Introduction

The First Two Books

The three core books of The Apprentice Series follow a logical progression . The first book, The Good and Beautiful God, deals with our “God narratives,” or our thoughts about God. The premise is that our thoughts about God must be aligned with Jesus or we will be starting in the wrong direction, and our life with God will be negatively affected, perhaps even toxic. Once people have “fallen in love with the God Jesus knows,” they are ready to take a look in the mirror and examine their own soul. That is the aim of the second book, The Good and Beautiful Life. It deals primarily with character and virtue. Following Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, the book addresses common struggles in human life, such as anger, lust, lying, worry and judging others.

Each chapter of these books follows a similar pattern. Through real-life stories the reader is invited to examine the false ideas and narratives that hinder our lives, and then replace them with the true narratives found in Jesus’ teaching and the rest of the Bible. Each chapter also includes a soul-training exercise that is chosen specifically to help with the narrative change. You can simply read the book, and nothing more, and perhaps experience some gain. Or you can read a chapter and practice the exercise, and experience a little more change. Best of all, however, is reading the chapter reflectively, engaging in the exercise wholeheartedly, and discussing your experiences and insights with a group of fellow travelers on the journey. This last way has proven the most effective.

Heart, Grace and Action

In addition to the basic formula for transformation (narrative, exercise, community—Holy Spirit), this three-book curriculum also teaches some basic principles that are crucial aspects of Christian spiritual formation. These have been important in the first two books and are even more important in this book, which deals more directly with how we live, not just our love for God (the first book) or curing our own souls (book two). In The Good and Beautiful Community we are going to examine the second part of the Great Commandment: loving our neighbor as ourselves.

When we move into this area, it is easy to lose the main focus (the heart) and put all of the emphasis on the wrong thing (the activity itself). Paul understood this so well when he wrote to the Corinthians, “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3 esv).

We can engage in the highest acts of service and martyrdom, but if we do not do it in a spirit of love, it is of no value. When we deal with social justice, acts of mercy or serving others, there is a tendency to become enamored with the action itself. Serving others is rare and impressive in our narcissistic world, a world where people create little cocoons and isolate themselves from others, often out of fear. When we see people sacrificing their time or money for others, it gains our attention. There is nothing wrong with this. We must not—indeed cannot—hide our light under a bushel. But we must beware; our good works can also lead to vainglory (discussed in the second book). Instead of our works glorifying our Father who is in heaven, we do things to glorify ourselves on earth.

The same can be said of our personal piety. It is easy to turn prayer or Bible reading into ways we establish our merit with God and others. Jesus criticized the Pharisees, not for engaging in prayer, fasting and almsgiving, but for practicing them simply to be “seen by others” (Matthew 6:5). A favorite phrase I often use is, “The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.”

With that caveat in place, let me say clearly that while this is a problem, it is not the primary problem. The main failure in our lives as Christians is our comparative lack of good works. Many—myself included, at one time—have been led to believe that we are saved by faith alone and not by our works, as if our works are unnecessary. Many love to quote Ephesians 2:8-9 to state this point. While it is true that our works do not—cannot—save us, it is also true that we were created to do good works. All we need to do is read verse 10. Let’s look at all three verses:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

If we read all three verses, we reach the right balance: Grace (God’s action in our lives) is accessed by faith (trust and confidence), and we enter into a relationship of love. We know that God loves us, and we love God in return (1 John 4:10).

That is not the end of the story but the beginning of a new way of living. That love can and must extend itself through our hands and feet, expressed in our love for others. We were created for a purpose. Not simply to wait until we die and go to heaven, but created “in Christ Jesus for good works.” Faith and works are not opposed; faith ought to lead to works, and indeed, works are a natural outgrowth of faith. James makes this point clearly:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (James 2:14-17)

But what kind of faith is James talking about?

Personal Piety and Social Action

There are two kinds of faith: dead faith and living faith. Dead faith is personal piety or doctrinal orthodoxy. There is faith, to be sure, faith in one’s own practices or dogma. But it is dead faith. It breeds no life. It is like the Dead Sea, from which nothing flows out, and thus it has no life in it. Living faith is faith working through love. According to Paul, this is the only thing that matters: “The only thing that counts is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). Living faith is trust and confidence in God expressed in acts of love in our human relations and encounters with one another.

