NSCF 8(b): The Legacy of Apprenticeship

legacy, originally uploaded by mincaye.

What if I were to suggest that the one thing missing from many Christian communities and churches, is the Christ himself?

Well, Dallas Willard has beaten me to it. In 'The Divine Conspiracy,' one of the most striking sub-chapters is entitled "The Case of the Missing Teacher."

This theme runs throughout much of the book, as Willard exposes the areas in Christianity where Christ has been relegated to nothing more than a symbol.

He writes in the Introduction;

"Very few people today find Jesus interesting as a person or of vital relevance to the course of their actual lives. He is not generally regarded as a real-life personality who deals with real-life issues but is thought to be concerned with some feathery realm other than the one we must deal with, and must deal with now. And frankly, he is not taken to be a person of much ability."

Later in the book, under the aforementioned heading "The Case of the Missing Teacher," Willard points out that we are more inclined to refer to the 'latest studies' to learn about everything under the sun, rather than Christ himself.

To further illustrate just how irrelevant Christ has become, he wonders why there are no church courses on how to "love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate you, and pray for those who spit on you and make your life miserable."

Indeed, the entire ministry of Jesus seems to have been condensed into the following statement and its many variations:

"God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, offering forgiveness so that we can go to heaven after we die."

And we will certainly have to admit that evangelism at present is centred around that. Never mind that reconciliation in the Jewish sense has more to do with a full-life rather than an after-life, and never mind that Jesus was the greatest revolutionary the world has ever known.

How can we be the living body of Christ if Christ himself is not incarnate among us? How can we claim to represent a Christ who isn't even real to us anymore? And how can we expect to pass on the legacy of apprenticeship, if the Master from whom it comes no longer seems to exist?


Matthew 10:7-8 says, "...Freely you have received, freely give." The legacy is that of passing on the torch of apprenticeship unto the Master to others, and especially to the generations that come after us.

In Lewis Wallace's 'Ben Hur,' Balthasar the Egyptian (one of the Magi in his story) says to the other two Wise Men;

"The Spirit brought me first; wherefore I know myself chosen to be the servant of my brethren."

What a contrast this is to the world's 'first come, first served' motto! The duty of seniority is service to the younger ones, to the ones who come after. Jesus himself demonstrated this by washing his disciples' feet.

And this is precisely what the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 is all about; it is not a call to go out and make converts, but one to seek out and train others to be apprentices, even as we apprentice ourselves to Christ. Willard calls this 'discipleship evangelism.'


In the six amazing days of NSCF, this challenge was, to me, the greatest of all. I am a living legacy of the great leaders of the Christian Union who came before me. I have mentioned their names before, but this seems a good occasion to remember once again;

Alvin Kang Nathan
John Phang
Mikael Lai
Loo Huai Zhi
Marcus Lian
Clement Lee
Randy Khoo
Kenneth Liew
Sean Foo
John Ratnaraj
Jonathan Mah
Chan Weng Ken

God forgive me if I have forgotten any.


In a particularly instructive experience at camp, I remember the treasure hunt we had on Thursday. At one point, group John's flame was snuffed out. So, Simon (of Philip) and I (of Peter) went over to U Shen, to relight her candle.

Shortly after that, they found their last clue, and so won the treasure hunt, although it was later discovered that they had actually missed an earlier clue, and so hadn't actually won.

But never mind that. The point it that their group made it to the finish because others 'passed the light.' Incidentally, groups Peter and Philip finished second and third respectively, in what must've been an irony to lose a place to the group we helped.

Yet, we cannot complain, because at some points in the game, our candles also went out, and it was because of other groups that we could continue. At the end of the race called life, we will not be able to say we made it on our own, for we owe our lives to many who have shared their flame with us.

And this is the legacy: to pass on freely the flame which has been bestowed freely upon us.


