Spiritual Formation for Educational Leadership
Introduction
A quality Christian education, when implemented well, is meant to shape the character and heart of the students. Kyle Hughes sees the Christian educator as a spiritual guide who seeks to understand their students holistically, focusing on both their intellectual and spiritual growth.[1] The very foundation of Christian discipleship is heart formation through education. In his charge to his disciples before his ascension, Jesus gave his Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20).[2] Jeremy Kimble argues that, within Christian education, “Our aim is to see the transformation of students in their thinking, affections, and will. We want to instruct for the sake of formation, character development, and desires that are attuned to God and his purposes.”[3]
In this article, I argue that, as educational leaders, heart formation must be at the center of what we do, and thus it must be at the center of our daily lives. It is not enough to seek the growth of our students and staff. We must be able to say to them, with confidence, that they should imitate us as we imitate Christ. I then provide some biblical and efficient means of pursuing Christlike character in the midst of organized chaos that is the life of an educational leader.
Education as Heart Formation
No Christian educator would be satisfied if their students were of low character but able to pass every standardized test. This is because Christian education is focused on heart formation. Of course, this does include intellectual growth and maturation, but it aims at more. A. Craig Troxel argues that, from a biblical perspective, the human heart is a unity composed of the spiritual functions of mind, affections, and will.[4] Jeremy Pierre likewise sees the Bible as portraying people as having dynamic hearts expressing themselves through the interrelating and overlapping functions of cognition, affection, and volition.[5] This dynamic interaction of heart functions proves to be both the power behind, and the complexity of, Christian education. If Pierre is correct, and I think he is, then Christian education in general, and its leaders in particular, must seek to shape not just the minds of our students (their cognition), but to grow and direct their affections, desires, commitments, and choices as well. As Dallas Willard notes, “What is in our ‘heart’ matters more than anything else for who we become and what becomes of us.”[6]
Of course, this is not news to anyone involved in Christian education. Proverbs 4:23 admonishes us to “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” In his 1668 treatise originally entitled A Saint Indeed, but commonly known in modern times as Keeping the Heart, John Flavel notes that the heart is the center of the person, and thus it is the central focus of all Christian effort and ministry, including education. Such ministry, however, is not easy. Our fallen natures and chaotic lives create great difficulties. This is especially true for those in leadership. Flavel wrote, “The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God, and the greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep the heart with God. Here lies the very pinch and stress of religion.”[7] For Flavel, Proverbs 4:23 was not just one of many useful verses to be taken in turn. It was a summative statement of what it meant to engage meaningfully in one’s sanctification. “The keeping and right managing of the heart in every condition is the great business of a Christian’s life.”[8] If this is the case, then it is also certainly the great business of Christian education.
Spiritual Formation in Educational Leadership
While it is common to find articles, books, and curricula stressing the formative importance of a distinctly Christian education for students, much less has been offered as to the importance of spiritual formation in the life and practice of educational leaders. Principals, administrators, provosts, and presidents are all individuals, created in the image of God, as are the students they work so hard to form into Christlikeness. Jesus was clear about how teaching, learning, and discipleship interrelate: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:39–40).[9] If heart transformation is the true aim of Christian education, then teachers and educational leaders cannot merely be intellectual experts in their fields (though they ought to be at least that). They must also have affections, desires, commitments, and lives that are more in line with Christlikeness than those they teach.
Given these words of Christ, we know that if Christian educators carry out their mission perfectly, their students will be just like them. Therefore, we ought to take a moment to consider the sobering question: do we want our students to be just like their teachers? If we are teachers ourselves, do we want our students to be just like us? If we are leaders within Christian education, do we want our faculty and staff to be just like us? Paul confidently told the members of the Corinthian church, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). How confident could we be in issuing such an imperative?
In the midst of a fallen world, we know that our teachers, faculty, staff, and leaders are all in need of sanctification. Not one of us is perfect. Therefore, we should expect the answer to each of the above questions to be in the negative. However, this does not mean we should not seek to grow ourselves. Indeed, if Flavel is correct, then our own spiritual growth as leaders should be of the utmost priority, not just for the pragmatic reason that it will improve our students’ education, but because it is God’s imperative to us as Christians.
