For many Christian schools, policies are often shaped by external factors state laws, secular best practices, accreditation standards, the latest trends in education, or maybe even just a template borrowed from another school. Yet, leaning solely on these sources risks overlooking a critical aspect of what makes a school distinctively Christian…God’s Word. In fact, I contend that a Christian school cannot fully honor its calling without doing the hard and ongoing work of aligning its policies with Scripture…as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths…even our policy paths.

Recognizing the Two Kingdoms

God’s Word teaches that God rules over all creation through two distinct kingdoms: the kingdom of the left and the kingdom of the right. Both are under His authority and serve His purposes, but they operate in different ways.

In the kingdom of the left, God works through earthly means. This might be laws and institutions to maintain order in the world, but it also includes structures like policies and rules in schools.

In the kingdom of the right, God works through the Gospel to bring forgiveness, salvation, and ultimately eternal life in Christ. This kingdom is focused on the redemptive work of Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel.

In a Christian school, these two kingdoms intersect. Policies must uphold the order and structure of the kingdom of the left while the school should also be a place where the entirely of God’s Word is taught and God’s love in Christ is proclaimed.

Policies like student handbooks, dress codes, technology use policies, and discipline procedures exist to provide order. However, I contend that they can also point to the redemptive purpose of the Gospel.

Law and Gospel in Policies

Central to unerstanding and applying the Bible is this distinction between Law and Gospel. The Law, revealed in God’s Word, teaches what is right and wrong, holding us accountable for sin and showing our need for a Savior. The Gospel, on the other hand, proclaims the good news that, “we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not by works os that no one may boast.”

Policies naturally lean on the Law, and that is okay. After all, as the Psalmist reminds us, “the law of the Lord is good/perfect, reiviving the soul (Psalm 19:17). It points us to the very character an nature of God, even as it reminds us how we fall short of that standard. Alas, there are rules, processes, expectations, and consequences in policies. While these are necessary, a Christian school has the distinct opportunity to think about policies in a very different way.

Consider some examples…

Discipline Policies - Beyond correction, policies can include a process for restoration and reconciliation, reflecting Christ’s forgiveness. This does not mean that we dismiss or downplay sin and wrongdoing, or that we cannot and do not sometimes need to remove people from the community in unfortunate situations. However, it does mean that we also consider biblical wisdom related to repentance and forgiveness, reconciliation, and a reminder that our worth does not ultimately depend upon our accomplishments, but upon God’s character, His promises, and His love in Christ.

Admissions Policies - Instead of solely focusing on academic qualifications, policies can reflect a desire to serve families seeking a Christ-centered education that point all to the love of God in Christ. They can be a reminder of the schools reason for existence. This does not mean lowering academic standards, but it does mean putting them in biblical and even an eternal perspective.

Technology Use Policies - These not only address misuse, but also encourage students to use technology in ways that glorify God and point others to God’s love in Christ. Even more, technology use policies can include reminders of God’s promises, His good gifts of deep and meaningful relationships (and that “it is not good for man to be alone”), our identity in Christ, and so much more.

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Student Handbooks - Instead of just listing rules, we can include portions of Scripture that reflect the school’s mission and purpose. We can use the handbook to teach students and families how the school’s policies align with its Christ-centered mission. This is an often-overlooked but powerful way to illustrate the significance of God’s Word and its relevance to all aspects of life, even the seemingly mundane.

Dress Codes - Of course, we want these to teach and encourage modesty and respect for oneself and others. Alongside them, once more we have a chance to center this on what God’s Word teaches about Him, us, His love and promises, and His will for us. What a beautiful opportunity to also remind students that we are “covered in a robe of righteousness”, and the “arbor of God”!

A Missed Opportunity

When we rely solely or predominantly on secular laws or educational trends for our policies, we miss a powerful opportunity to illustrate part of what is distinct about Christian education. By grounding policies in God’s Word, we turn everything from from discipline to dress codes into something that points students to their Creator and Redeemer. This approach not only sets a Christian school apart. It also ultimately proclaims the hope and redemption found in Christ, offering greater clarity about what it means to walk the light of God’s Word.

