At this year’s Spring Benefit I had the privilege of sharing both about what I see as the power of Christian education and how I see CHA playing a role in that powerful endeavor both now and in the future. I want to ensure that my thoughts are available, here, for those that could not attend.
The work of Christian education can have a massive and eternal impact on a human life. I am the product of that impact. In 1995, my family moved from Hong Kong to Taiwan, and in the summer of 1995, I found myself in a new culture, without friends, and in completely new surroundings. I had been, not for the first time, uprooted. It was a strange summer.
But one afternoon a few weeks after our arrival, my dad received a phone call. I could hear him in the other room. “Yes. Oh that’d be great. 10 kilometers? Sure. He should be able to do that. 8am tomorrow. Got it. Bye.” I didn’t have much of a choice: the next day I was going on a bike ride with someone named Mr. Long, who was apparently a teacher at my new school, along with a future classmate named Ryan. My dad helped me put my bike, recently unpacked from a shipping container, back together and dropped me off the next morning.
That bike ride changed my life. Mr. Long was hilarious, tough, kind and, most importantly, a follower of Jesus. He also introduced me for the first time to barbecue squid.
For the next several years, he was at different times my Bible teacher, my soccer coach, and a dorm parent to many of my good friends. Mr. Long was never my formal mentor. I wasn’t really interested in that kind of a relationship as a kid. But for years, I was watching him. In Mr. Long I saw what Christian conviction looked like in someone who was not my dad. I learned how to be physically strong and confident yet humble and teachable. I learned the value of adventure. I saw what a healthy Christian marriage looked like. I learned how to love Taiwan and to find deep joy – rather than pain – in being a part of two very different cultures.
Dan Long did what Christian teachers know how to do. He knew how to come alongside a kid and, by being a living curriculum, equipped me to be a lifetime follower of Jesus.
I see this same impact playing out at CHA every day. Last year our extended family was going through some troubles, and we were praying fervently for some hope in the midst of a pretty dire situation. One night my wife and I were sharing some incredible, breakthrough news that we had just received about the situation. Ellie, our oldest, who was still awake, overheard us and joined our conversation. In the midst of it, she turned to both Kim and me and said, “I can’t wait to tell Mrs. Ledbetter in the morning.”
I can’t wait to tell Mrs. Ledbetter in the morning.
Turns out Ellie and Mrs. Ledbetter had been praying together about this all quarter. She had come alongside our daughter and modeled what it looks like to petition the Lord for his mercy and goodness in the midst of trouble. The next day I was down in my basement workshop replaying this scene and was suddenly overcome with tear-filled gratitude. My wife and I, because of Christian education, were not alone. Our kids don’t have just us; their lives are filled to the brim with godly examples.
In some recent research on factors that contribute to resilience in young disciples, healthy relationships with adults play a significant role. This is an area where Christian education doesn’t just meet a need – it excels. And CHA has a long, vibrant history of forging these relationships through its living curriculum teachers.
All this is excellent. But let me also articulate my concern that we as a school might not be thinking big enough about this endeavor.
Ephesians 2 is one of my favorite passages of scripture, particularly these famous verses:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
This is our mission – that students experience salvation by grace through faith.
We care about the souls of kids.
But in Christian circles we too often forget about verse 10:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We care about the souls of kids – for the good of the world.
If our students are God’s workmanship, I want to see CHA become God’s workshop, preparing kids, vocationally, for the world he created. My prayer is that our graduates are not simply believers in Jesus but that they are followers of Jesus, using their gifts for the Kingdom of God. I want our students to be equipped to follow Jesus in being excellent doctors, teachers, lawyers, businesswomen, engineers, and healthcare professionals, understanding clearly that following Jesus is about all of who we are, not just our beliefs.
This is why our various campaigns this year are so important.
Our gym renovation isn’t just a gym renovation. It demonstrates our belief in athletic excellence. At CHA athletic excellence is a part of worship.
Updating our classroom seating isn’t just about tables and chairs. It’s about fostering collaboration in the learning process – an essential skill for our graduates to have an impact in the modern workplace.
Getting paint and murals on the walls isn’t just pretty. It says that as Christians we value bringing beauty to the world and that we want students to see creative endeavors as an act of worship if done in the name of Jesus.
If our students are God’s workmanship, I want to see CHA become God’s workshop, preparing kids, vocationally, for the world he created.
I don’t want to stop there. Our administrative team is having regular conversations about beginning a Senior Capstone course in which seniors must find a vocational mentor and design and complete a large scale project related to their career interests.
Next year we are requiring performing art for all middle school students so that they can understand what it means to use their creative gifts for the glory of God.
We are planning in the next few years to grow our elective offerings to include more film and technology.
In the same Barna research referenced above, one of the major commonalities among resilient disciples is also that they have been trained for “vocational discipleship.”
Again, if our students are God’s workmanship, my prayer is that through our combined efforts, CHA will become God’s workshop, truly preparing students to walk in God’s ways for the good of his world. It’s in this way – through both discipleship and vocation – that Christian education can have its most powerful impact.
—JT