Leading in Spiritual Formation
For those working in the day-to-day of Christian leadership, whether in Christian education or elsewhere, spiritual formation is likely not top-of-mind. It might seem like the kind of thing that should be delegated to the “experts”, those in full-time ministry, or those who have shown an exemplary propensity or spiritual gifting in the area. But this should be cautioned against. First, the command in Proverbs 4:23 is addressed to all believers, not just the gurus. Second, our hearts are inescapable and central. This is made plain throughout the Bible. Hardened hearts lead to idolatry, sin, and antagonism toward God (see Pharaoh: a leader with a hardened heart!). A new heart, made of flesh, given by God, is the engine that drives the new Covenant (see Ezek. 36:26–27). Matthew Bingham writes, “Across Scripture, then, the heart is depicted as the vital center of a person’s consciousness, feeling, and will, and thus the state of one’s heart will dictate how one thinks, speaks, and acts.”[10] The state of our hearts will necessarily (and directly) influence how we lead, and subsequently, the kind of people our faculty, staff, and students become.
The literature on spiritual formation might leave a leader exasperated at this point. There are so many books, with so many principles, and so many practices. Who has the time to master all these and accomplish all one must do in a day? It can be overwhelming, especially if one considers these to be necessary reading to “get it right.” Some of these books are very helpful, and they have ministered to thousands. But they are not necessary reading, just as this article is not necessary reading (although hopefully it will help some).
As it turns out, our sovereign God did leave us one necessary and sufficient manual on spiritual formation: the Bible. If our protestant forefathers were correct (as I write this from an evangelical perspective), then Scripture is clear in its intended message to all believing readers and hearers of the word.[11] It is not complex or complicated, as though we needed an expert to tell us how to be formed into Christlikeness. This is good news for the leader who is juggling family, church, budgets, culture, and all the other things that come with shepherding their organization.
The Nuts and Bolts of Biblical Spirituality
With the clarity and practicality of Scripture in mind, it is possible to give an easy-to-understand, practical, timely presentation of Christlike formation for the Christian leader. Matthew Bingham has done us a great service by recapturing an old, tried-and-true Puritan understanding of biblical spirituality that is readily available and straightforward. Bingham calls it the “Reformation Triangle,” though I might prefer to call it the “Biblical Spirituality Triangle.”[12] The triangle consists of the intake of God’s Word, the meditation on God’s Word, and the praying in response to these activities. Let’s consider each of these in turn.
Intake of God’s Word
When I teach spiritual formation, I give my students a task. I tell them to go to the longest chapter in the Bible, which is Psalm 119. I tell them to read it through one time. Then, on a subsequent read-through, I ask them to highlight or underline any reference in the Psalm to the Word of God. This could be in reference to God’s “commandments,” “statutes,” “testimonies,” “rules,” “precepts,” “promises,” “laws,” or any other related terms. I then ask them to go back and count how many verses out of the 176 total verses do not contain a highlighted or underlined word. Depending on translations and counting errors, the answer is around seven.[13] Go ahead and check my work on this. It is a wonderful Psalm, and you will not regret the activity.
Now, this exercise does not directly establish any doctrine, nor should it be considered definitive regarding the primacy and authority of Scripture. Rather, it helps to do a few things. First, it gets the student (or the leader!) into the text of the Bible. This is the primary goal of this first head of the triangle. We, as leaders, must regularly engage in the cognitive action of reading the Bible.[14] Second, the exercise helps to stir the affection for God’s Word, as the Psalmist clearly has high affection of his own for God’s commands and statutes. Our students and staff will intuitively recognize and be attracted to whatever captures our affections. It is important that those affections be for God and his Word. Lastly, the sheer number of times the Psalmist reiterates the importance and centrality of God’s Word in the context of the Bible’s longest chapter can reach deeply into one’s heart.