So far I have tried to steer clear of two common errors: (1) focusing on the act itself and (2) focusing on personal faith. The former is common in circles where social action is the primary concern. The latter is common among those who stress personal faith or piety. I have noticed that quite often these two aspects are completely divorced from one another. People who stress social justice sometimes do so with little or no emphasis on personal piety; people who stress personal piety often fail to practice social justice with consistency and regularity. In this book I want to wed these two essential aspects of being an apprentice of Jesus.

Social action without personal piety can easily become self-righteous and insensitive and lead to burnout. Personal piety without social action can also become self-righteous and insensitive and lead to burnout. The problems are, ironically, identical. Both tend to see their actions (service or prayer) as the way to earn the favor of God and humans. Both can be insensitive to others (activists who force their kindness on people who are not ready for it; pietists who are insensitive to the needs of others). And both lead to burnout because they are not empowered by the Spirit, only by the flesh.

So the aim here is to create a happy marriage between contemplation and action, piety and mercy, personal devotion and social service. As I said, this is not common, but it has been evident in all of the great movements in Christian history. Saint Francis spent hours in contemplation, yet he also cared for the poor, the sick and the outcast. John Wesley told the Methodists that “acts of piety and works of mercy” were two essential sides of the same coin. The early Methodists were known for their personal as well as social holiness. Wesley would not allow either aspect to be neglected.

The True Social Activist

Dallas Willard and I were once talking about social justice and community service. He asked me, “Jim, who is the true social activist?”
I thought of people like Mother Teresa, who served unselfishly among the poor in Calcutta, or perhaps Martin Luther King Jr., who fought against injustice in a loving way. Unsure, I simply said, “I don’t know, who?” His answer was surprising: “The true social activist is the person who lives as an apprentice of Jesus in his or her ordinary relationships.” He went on to say that social activism is not an act but a way of being. We are prone, he said, to put the emphasis on the
action—serving, protesting, refusing to comply—but in fact the emphasis should first be on the heart or character.

Then Dr. Willard went on to explain that every relationship, and every action, would be affected by our apprenticeship. It is not that we do a good deed here and there, but that our very lives are good deeds. The character of Christ that is infused in us will be a part of every encounter. The fact that an apprentice tells the truth will affect his or her entire workplace. The fact that an apprentice of Jesus is not ruled by fear or greed will make a difference at home and in his or her communities. I liked how Dallas shifted the focus from the act to the heart, from the exterior to the interior. Too often people engage in social action on a part-time basis—a visit to the soup kitchen, a short-term mission trip—and feel that they have done more than their share in the area of service.

While those are good activities, if they do not flow from a Christlike character, they are merely temporary acts of kindness. Apprentices of Jesus are not part-time do-gooders. They live in continuous contact with the kingdom of God and are constantly men and women in whom Christ dwells. They do not sometimes tell the truth, sometimes live sacrificially or sometimes forgive. There are myriad opportunities for us to affect the world we live in. That is why this book will try to examine the many ways we relate to others and what that might mean for those who live with Christ in his available kingdom.

One in Whom Christ Dwells

As in the first two books, the essential narratives for an apprentice have to do with identity and location. As Christ-followers we are people in whom Christ dwells. This is our fundamental identity. It is not up for grabs; it is not subject to change, regardless of our behavior. The essential idea here is that our identity should shape our behavior, but we live in a world where that is reversed: behavior determines identity in this world. But we do not belong to this world. It is not our home. We set our hearts and minds on another world (Colossians 3:1-2). I recently was awakened to a beautiful phrase that describes our truest identity. It comes from Eugene Peterson, who notes that we are a “splendid, never-to-be-duplicated story of grace.”

