In recent years, Dallas Willard has made popular the notion that the another word we can use for the term "disciple" is "apprentice."  Two new books on spiritual formation have latched on to this word.  James Bryan Smith's Apprentice Series (a three book series) and Gary Moon's book "Apprenticeship with Jesus."  Moon's book, in particular, elaborates on the term in detail. He suggest that "the word disciple has not aged well - particularly as used by modern-day evangelicals."  I agree that the term has suffered from overuse. From my own experience, when I hear the phrase "discipleship," I tend to think of a weekly meeting between a mature Christian and a new believer that focuses primarily on certain skills or activities (how to read the bible, how to pray, why church is important, etc.).

Moon states that he prefers the word "apprenticeship" to "discipleship" because he wants to "imply learning through co-laboring with and experiential awareness of the real presence of Christ."

Like Moon, I find myself drawn to the apprentice language for the same reason. It implies a relational, being-with-Jesus approach to spiritual formation that seems to have been lost from the "disciple, discipleship" language of the New Testament.  

But is the term "apprentice" a better word than "disciple?"  In medieval times, apprentices were with a master in order to acquire his skills and eventually become like the master himself.  It seems like, with this approach to training, the apprentice-master relationship is focused primarily on skill development and not on the relationship itself.  Does discipleship to our Master Jesus resemble this apprentice model?  Is apprentice language adequate? Inadequate?  Is there a better term or should we just stick with the New Testament language and define it better?  Will we create a new set of problems by using apprentice language for discipleship?

What are your thoughts?