The ultimate takeaway for any evangelical believer, whether they be a leader, teacher, or student, is that the intake of God’s Word must be a regular discipline in the life of the Christian. The Bible is clear, authoritative, inspired, and sufficient for every good work to which the believer is called.[15] The Reformation doctrine of sola scriptura is just as important for spiritual formation as it is in any other area of evangelical life.
I want to offer a word on the sufficiency of Scripture in spiritual formation. Perhaps no doctrine of Scripture is more implicitly or subconsciously doubted in evangelical circles today, and this is especially true in the realm of Christian spiritual formation. We live in an age of expressive individualism wherein each of us tends to find meaning in our own feelings, desires, and experiences.[16] In our culture, this is unavoidable, but it also creates a spiritual-formation-playing-field in which we each desire to a greater or lesser extent individual spiritual “experiences” which, if we are not careful, can become a sort of requirement or “missing piece” of our spiritual development. In such a context, Bible intake may seem rote, repetitive, sterile, and insufficient. One’s affections for Christ cannot be grown in this way. This is a mistake. The largely cognitive action of Bible reading is required for proper Christlikeness in one’s heart posture. As J. I. Packer once wrote, “Affection may be the help of the ship, but the mind must steer; and the chart to steer by is God’s revealed truth.”[17] As educational leaders, we would do well to be personally and publicly committed to the sufficiency of Scripture. Such commitments go a long way in shaping the culture of our schools and the actions of our people.
In short, we should be in our Bibles, reading frequently and with the expectation that God will work in our hearts, “to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). If one’s time is short (as is often the case for those in leadership), consider the modern blessings of audio Bibles that can be utilized during commutes, gym sessions, or other such activities. Audible has many audiobook options for different translations of Scripture. Speechify can read biblical text straight from a pdf or other eBook version of the Bible, even in a preferred celebrity voice if desired (who would like to hear the book of James read by Snoop Dogg?). Educators know the dangers that come from the rise of AI well, but let us not overlook the providential blessing such developments offer us!
The Meditation on God’s Word
Once we have taken in God’s Word, whether by reading or hearing, we are encouraged and commanded to meditate on what we have received. David Paxton posits that biblical meditation is God’s providentially provided battle plan for the believer’s mind. He defines such meditation as thinking “personally, practically, seriously, and earnestly on how the truth of God’s Word should look in life.”[18] It is “a thinking about God and the things of God with an eye toward personal application. There is nothing magical, mystical, or even especially complicated about it.”[19] The leader simply needs to have “thought-time” set aside for this practice.
Paul commands those in the Philippian church to think or dwell on specific, godly things. “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). Psalm 119 specifically encourages us to meditate on God’s statutes, and to cherish them in our heart. When we do this, we will inevitably memorize whole passages of Scripture, thereby allowing the Word of God to dwell in us richly all the more (Col. 3:16). What the leader habitually sets their mind on day-after-day will inevitably shape their daily actions, and thereby shape their heart and the way they lead.
A common word picture has been used to describe Bible intake as the basic eating of food, while meditation is the elaborate and prolonged process of chewing and digesting, thereby absorbing the much-needed nutrients.[20] Donald Whitney compares the processes of Bible intake and biblical meditation to steeping tea bags. He notes, “Hearing God’s Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea’s flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough soaking of the bag.”[21] It is by letting the tea bag sit for some time that the true flavor is extracted. In the same way, mere Bible intake is of nominal value without the intentional reflection and consideration of what one has read.
If it is not already clear, this meditation is, on the one hand, straightforward. One must only think about Scripture. What could be easier? One must read the Bible, and then consider what they have just read. As educators and leaders, we are eminently familiar with this concept. However, on the other hand, nothing could be more difficult or rare for the believer. Meditation takes place within one’s heart. We store God’s word in our hearts through meditation (Psa. 119:11). We set our heart’s mind on things above when we meditate on Scripture (Col. 3:2). Yet, we also know that we live in a time of spiritual warfare, especially in the realm of our own hearts (Eph. 6:12). This is only made more difficult when we realize that, on our own, our hearts would only desire evil continually (Gen. 6:9), and that they are deceitfully wicked and inscrutable (Jer. 17:9). We also know that time is a precious resource for the leader. Leaders need to be careful to redeem their time for meditation. Perhaps this can occur during a commute, a morning routine, or even during the first ten minutes at one’s desk each morning. We must be committed and creative in our habits of meditation.
