Compassionate Gentleness

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PRAYING TOGETHER

Share your needs, and pray for one another.

Review Apprenticeship Practices

1. Scripture meditation - Listening to the voice of Jesus above all other voices by delighting in and meditating on His Word. (Psalm 1)

2. Unceasing prayer - Talking unceasingly to God first and most about everything. (1Thessalonians 5:16-18)

3. Life together - Practicing true community in which the love of God takes on flesh by loving one another. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

4. Unhurried presence - Living life at a with-God pace, slowing down, and being attentive to God in the present moment he has given you. (Luke 10:38-42)

5. Joyful generosity - The practice of loving others by freely sharing what God has graciously given you. (Matthew 6:19-24)

LEADER NOTES

APPRENTICESHIP PRACTICE #6 - COMPASSIONATE GENTLENESS

• What is “gentleness” NOT?

  • Gentleness is NOT a temperament or personality type.

  • Gentleness is NOT passivity or being nice or cordial or congenial or mellow.

  • Gentleness is NOT avoiding crucial conservations or being a pushover.

  • Gentleness is NOT talking in a soft voice or only using positive reinforcement.

• How does Jesus demonstrate “gentleness?”

  • Jesus uses his power compassionately — his heart is drawn to the needy and hurting — he calls to the weary, the burdened, the struggling, the stumbling.

  • Jesus offers rest and peace out of his heart of love — NOT guilt, condemnation, or shame.

  • His yoke is easy (kind), and his burden is light — NOT cruel, or coercive, or tyrannical, or oppressive, or abusive, or intimidating, or burdensome, or heavy-handed, or chafing, or …

• Five reflections regarding how to practice compassionate gentleness

  • Consider the cross and practice confession - We are all made of the same clay. There can be no moral superiority when we are all sinners; we are all sick, we are all saved by grace and in need of his grace and compassion. Confessing our need for grace and God’s compassion prepares our hearts to extend it to others.

  • Be quick to listen, slow to speak - This is treating others as you would like to be treated — ask questions, seek to understand, slow your response time, don’t assume the worst in others. Let humility remind you that you too could be wrong, and you too might have something to learn.

  • Let go of trying to control outcomes - Trying to control outcomes frequently results in doing “whatever it takes,” including force, coercion, harshness, etc. We are to love others, trust our heavenly Father, and leave the outcomes to him. As we trust our heavenly Father to handle the outcome, we are free to display a posture of peach vs. aggression.

  • Practice NOT having the last word - Entrust both yourself and the other person to God’s care. Trust that God will make things right. Let go of the temptation to defend yourself, or to get one last shot in. Follow the example of Jesus who, when falsely accused, and misjudged, and insulted, and reviled “did not revile in return … but kept entrusting Himself to the one who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).

  • Pray, “Gentle Master, gentle me” - Bring prayer to bear “first and most about everything.”

• Read & Meditate: The greatest example of compassionate gentleness in history.

Jesus —gentle and lowly — is seen in powerful display on the cross.
Such power to restrain oneself,
To endure injury with patience,
To operate out of mercy rather than resentment,
To trust the Father and not seek to control the outcome.
This is the shimmering beauty of compassionate gentleness.
That is bringing heaven to earth.

FOR REVIEW: INTRO TO THE WAY OF APPRENTICESHIP:

• Definition of Apprenticeship - “​Apprenticeship is embodied loving trust in Jesus, empowered by His Spirit, transforming us into His image.”

1. EMBODIED LOVING TRUST -​ This is the ​WHAT​ of apprenticeship. “Embodied​” reminds us that apprenticeship is a whole-life way of being and seeing in the world ... it includes your hands, feet, head, and heart ... your words, thoughts, and emotions. ​“Loving trust” ​indicates that an apprentice acknowledges that Jesus is Lord of all our being and doing, and he is the one who tells us about reality. Jesus defines in his Word what is the good life--what is good, beautiful, and true. He teaches us how to live in wisdom, and how to be truly human as God designed us to be. And it is “​loving​ ​trust”​ , not cold obedience. It is working out our love for him.

2. EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT -​ This is the “​HOW”​ of apprenticeship. It is through the miracle of the indwelling Spirit that enables the acting out of our love and trust in Jesus. A Christian, by definition, is one who has the Spirit of Jesus dwelling in them. We are called to “walk by the Spirit” and to “be led by the Spirit” (Gal. 5).

3. TRANSFORMING US INTO HIS IMAGE ​ - This is the WHY​ of apprenticeship. The goal is to become like Jesus, to be transformed into His image. Being transformed into the image of Jesus glorifies God, and is the way we become truly human as we were designed to be like Jesus.

• Paradigm or Model of Apprenticeship​ (helps us understand the origin, essence, and aim of apprenticeship)

UNION​ → ​ABIDING & OBEYING​ → IMAGING

1. UNION - ​An apprentice is one who has been united to the Master. United to Jesus. Union with Christ is one of the deepest, most profound truths of the Christian life. The life of Jesus leads to the death of Jesus, and then to the resurrection of Jesus, and to the ascension of Jesus … and ultimately to the incredible truth that JESUS GIVES US HIS INDWELLING SPIRIT as a 24x7 Helper in our apprenticeship! The Holy Spirit is the source of REGENERATION (New Birth), He is the Spirit of ADOPTION, and the source of NEW HEARTS that know and love God. This is described in Gal. 2:20-21 where Paul describes it as Christ BEING IN US, and we BEING IN CHRIST. Paul teaches that an apprentice of Jesus is called by him, and united to Him by His Spirit so that Jesus’ life is within us by HIS SPIRIT.

2. ABIDING & OBEYING - Apprentices ABIDE ​with the Master and OBEY what the master says. ​With Union with Christ as the life-giving reality through His Spirit, we turn to our daily being. Being with the Master is at the core of being an apprentice. An apprentice painter spends her days with the master, watching, observing, talking, asking questions, learning, absorbing the way of the master. There is a true relationship established around the key of BEING WITH or ABIDING. But it is not just BEING WITH, but there is DOING as well. The apprentice doesn’t just watch, but takes up the palette and brush and puts paint on canvas. Someone who just hangs out with the master but doesn’t PRACTICE or DO what the master says is NOT an apprentice. They are just an audience, a spectator, part of the crowd.

3. IMAGING - The end result of apprenticeship is to be transformed into the image of Christ.

• Seven Practices of Apprenticeship - These practices are NOT aimed at earning God’s love or acceptance, but rather at learning to be like Christ in our LOVING.

1. Scripture meditation - Listening to the voice of Jesus above all other voices by delighting in and meditating on His Word. (Psalm 1)

2. Unceasing prayer - Talking unceasingly to God first and most about everything. (1Thessalonians 5:16-18)

3. Life together - Practicing true community in which the love of God takes on flesh by loving one another. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

4. Unhurried presence - Living life at a with-God pace, slowing down, and being attentive to God in the present moment he has given you. (Luke 10:38-42)

5. Joyful generosity - The practice of loving others by freely sharing what God has graciously given you. (Matthew 6:19-24)

6. Compassionate gentleness - Loving others through the compassionate and proper use of the power God has given you. (Matthew 11:25-30)

7. Faithful witness