During our extended reflection on Friday, we were to rewrite Psalm 139 in our own words. I reproduce mine here (with some updating of punctuation and tense):

Searching, finding, yet never quite knowing
The thoughts of the Man-maker,
We are as a looking glass, a clear holder
Through which the light of the ages shines through,
Knowing thoughts and words
Before the glimpse of them rises o'er the horizon.
And none can flee the heavenly hound
In great pursuit of Adam's fallen race;
We are nought and nought in us is found,
But he is nought if not full of grace.
Hide! Try it! This path where you walk
Is already darkened by the Shadow of Shaddai.
The grave cries out, for even it
Cannot bear the death that lingers.
Flailing, fledgling, failing, falling--
Fall into the full earth's core
Where you become nothing more than dust,
Where dying you shall be dead,
And dead be raised to life eternal;
As when a seed is given burial before it grows,
So are we when at this journey's end
We make the turn into the final bend,
And fall into his arms whom God has sent.
And, resurrected time and time again
As was spoken, "Kamikaze, my death is gain."
Raised to thy life, may I ne'er look back,
But remembering my chains run evermore
With passion like never before,
Carrying your name as with a torch;
And walk the road you've marked for me--
The road to where thou call'st the free
To live without anxiety
To live in life eternally:
Path of the Everlasting One
Who knows the path of the setting sun
The Creator of all, the Risen Son.

(Thanks for bearing with the poem's length).

When I shared it with my group, Runa commented that I am a philosopher. But these are not my words; if there is any vestige of that in my writing, it is because of my 'masters'--people like C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot.

I am one of their many living legacies, and indeed one of the least. Like U2, who claim to be a 'punk rock band trying to play Bach,' I am a rookie philosopher/poet trying to hold discourse with these giants of faith, intellect, and heart.


There is yet hope for apprentices of Jesus everywhere, as Willard writes:

"For to be a disciple in any area or relationship is not to be perfect. One can be a very raw and incompetent beginner and still be a disciple."

Again, I find U2 a remarkable example of this. Their early albums, such as 'Boy,' 'October' and 'War' exhibit a lot of raw energy. But their most recent albums, 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' and 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' display the depth of heart that has, after all these years, come to characterise this incredible band.

Their journey has been for some twenty-five years, and it is far from over. Beginning with humble roots (Bono could not play guitar, drummer Larry could not play drums, and bassist Adam could not play bass guitar), they dared to experiment (as with 'Achtung Baby,' 'Zooropa' and 'Pop' in the nineties) and grew so much along the way.

No apprentice--no one, for that matter--is perfect. But the only way to achieve perfection (clearly the goal of the Christian, as expressed in Philippians 1:6 and Matthew 5:48), is to keep learning and growing each day.

We learn from our experience, from our teachers and mentors, and above all, from our Master Jesus Christ. The challenge that comes, as we progress in the kingdom, is to train younger ones whom others would normally underestimate and/or overlook.


Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Tim 4:12;

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

At camp, Simon and I came to experience this firsthand with the youngest members of our groups, Joshua and Aaron respectively. In my opinion, the photo above, with the four of us in it and Christ's symbol in the centre, probably best sums up the camp.

This is apprenticeship: that even as we ourselves are flawed apprentices, we seek to build others up, as we apprentice ourselves together to the Master of all.

And often, if not always, we will find that in training others, we ourselves are built up too.


At the end of the day, there was nothing new I learnt at camp. All of these were lessons I had heard before. But they were suddenly thrown into a new light, into a context I had never quite known. And the connection between all of them became clearer.

I would not venture as far as to say I have discovered my calling in life, but one thing I do know: God has called me to ministry, wherever I am planted, whatever my vocation may be.

I have been called to train others in the manner in which I myself have been trained; to share the light that has been passed to me; to build others up and encourage them; to live a life worthy of Christ, bearing the fruit of his Spirit; to learn to sacrifice and surrender to the Master.

Indeed, I can echo the words of Dallas Willard at the end of his Introduction;

"In these three books ['In Search of Guidance,' 'Spirit of the Disciplines' and 'The Divine Conspiracy'] there is very little that is new, though much that is forgotten. Indeed, if I thought it were new, I would certainly not advocate it or publish it."

NSCF was a timely reminder of our place in God's kingdom, and our role in it. The theme reached far deeper than I ever thought it would, and so I have chosen to frame the picture above with the words "Apprentice of Christ" in Greek; the first is a variation of 'matheteutheis' (disciple) and the second, 'Christos' (Christ).

Cycles of apprentices will come and go; so let us fulfil all that we have been called to while we still have breath. May we seek first his kingdom, and trust him to provide all that we need even as we press on in this journey to be like him, and to help others do likewise.

Amen.