Disclaimer: Did you use AI to write this article. Since AI is so widespread today, I like to be direct about the question. The answer is no. I wrote this article myself, typos and all. I did use an AI-generated image.

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Christian education is first and foremost about pointing students to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It’s about inviting them into deep, meaningful learning in a community where God’s Word is present and prevalent. Yet even within Christian schools, we can and do drift from this mission.

Sometimes, we’re so close to familiar practices that we fail to see their flaws. They’re comfortable and they’ve become part of “how we do things.” When someone challenges these practices, they may be accused of “rocking the boat” or being unrealistic. Yet, as history reminds us, even entire communities can develop theological and moral blind spots.

Recognizing Blind Spots

A few years ago, walking through a school hallway, I heard a student praising a teacher. “It’s great,” the student said, “because all he does each day is tell us exactly what’s going to be on the test. I don’t have to worry about all the other stuff. I can just get my ‘A’ and move on.”

It was sad to hear. Is this what Christian education has become? Have we reduced the richness of learning to preparing for a test and playing the game of school? Have we come to see the wonder, curiosity, and deeper questions of faith and life as “other stuff”?

If education only focuses on rating and ranking, testing and grading, we risk losing sight of what actually matters. Christian education is about so much more than meeting academic standards. It is certainly about more than earning grades and passing classes.

A Higher Calling

The heart of Christian education is not found in exams, quizzes, grades, report cards, grade point averages, or making the honor roll. It comes in the daily invitation for students to explore and discover the Truth of God’s Word…across the curriculum, in the hallways, before and after school, in extracurriculars. It is about showing studentx (and sometimes through the students, their families) how all of life has spiritual implications: science, literature, history, English, foreign language study, physical education…everything.

Christian schools, at their best, are places where students are challenged to think deeply, ask hard questions, wrestle with the truths of God’s Word, sharpen and be sharpened by others, and to grow. They are communities where students are encouraged to explore the wonder at God’s Word and God’s world (making sense of that world in light of God’s revealed truth in the Holy Scriptures).

When education becomes too focused on tests, grades, rating, ranking, and sorting we risk missing the meat for the potatoes. Yet, in Christian schools, we are wonderfully and uniquely positioned to resist this temptation. We can remind students and ourselves that our goal is growth in mind, body, and spirit for service to Christ in the church and world.

Doing the Hard Work

Surfacing worldview blindspot can be hard work. Those who resist it might be labeled unrealistic, idealistic, disruptive, a troublemaker, or maybe not a good fit for the community. Yet, as Christian educators, we are not called to conform to the patters of this world, as we are reminded in Romans 12:2. Rather, be “transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

When we prioritize God’s Word and a commitment to deep, meaningful learning, we remind ourselves and those around us of a better way. This is sometimes an uphill battle, but the view from atop that hill is stunning!

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Imagine this Future

Imagine a Christian school where test scores and grades take a place of humble service to God’s Word and the core mission. Picture a place where students are encouraged to explore, question, wonder, and delight in the truth, beauty, and goodness of God’s Word and world. Imagine a place where learning is not a simple means to an end, but a way to honor God and love our neighbors.

This vision is entirely possible when educators commit to aligning each part of the school with the unchanging Truth of God’s Word. It does, however, require prayer, courage, intentionality, careful thinking, and a willingness to challenge practices that may no longer serve the mission.

Restoring Full Vision

Let’s examine the blind spots in our schools and classrooms. Are there areas where we’ve become too focused on secular measures and philosophies without a careful consideration o God’s Word? Are there practices that distract us from the central mission? Christian schools are among the few places outside of the church where people are challenged to consider to the timeless truth of God’s Word, and its significance in light of modern life, thought, trends, and events. It is one of the few places where we are equipping to resist marrying the spirits of the age, instead turning to that which is good an true for all people, all places, and all times.

