountable. Isolation kills. In the animal world, predators look for the weak and the isolated. When we isolate ourselves as believers, we're putting ourselves in real spiritual danger.
One of the greatest characters of the Bible is King David. David is described as a man after God's own heart. David wrote in Psalm 19:7-11, "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right; they give joy to the heart … They are more precious than gold … they are sweeter than honey, and by them, your servant is warned, in keeping them there is a great reward." Now you would think that somebody that professed that and loved God in that way would never struggle or sway. But David made a very poor mistake. In 2 Samuel 11:1, this is what happened. "In the spring, at time when kings go off to war, David sent …" David sent - he sent away his commanders, his advisors, and his counselors to war and he stayed home alone. In that moment of isolation, when he was not with his people, and all alone, he saw another man's wife, Bathsheba and committed adutery. He ended up sending Bathsheba’s husband to the front line ensuring he was killed in battle. In a moment of isolation, even the strongest are vulnerable.
Are we any different? No, we're not any different at all. We have been called to be in community, and be transformed. We have been called to be a transforming power, so the person sitting next to you, will not lose their way as well. There's something powerful about being together. We are each other's transforming power. You are a transforming power. What you discover is what a powerful gift you are to each other! When we start to spur one another on in the journey of faith, and we start to see God use our lives to transform others, that's when God will use you to change the world, to transform the world around you.
You were created not only to have a relationship, but to have authentic relationship where God can engage you and transform your life. The purpose of this series, “Soul Training” was meant to show you the path to a different life, a transformed life where you become an apprentice of Jesus and through changing your narratives, the work of the Holy Spirit, soul training exercises and authentic community, you can become like Jesus and transform the world. The choice for you now is what are you going to do. It’s really threefold: you can say, “That was a good series” and then just move on living your life as a faint glimmer of Jesus. Or you can say, I’m going to buy the books and start the journey on my own and see some change but never really see the transformation and likeness of Jesus that he would have you realize. Or you can hear and respond to the call of God to become a true apprentice in authentic community and be right where God wants you to be.
To become an apprentice is a 34 week journey with a commitment to miss no more than 5 sessions. Many of us live busy and complicated lives, making it difficult to attend anything on a weekly basis. However, the effect of a small group will be most powerfully felt when those in the group have established a certain level of trust with one another which can only be developed if everyone is present and participating in the discussion. Second, you have to have a desire to grow deeper in your relationship with God. You don’t need to be “spiritual giants” to take this class. Nor do you need to be highly educated. What is important is the desire to grow and if you do, then you will be blessed.
Third, write a brief essay explaining what you hope to get from the class. It only needs to be a few paragraphs long. We want you to take the time to reflect on your desires and motivation to become an apprentice and to make this high level of commitment in your spiritual life. Fourth, keep up with weekly reading assignments. The books are the centerpiece of this study. You must read the assigned chapter each week naming a false narrative in our lives and introducing you to the Jesus narrative, in order to get the most out of the study and to be able to contribute to the discussion in class. Fifth, do the soul-training exercise each week. People respond differently to each of the practices, so while many of the practices are simple, that doesn’t make them easy. You must do them all or you will be missing out on the growth and self-knowledge that comes from trial and error. Sixth, make time each week for the 90 minute gathering with the others in your small group who have decided to become an apprentice of Jesus.
