What Frank Lloyd Wright, John Mark Comer and My Father Taught Me About Discipleship
Frank Lloyd Wright
Apprentice is the new Christian buzzword, and for good reason. Every once in a while we need to check our vocabulary to make sure that our words still hold potency. Disciple has become such an empty word - worn out like an old shoe and only relevant to the religious. On the other hand, the word apprentice brings a clear image. For instance, think of the image of a plumber or electrician watching every move his teacher makes, or for you Star Wars fans, Yoda teaching Luke how to trust the force.
My father was an apprentice of the great American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. All my life I was told stories about the wonder of the famous architect’s school of architecture, Taliesin. We often visited Spring Green, Wisconsin where the school remains to this day. In so many ways Wright was ahead of his time. His houses still seem relevant and modern. They are timeless. His lifestyle and teaching methods went far beyond the learning of architecture. In his later years he was less known as eccentric playboy and more known for the way he crafted a way of life for his apprentices. Wright’s students came to live on the same property that Wright himself lived. They were expected to help on the organic farm, in the kitchen and even in the decoration of the tables for the evening meal.
It is speculated that my father, the son of Salvation Army officers, was partially welcomed into the fellowship (truly what the community is called) because he knew how to play an instrument. On Friday evenings the students were encouraged to share their talents in the tiny theater on campus. The students were invited for a meal in Wright’s own living room each Sunday afternoon in a gesture of hospitality. They dined, created, designed, learned and spent time with the master architect.
Theater at Taliesin
The architectural sage had a very biblical approach to teaching, whether he realized it or not. He invited students to study in a holistic and organic way. To him, architecture was a way of life, and if he was going to train young men and women to walk in his footsteps then it would take more than a traditional schooling experience. FLW students must Learn By Doing.
Watching the Chosen has reminded me of the vocabulary and life of a Wright student. The Disciples ate with Him, slept where He did and learned in a very organic way the revolutionary ideas that Jesus taught. We are invited to sit at the feet of Jesus and follow Him…Be with Him, Become like Him and Do the Things He Does. In John Mark Comer’s new book, “Practicing the Way”, Comer speaks at great length about this idea. He says, “Following Jesus is not convenient, quick, or easy. (Nothing meaningful in life is.) And there is no way to apprentice Jesus without him interfering in your life, any more than there is a way to apprentice under a master of any craft and not have them disrupt how you live. That’s the whole point of learning under a master: you want them to disrupt how you live.” Comer goes on to encourage the ancient practice of creating a rule of life based on the beauty of the life of Jesus….to model our life after Him. “A rule was a schedule and set of practices to order your life around the way of Jesus in community. It was a way to keep from getting sucked into the hurry, busyness, noise, and distraction of regular life. A way to slow down. A way to live into what really matters: what Jesus called abiding.”
This Father’s Day, I’m glad to review the life of my own father and think about the ways that he has influenced my life. He was a follower of his Salvation Army heritage in service to mankind. He was an apprentice of the greatest American architect of all time. And most importantly, he was a follower of Jesus who selflessly loved our family.
Me and my father
Our family is so proud that my father actually walked with Frank Lloyd Wright and was taught by him. It shaped his then young mind into the kind and servant minded man that he became. His experience has now become such a bedrock of understanding about what it looks like to follow Jesus. It means so much more than a 30 minute devotional time with a cup of coffee in the morning. Instead, it is a fully immersive, moment by moment learning experience that crafts who we are in every way.