Disclaimer: Did you use AI to write this article? We live in times where it is probably better to just ask and answer this question. My answer is no. I wrote this article, typos and all. I did use an AI-generated image at the beginning

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This powerful influence by the education system was one of the crucial recognitions of the 16th-century Reformation. The reformers rightly saw education as a transformational force, and this value was brought across the ocean, leading to the formation of the church body in which I am honored to serve, the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.

From the formation of this Synod, the vision for education included ensuring great and faithful schools for children in our pews, a system that equipped future church workers, creating excellent schools that blessed people and society as a whole, and preparing people for various vocations.

While not discussed as much, there were hints of another role for universities, specifically, the hope to one day establish world-class centers of scholars whose work had the promise to create wide-reaching influence in people's lives, the church, the nation, and even the world.

Lutheran P-12 and higher education have arguably achieved many of these first goals, but we have yet to realize that last part of the vision. It sits there, awaiting our time, and investment. While we have many world-class and promising Lutheran schools, we have not yet achieved the creation of the first Lutheran Institute for Advanced Studies, Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Yale, or some version of these research-intensive higher education communities, at least not beyond the discipline of theology.

Unlike some Catholic powerhouse institutions for scholarly work, Lutheran higher education institutions remain primarily "teaching universities," even as some individual scholars at these universities produce valued and world-class scholarship. What a tremendous gift these teaching universities are to the church and world.

Yet, I contend that there is a great benefit, even need, to create the first great American Lutheran research university, or at least centers of research in discrete areas of study. A hundred million dollars in seed funding plus a billion-dollar endowment would be adequate to make this happen. In less than two decades, such an institution would yield blessings worth far more than this upfront expense. Launching this as an expansion of an existing Lutheran university or as one or more stand-alone research centers would be possible. Imagine the potential blessings and impact of such an effort.

Did you know that a number of American sports, at least in part, started as a Christian outreach movement in the 1800s intended to promote Christian virtue and moral character and to compete with the draw of places like brothels, gambling halls, and pubs as working class men migrated to cities for factory jobs and other employment created amid the Industrial Revolution? That was the inspiration behind the formation of the YMCA in London in 1844 and the YWCA in 1855, and later their arrival in the United States.

I’ve been doing some reading about this. I have much more to learn, but following are some insights for a little historical perspective followed by five practical tips for your school. Before I start, if you like the history and want to learn more, most of what I’ve found so far comes from a handful of places: The Springfield College Online Archives, a great book from Harvard University Press called Muscular Christianity: Manhood and Sports in Protestant American (1880-1920), a few Theodore Roosevelt speeches at the Theodore Roosevelt Center Digital Library, the YMCA publications collections over at the Internet archive, a book from the 1800s by Thomas Hughes called Tom Brown’s Schooldays, and a sermon by Charles Kingsley called The Greatness of the Body. Now, with that out of the way, let’s get into it.

In 1891, Rev. Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian involved with the Christian outreach efforts of the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, created basketball as part of a movement sometimes referred to as “muscular Christianity,” which entailed the use of sport as a Christian outreach and formation.

In 1895, William Morgan, athletic director at another YMCA in Massachusetts, drew from ideas in tennis, baseball, handball, and basketball to create what was originally intended to be a less strenuous alternative to basketball (it has evolved, of course). Again, Morgan’s motives were clearly tied to a Christian mission that was explicit in the early YMCA.

The story of football was not so pleasant. Inspired by rugby and related sports, it was incredibly violent in the early 1900s, so much so that there were 19 documented deaths in a single year, which led to codifying rules and eventually the establishment of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later renamed the NCAA). Yet, even with that, there is an argument to be made that the YMCA and Christian colleges helped to tame the extreme violence, striving to turn it into a means of moral training and with more ethical oversight. It was not perfect, but there was definitely progress.

