Cultivation: A Fertile Topic

There is a humourous joke that presents an infallible truth about God, despite its silly premise: an atheist, in his stubborn resistance to our Sower of Life, insists that he can create life himself.  In a melodramatic show, the man, already a successful scientist of genetic cloning, began by scooping a handful of dirt.  “My son,” God said with a wry smile, “you’re going to have to get your own dirt!”

Despite its preposterous scenario, several angles of this anecdote build a compelling understanding of our lives and purpose: we are organic beings that feed and grow, and we indeed are fully dependent beings.  Often, we think of our possessions, aspirations, and physical self as something that we have ownership of; however, the earth, and all that is in it, belongs to God.

Growing takes effort. Farmers laboriously till and prepare the land, plant the seeds, and tend the growth until a harvest is yielded.  In addition to the obvious analogy that lends itself to parents and teachers nurturing students, another powerful image is the realization of a large, mature tree.  We believe that those rooted in the Word will “yield fruit… and [will] not wither” (Psalm 1:3).  A tender sapling which is cultivated into an oak of righteousness will provide beauty and fruit to both those who see truth in its skyward-reaching branches—and some will simply seek respite under its shade, as of yet unaware on whose dirt they trod.

Knowledge from God is precious.  The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. (Psalm 119:72)  For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)  For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. (Proverbs 2:10)

Knowledge from God is deep.  Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33)

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)

Those with knowledge control their mouth.  The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. (Proverbs 17:27)

Knowledge of glory of Lord fills the land.  For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)

Teach one another knowledge.  I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. (Romans 15:14)

Our students come to us, born with God-given skills and abilities, and it is the commission of a Christian school to nurture and develop those unique giftings for the purpose of honouring God and to equip them to serve the community of people they live in. The Bible shows that even Jesus grew in stature and wisdom. (Luke 2:52) The example of the master craftsmen, skilled in designing, chiselling or sculpting reached that level of ability through learning and practice. And so it is with the school – we aim to cultivate the master craftsmen of our next generation.

1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Exodus 35:35
He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.

As you read our mission statement, there are several key traits that we want to cultivate in our community of learners, with one of the most important being integrity.

What is integrity? It has many synonyms, and in the Bible it has meanings such as truthfulness, sincerity, purity of heart, and uprightness. It means being truthful in all situations, and it also means that you can be trusted to keep your word and will do what you say you will do.

Why is integrity so important? In today’s age of moral relativism, where what is true for you is not true for another, and in a time of rapid changes and popularity based on social media “likes” and “follows”, integrity is sorely needed in our world. We want our students, parents and staff members to be people who are sincere, who are upright, who can always be trusted to be truthful, not only when it is convenient for them, but also in tough circumstances where there may be high personal costs. We want CAIS learners to know and understand that when we display integrity, it shows others that we can be trusted. When we say we will do something, and we have integrity, people will believe us. This trust will enable us to be of  greater service to humanity.

Lastly, and most importantly, integrity pleases God. Prov 12:22 tells us that “the Lord detests lying lips, but delights in people who are trustworthy.” In Psalm 41:12, the psalmist wrote that “because of my integrity, you uphold me and set me in your presence forever,” and in I Chronicles 29:17, the writer declared, “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.” It is evident that integrity is important to God and that it pleases him.  So, it is our sincere hope that all CAIS learners will come to possess the highest levels of integrity, thereby pleasing our Lord and being of better service to others.

Biblical discernment is the ability to ‘distinguish between’; to make discriminating judgements, to examine, and recognise the moral implications of different choices and courses of action. It is related to wisdom and includes the ability to ‘weigh up’ the moral and spiritual status of people, groups, and even movements.

King Solomon was known for his power of discernment (1 Kings 3:9, 11) and we are called to be discerning people as well. In Psalm 119:66 we read “Teach me good judgement and knowledge” and in Psalm 119:125 “I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.”

Because discernment means making judgements, we need to be sure that the basis of our thinking is correct, and that is why we need God’s Word. We are to study God’s Word which is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 3:15)

The secular world would say that you can believe anything you want, do anything you want and base all your decisions on how it makes you feel. That is not discernment! That is doing as you please and without judgement of the impact of your choices.

At CAIS, we ask our students to cultivate and grow in discernment so that they can act in a wise manner. As the students grow older, we pray that they will mature in their discernment of their thinking and actions. The blessing of this is that it will protect them from making poor decisions.

Discerning students are good for society as they will examine “how they should act” in accordance with God’s Word and in service to humanity.

In the mission statement, the first part is about what we do as a school. These are the plans and the actions. That is what you can see in a classroom from day to day. The second part of the mission statement, “growing in love for God and service to humanity”, reveals the reason or purpose of our plans and actions. The mission of our school is to nurture the next generation to love God and serve others. For Christians, there is the purpose of life. Life is all about love because God is love. The Bible said,

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)

Not only is loving God our proper response to His love, it is also His commandment. As Jesus said,

“love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)

And in 1 John 4:21 “He has given us this command: anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister”.

It is our goal for our students to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and they will continue to grow in love for God for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, since loving God is the primary purpose in life, it is the motivation of everything we do including doing our best in school. As an educational institution, it is crucial to do well in academics, but it is different from how the world understands it: to get into prestige post-secondary education, or to become productive citizens, or to achieve financial security, or for self-fulfillment or self-actualization. For our school, the reason is very clear: we love God so we will strive for our best as a response to His love, and as a way to show gratitude for the many potentials and opportunities He has given us.

Christ came to serve.

Matthew 20:28

“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Gospel cites many instances that testify to how Jesus served the people. When we reach out with our hands to help, we touch the hearts of people.

The CAIS Community aims to help students “grow in service to humanity” as we reach out to be a blessing to the people of Hong Kong. Our goal is train our students to be proactive in identifying needs and looking for ways to meet those needs.

CAIS students will grow to be people that work with their hands to demonstrate the love in their hearts as we connect with the community of Hong Kong.