TAIPEI, TAIWAN—After five days of ministry, today Deborah and I became tourists, and as tourists, we were surprised by a profound discipleship lesson from the famous Jade Cabbage. No, the Jade Cabbage is not a character from Kung Fu Panda. It is the most famous piece of carved jade in the history of jade carving.
Here’s how our Jade Cabbage encounter came to be. We were told that if we want to see the architecture of ancient China, then we should visit the Forbidden City in Mainland China. But if we want to see the art and treasures of ancient China, then we should visit the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Since we are in Taipei, we chose the art and treasure tour.
Oddly enough, the National Palace Museum in Taipei is the national museum of the Republic of China (Mainland China). It houses over 650,000 pieces of ancient Chinese art and artifacts covering over 8,000 years of Chinese history.
We were surprised and somewhat puzzled to discover that the most revered artifact in the whole museum was the famous Jade Cabbage. A close second is the Jade Pork. The Chinese do love their food.
Compared to all the amazing artifacts, I could not understand the fascination with a piece of jade carved to look like a cabbage. I had to ask. Here’s the story.
The piece of jade chosen by the artist was a second-class grade of jade with many visible imperfections. Despite the numerous flaws, the artist saw the potential and started carving what would become a famous and priceless stone vegetable.
I’m still not sure why thousands line up to view the Jade Cabbage, but an important discipleship lesson was reinforced. Even if we are working with people who have visible flaws, discipleship always focuses on the potential, not on the problems. The discipleship process helps carve away the imperfections so the human version of the Jade Cabbage can emerge, for the honor of God.