To the best of my knowledge, baseball emerged out of a series of stick and ball sports that were played even in Europe and then in early American communities, gaining traction with community club teams in New York in the mid 1800s and spreading across the country. There was not an explicit Christian mission advancing it like some of the other sports, although as it grew, Christian colleges and other groups certainly welcomed it into their mission. By the way, softball was another creation of the early YMCA mission, intended to offer a form of baseball that could be played indoors in winter months.

All of this was fueled by a Christian mission combined with the longstanding influence of classical education concepts, like the conviction that physical training prepared the body for virtue and service in the same way that music and philosophy helped shape the soul and reason. This grew into a vision of sport as a valued tool for cultivating virtues like teamwork and discipline, along with leadership formation, and that amid it all, there was great opportunity to point people to the truth of God’s Word.

Reading about such a history reminds me of one of the many reasons I love being part of Christian education, more specifically Lutheran education. We are at this incredible moment in time, when we can learn from the mission minded efforts of the past (successes and failures) to create learning communities that are intentional, formative with students, sometimes even influential in society, and Christ-centered. There can and will be a broader social tendency to forget the history and the mission minded reason for such efforts, which is why Christian schools have this incredible honor of, by God’s grace, being salt and light in such a world, and just as it was done at Springfield College in Massachusetts and the early YMCA, there is a wonderful opportunity to do so in areas like sport and recreation.

So, what does this have to do with our schools today? As I reflect on the topic of having a faithful and flourishing athletic program, following are five good starting points.

1. Assign a faculty or staff member to formally lead sport and recreation ministry efforts…with the authority to establish priorities and integrate initiatives across teams. Make this someone who sees it as his or her mission to lead the charge and keep the mission front and center. They are not just there to find coaches and run programs. They are there to live out the mission through athletics.

2. Build a schedule of athlete-specific formation opportunities. These might include pre-season retreats, off-season reading groups, training for leading devotions and virtue lessons, or maybe issue-focused seminars. Whatever it is, invest in training coaches in what it looks like to run a Christ-centered athletic program.

3. Make the selection and vetting of coaches a top and mission-minded priority. Also, consider redesigning coaching contracts and/or evaluations to include measurable goals related to character and faith formation. Make the mission a centerpiece of this vetting and review.

4. Develop a required first-year course. It doesn’t need to be a formal credit-bearing course) for all student-athletes, orienting them to the mission and goals. It can even be a short orientation, but be intentional about telling people the purpose of athletics at the school and your expectations.

5. Build strong and formal partnerships between athletics and campus ministry for pastoral care, team devotions, faith formation efforts, conflict resolution, prayer support, etc.

There are plenty of other things that can done, but these are probably a great foundation. Let’s see what happens if athletics is more than an after-school add-on…but instead one more beautiful harmonizing contribution to our school’s mission and shared confession.

By the way, I’ve also put together a video version of this article over on the Faithful and Flourishing Christian Schools YouTube Channel. If it isn’t up already, it should be there soon.

Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? If you read something from me on Substack, it was written by me. If I ever use AI for anything beyond basic editing, grammar check, or spellcheck, I will indicate it clearly at the beginning or end of an article. Or, if it is an AI-generated image, you will see the noted below the image.

Since my announcement about the release of the new book on faithful and flourishing Christian schools, I received quite a few email requests from people asking if I would be willing to speak to their school or at their event.

As a university president, I’m not able to say yes to every request. So, one person recently asked if I might consider creating some video content that goes along with the book and the articles that I write on Substack.

I thought that was a great idea! As such, I devoted a little time this weekend and created an initial twelve videos of 5-10 minutes each about various topics related to being a faithful and flourishing Christian school. I then created a brand new YouTube channel where you are free to subscribe and be notified as I add new content.

Carving out time to post a quick and informal 5-10 minute video is much more feasible for me…something that I should be able to do at least once every week or so. You can view the YouTube channel here, subscribe, and feel free to share with your colleagues. I pray that you find it useful for you and your school community.