As a person Christ dwells in and delights in, as a splendid story of grace, I am sacred, set apart for God, special and empowered by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 6:3-4). I am sacred and I am strong, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). This awareness is essential for those who are striving to live as apprentices of Jesus in a world that has rejected Jesus and his values. But there is more good news. Even though I live in a fallen, broken world, I am also living under the strength, protection and provision of the kingdom of God. It is ever-present and available now.

What does this mean for how we live in community? How does this affect our ability to love, forgive and serve others? It means every-
thing. We can only love, forgive, serve, bless, give, encourage, unite and have patience because we know who we are and where we live. We can do these things because Messiah Jesus has done them. We are empowered by not only his example but his life and strength. We do what he did because we are learning how to be with him in order to become like him—all through the strength he provides. The following verses are only a small portion (as you will see when you go through this book) of the many passages in the New Testament that describe how the Christ-in-us transforms the world:

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)

Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:13)

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Romans 15:7)

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25, italics added in all these verses)

Jesus, then, is both the model and the means of the compassion. I can live, love, serve and accept others because Jesus does those things for me. I am giving what I have, not what I lack.

This is crucial in the discussion of spiritual formation and community service. It is the way piety and action are united. Christ-in-me must be cultivated in personal exercises such as solitude, lectio divina, prayer, slowing down and so on. But that same Christ-in-me propels me to love others, accept them and make sacrifices of myself for them. I hope that this becomes even clearer as you read and work through this book. If not, there is a danger that our acts of service will become self-focused and ultimately self-righteous. We love, serve, forgive and care for others because God first loved, served, forgave and cared for us. The life with God we are now living is simply spilling onto everyone we meet.

Author and speaker Tony Campolo shared with me the reason for his dedication to caring for the poor. He told me that each day he sets aside time to “set his mind” on Jesus, to become aware that Christ is with him, indeed, that Christ is within him (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27).

The awareness of my connection with Jesus, who lives in and through me, is what draws me to care for those in need. I see Jesus in those in need. If I did not have that foundation, my caring for them would be of no value. It would be pity, and no one wants to be pitied. I see Christ in them, and I love them. That is why I do what I do.

He offers us a brilliant description of the relationship between personal piety and social action, which shows us why we offer compassion and prevents us from doing it for the wrong reasons.

Living Among Others

On an average day I wake up and greet my wife and son, help my daughter get ready for school, order food from the drive-thru at McDonald’s (okay, I am not the perfect dad who cooks breakfast, and my wife leaves for work before the sun gets up, so go easy on me), encounter others in traffic, wave to other parents dropping off their kids at school, greet colleagues coming into work, teach students in the classroom, see friends at lunch, interact in meetings with colleagues and supervisors, oversee the fine work of my administrative assistant, work out next to fifty people at the gym, come home and have dinner with family or friends, help kids do homework, write, kiss my wife and family goodnight, and fall asleep. I get up and do it all over again tomorrow, with little variation.

On an average day, then, my personal kingdom will come into contact with the kingdoms and queendoms of over one hundred people, at a deeper level of engagement with some of them, at a lesser one with others. My wife and children and I know each other at the deepest relational level—called family. The lady taking my money at McDonald’s does not know my name, nor I hers, but we still interact. My kingdom and her queendom (that is, what we each have say over) are briefly intertwined. The same is true with every other person on the list—colleagues, students, fellow sweaty people and fellow drivers. I may not know them well, but I live among them.

As an apprentice of Jesus the question becomes, how shall I—as a person Christ dwells in and who lives in the kingdom of God—then live among them? The family is the first place we live out our lives as apprentices of Jesus. It is also usually the most difficult place to do so. That is because of the depth of the relationship and the weight that goes with it. The family is the primary arena for us to practice kingdom living, but the second place for many people is the workplace. The average person spends 7.6 hours a day at work, which is the single largest block of our time at any one place. Naturally, we will have ample opportunity to live out our apprenticeship in the workplace.

Next in terms of time is our involvement in clubs or organizations, where we spend a lot of time interacting with others (such as the PTA, church, aerobic classes). And we cannot neglect the importance of our encounters with others in the general public—at the mall, the grocery store, the movie theater, the post office and the DMV (a very challenging place to be kind and patient!). In these places we are placed in proximity to others and thus our behavior and theirs becomes important.