Our conflicting thoughts and wandering minds only serve to remind us of the great need we have for meditation. Solomon wrote about man, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, KJV). This is a convicting thought, especially in the fast-paced modern world in which we live. Our emails, to-do lists, and other urgent matters are pressing in on all sides. Leadership today does not lend itself to much meditative reflection. Thus, meditation, which is “only” thinking about Scripture, takes great spiritual effort. In pursuing meditative practices, we must take comfort in the reality that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).
Prayer in Response
Once one has read God’s Word and dwelt richly upon it, one ought to be moved to pray. Paul commands his readers to devote themselves to prayer (Col. 4:2) and to pray continually (1 Thess. 5:17). Jesus also assumes all believers pray (see Matt. 6:5–7; Luke 11:9; 18:1) and gives specific instructions on how his disciples ought to pray (Matt. 6:9–13). Leaders in Christian education have many issues to think through and deal with. This often leads to great unknowns and anxieties. Yet, Christ commands all believers not to be anxious, but to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33). By taking in God’s Word and meditating on it, we come to understand what God’s Kingdom is and how his righteousness is made manifest. We then are moved to pray that his kingdom would come, and that his righteous will would be done, at our schools and organizations, just as it is done in heaven (Matt. 6:9–13).
The importance of prayer in the spiritual life of a believer cannot be overstated. This is especially true for Christian leaders. B. B. Warfield wrote, “Above all else that you strive after, cultivate the grace of private prayer.”[22] A simple and biblical way to approach prayer is through the well-known ACTS acronym. We pray by giving God adoration, confessing our sins, giving God thanks, and issuing requests of supplication. Of course, prayer does not have to take this form, but it has proven to be a helpful guide for many. Prayer should also be thoughtful (as opposed to mindless repetitions or emptying of one’s mind), heartfelt, and verbal. Tightly tethering your prayers to Scripture is a strong recommendation made by Bingham.[23] One can do this by praying through passages of the Bible such as a specific Psalm or epistle. A busy leader may find that simply praying through the Lord’s Prayer throughout the day to be a most helpful and blessed exercise.
Thanksgiving might be one of the most needed aspects in the prayer lives of believers today, especially among leaders. Gratitude has been clinically proven to reduce anxiety, making it a noteworthy characteristic for leadership development.[24] More specifically, for the Christian leader, the practice of thanksgiving in prayer counteracts the sinful vices of grumbling and complaining, activities Paul universally prohibits for believers (Phil. 2:14). Indeed, complaining is probably near the top of the list of aggravations for anyone working in leadership. It is a contagious vice, even among the best of us. If one person begins to complain, others will inevitably follow suit, or at least be tempted to do so. This is always deleterious to healthy organizational culture. John Newton warned about the malevolent effect of complaining on one’s heart in the eighteenth century: “We cannot prevent dreadful thoughts from arising in our hearts; but we should be cautious of giving them vent, by speaking unadvisedly. This is like letting in wind upon a smothering fire, which will make it burn more fiercely.”[25]As leaders who are being shaped into Christlikeness, we must take captive every thought, even those which are negative and annoying, and make them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). If we practice prayerful thanksgiving in those moments, we will work against a culture of complaining from taking root amongst those we lead.[26]
A Note on Other Practices
One might ask, “What about the other spiritual disciplines? Where are fasting, alms giving, silence, solitude, local church involvement and fellowship, simplicity, and all the rest?” This is a good question. Many such disciplines are commanded in Scripture (giving to the poor, for example). Others, while not obligatory for the believer, are truly wise and effective means of spiritual growth (the practices of silence or journaling, for example). Of this latter variety, Peter Scazerro’s thoughts on the subjectivity of spiritual practices may be helpful. He advises, “If it helps, do it. If it does not help you, do not do it.”[27] The point of this present essay is not to give an exhaustive treatment of all possible routes of Christian spiritual formation for educational leaders, but rather to show that such formation is necessary and straightforward.
