Radical Apprentices: Week 1 Readings and Discussion Questions

Readings: Acts 11: 19-30; Radical Apprentices, Chapters 1 and 2

Discussion Questions:

Discussion 1:

• What do you think of when you hear the word “radical”? 
• Does this word have positive or negative connotations for you? 
• Do you think of Christianity as being radical? Why or why not?

Discussion 2:

Consider this passage from pages 14 and 15 of Radical Apprentices:

 “The nature of an apprenticeship (discipleship) is one in which a person (disciple) receives training (observing Jesus’ life) that issues skills and competencies (spiritual gifts) necessary to perform tasks (ministries) to a particular industry’s standards (the Kingdom of God). Replace the word “disciple” with the word “apprentice”, and the word “discipleship” with the word “apprenticeship”, and you basically capture, albeit in secular terms, the principle undergirding the challenging spiritual task inherent to being a true follower of Jesus Christ”. 

• Have you ever done an apprenticeship, or trained for a career? How involved was this process and how much did it demand of you?
• In what ways do you think Christian discipleship is similar to an apprenticeship? 
• In comparison with the demands of an apprenticeship or career training program, how much does our discipleship commitment to follow Christ demand of us? 
• Read Luke 9: 57-62 and Luke 14: 27-33. What do you think that Jesus is trying to tell us about discipleship in these passages? Do you think that people leave the church today because following Jesus demands too much of them, or because the church presents them with a Jesus who demands too little of them? Consider Luke 9: 23-25.   

Discussion 3:

• Read Acts 11: 19-30 and recall some of the details that Ron mentioned about the believers in Antioch, who were first called “Christians”. What are some of the things that show these early Christians had radical faith? 
• What challenges did these first Christians face?
• What do you think we have in common with the early Christians?
• How can they provide inspiration and be an example for us today in our own discipleship walk?