Collision or Connection

Though these people are all different, they all have one thing in common: they are people whose kingdoms and queendoms have encountered mine. Sometimes they collide (fender-benders) and sometimes they gently connect (“My name is Rodney, and I will be your server. Can I get you something to drink, sir?”). Sometimes they tear down (“I don’t want to be your friend anymore”) and sometimes they build up (“I love you”). These kingdom encounters are an essential aspect of human life. They can hurt or they can help; they can curse or they can bless.

Finding success in our relationships has a lot to do with our inner condition. That is why this is the third book, and not the first, in the series. If we have grown in intimacy with the God Jesus is and reveals, our life will begin to change for the good (The Good and Beautiful God). If we have made strides in our struggle with lying or anger or worry, we will find that our ability to be in relationship with others will be enhanced (The Good and Beautiful Life). But the opposite is also true: if we are still ruled by anger, for example, learning how to love, forgive and serve others will be more challenging. I am not saying that unless you have mastered the first two books you ought not attempt this one. Sometimes we learn how to love by loving, how to forgive by forgiving and how to serve by serving. I am, however, pointing out the truth that Jesus stated: good trees bear good fruit, or the inside is what leads to the outside (Matthew 7:16-20).

Our daily encounters with others are the arenas in which our relationship with God becomes incarnate. Most of us need a little help in this area. I know I do. That is why I am writing this book—I need guidance. You are not reading the words of an expert in human relations. You are reading the journal of a novice who is sharing his struggles and insights into how we live as apprentices of Jesus in the many relationships we find ourselves. Fortunately, I have a lot of great people around me who are teaching me about this important area. This book, like the first two, is birthed in community, where the experiences of others have been an invaluable teacher.

I need to be reminded that as a follower of Jesus I am peculiar, in the best sense of that word. Peculiar, that is, to the world around me that does not live by the teachings of Jesus. My life is rooted in the eternal and strong kingdom of God; the roots of my life are in the future, safe and secure, which gives me the strength to live unselfishly, to strive for unity in the midst of diversity, to forgive even when it is not easy, to set my standards high, to live generously, to long to be worshiping in the house of the Lord and to be a witness of new life to a dying world. I need to be reminded and I need a community around me to help me remember who and whose I am, and what that means for my daily life.

This book will try to offer ways we can become blessings to the world around us. To do so, we will have to look at the reasons why we often are not, or why it is so hard to have healthy relationships with the people we meet each day. As in the first two books, a lot of failures in these areas are due to false narratives. And as in the first two books, the solution will involve correcting those false narratives by replacing them with true narratives (which are found in the Bible) as well as engaging in spiritual exercises that are aimed at embedding the right narratives into our bodies and souls.

Confessions of an Introverted Contemplative

I am hopeful that this book can contribute in some way to the badly needed balance between personal spiritual formation and community engagement. As an introvert and a contemplative by nature, I have no business writing a book that deals with community and service. Though they do not come easy for me, I have labored for years, under the leading of the Spirit, to grow in these areas. My friend and coworker Matt Johnson, who is well versed in both community and service, said to me, “Jim, I think you are actually the perfect person to write this book. You are not an expert, but a fellow learner. And you know how hard it is to enter community and engage in service, whereas some of us forget about that struggle because it is easy for us. Also, you have been taking small steps through the years, and your experience will connect to more people, because most who write about social action are living too far from where most people are.”

This might have been a polite way of saying, “Your lack of skill and expertise might not be a bad thing!” But I will take it as an affirmation. You will not find in these pages the words of a saint calling you to the highest level of sacrifice. (You can read books like that, and they might be what you are ready for.) Rather, you will be reading the words of a struggling straggler who is stumbling toward the light. My own failures, and occasional successes, are offered as an encouragement as we labor to love our neighbor. Our ultimate teacher is the Holy Spirit, who I trust will lead us into all truth, correct us when we steer off course, and infuse us with energy and encouragement as we run the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1-2). May the blessings of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be upon you as you labor to live the good and beautiful life in your good and beautiful communities.