Conclusion
Justin Irving begins his excellent book on Christian organizational leadership with the absolute necessity of self-care for leaders. Leadership, says Irving, is much more about being than doing.[28] There are many things that a leader can and must do to practice self-leadership, but Irving stresses that healthy Christian leaders prioritize their relationship with God above all else.[29] When those in educational leadership roles prioritize this, they help ensure that those they lead and teach will also have higher ceilings of Christlikeness, as the students (or faculty and staff) become like their teachers (or leaders). While it is correct and noble to pursue heart and character transformation for students in Christian education, this effort will be substantially hindered if those who lead and teach are not devoting at least as much attention to their own spiritual formation.
Notes:
[1] Kyle R. Hughes, Teaching for Spiritual Formation: A Patristic Approach to Christian Education in a Convulsed Age (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2022).
[2] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001).
[3] Jeremy Kimble, “Education as Catechesis: The Formative Impact of Christian Education,” Integration: A Journal of Faith and Learning 5.2 (2025).
[4] A. Craig Troxel, With All Your Heart: Orienting Your Mind, Desires, and Will Toward Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 21.
[5] Jeremy Pierre, The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life: Connecting Christ to Human Experience (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2016), 17.
[6] Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012), 16.
[7] John Flavel, Keeping the Heart (Grand Rapids, MI: Soli Deo Gloria, 1998), 1.
[8] Flavel, Keeping the Heart, 3.
[9] See also the parallel passage in Matthew 10:24–25.
[10] Matthew Bingham, A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025), 26.
[11] See The Westminster Confession of Faith (1.7) as well as the discussion in Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 1: Revelation and God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 344–49.
[12] Bingham, A Heart Aflame, 94. I prefer the more descriptive “Biblical Spirituality Triangle” since the three prongs of the triangle in no way apply only to the “Reformed” Christians among us. They are the quintessential means of grace for all Christians in all places and at all times, not just the Puritans or those in their traditional heritage.
[13] I am happy to be checked on this. My count shows the short list to include verses 84, 90, 91, 121, 122, 132, and 149.
[14] We can also, of course, take in God’s Word by listening to it being read. Many, if not most, Christians throughout history received the Bible this way. However, since I am writing to an audience engaged in Christian education in a time and place where Bibles are easily accessible, it seems appropriate to assume scriptural intake is accomplished primarily through reading.
[15] “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
[16] See Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 46. Trueman makes great use of Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007).
[17] J. I. Packer, A Quest of Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1990), 195.
[18] David W. Paxton, God’s Battle Plan for the Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2015), 2.
[19] Bingham, A Heart Aflame, 158.
[20] For example, see Richard Baxter, The Saints Everlasting Rest (1652; reprint, Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 1998), 549.
[21] Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1991), 48.
[22] Benjamin B. Warfield, Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield, ed. John E Meeter (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1970), 2:482.
[23] Bingham, A Heart Aflame, 185.
[24] Diniz G, Korkes L, Tristão LS, Pelegrini R, Bellodi PL, Bernardo WM. “The Effects of Gratitude Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” Einstein (August 2023): 1–16, https://journal.einstein.br/wp-content/uploads/articles_xml/2317-6385-eins-21-eRW0371/2317-6385-eins-21-eRW0371.pdf.
[25] John Newton, Twenty-Six Letters on Religious Subject (Dublin: William Gilbert, 1780), 131.
[26] I believe the amount of complaining is also good evidence for discerning the overall spiritual wellness of any organization.
[27] Peter Scazerro, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: Unleash a Revolution in Your Life in Christ (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 162.
[28] Justin A. Irving, Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organizations: Creating Contexts Where People Flourish (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2023), 42.
[29] Irving, Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organizations, 55.
Mitch Jaeger
Assistant Professor of Servant Leadership and Spiritual Formation | Impact 360 Institute