Also, please feel free to suggest videos or topics that would help and bless you and your school.

Together in His service,

Bernard

I arrived home from work last Thursday, and a box was outside my front door. I carried it in the house, opened it, and to my delight, it was 10 complimentary copies of my 10th and newest book!

Faithful and Flourishing: Strategies for Leading Your Christian School with Excellence is the product of decades of formal and informal study of Christian schools throughout the United States and worldwide. This is ultimately not Bernard Bull’s wisdom but my synthesis of the wisdom from hundreds, even thousands, of Christian schools and their leaders. I’m simply sharing what I saw, over and over, among the Christian schools that seem to be thriving in a way that is thoroughly aligned with their mission. These schools do not just throw things at the wall to see what sticks. They know who they are, why they exist, their “superpowers,” their limitations, whom they are best-positioned to serve, and how to do it with Christ-centered excellence. They are joyful but also dogged in how they go about their work. They are not bulls in a China shop. They are mission-minded pit bulls with a bone. They know what they want and go after it.

While I contend that there are many different faithful and flourishing models of Christian schools, they all seem to ask and answer the same questions. As such, this book is a simple guide through those questions. The result of asking and answering these questions will not be a cookie-cutter Christian school. It will be a truly distinctive Christian school that significantly benefits the students, families, and community.

I wrote this book as a resource for school leaders, board members, and all faculty and staff of Christian schools who want to be part of helping their schools deepen their commitment to their mission while flourishing in bringing that mission to the students and families they are blessed to serve. The text is designed so that an individual can read it and walk away with helpful insights. However, I pray that it will guide entire school boards, leadership teams, and school faculty and staff groups. I imagine groups of people reading it together, discussing each question, creating a shared vision and plan, writing out their answers, and concluding with a clear, compelling, concrete, and mission-aligned roadmap for pursuing Christ-centered excellence for years to come.

The book will be officially released on June 24 but is already available for order on the Concordia Publishing House website, Amazon, and other major book platforms.

I’ve also been thinking about how I can use the release of this book to further support Christian schools. Here are the three ideas I’ve decided to launch.

Zoom or In-Person Session with a Group at Your School

If a group from your school chooses to go through the book together, please consider contacting me. I am happy to explore the possibility of hosting a Zoom meeting with your group. Or, as time allows, I would also be open to an in-person meeting.

Online Book Clubs

If there is enough interest, I also hope to lead a series of six—to eight-week online book clubs for people from different parts of the country (or world) who would like to read the book together. Once the book is released, I can share more about how people can sign up.

The Philippians 4:8 Legacy Fund

In conjunction with the book's release, I also created a new donor-advised fund called The Philippians 4:8 Legacy Fund through The Signatry (a donor-advised fund sponsor seeking to build the kingdom of God by inspiring world-changing generosity). My vision is to use the Philippians 4:8 Legacy Fund to provide grants to projects and institutions (predominantly Christian schools) that reflect the virtues found in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, 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." God willing, I will place a portion of the profits I receive from book sales in this fund. In addition, if you or someone you know would like to be part of growing the fund and promoting a Philippians 4:8 approach to faith, life, and learning, please get in touch with me, and I will provide details on how you can make a direct contribution to the fund.

That’s all for now, but I look forward to exploring how to use the ideas in this book to amplify the impact of Christian schools worldwide!

Working at a university where music permeates so much of the campus and community, while listening to one of the choirs recently, something occurred to me. The mission of a Christian school is, in a way, like a song. Each person at the school is a member of the choir, playing an individual role, but for the sake of the whole. When people are signing or acting in harmony, it is beautiful…even inspiring. So, what does it take to build a school that sings in harmony? It is not complex, but it does take effort and intentionality.

Defining a Clear and Compelling Mission

First, you need a mission that is clear and compelling. A school without a mission is like a choir without a song. Or, worse, it is like a choir of people where each person is singing a different song. This clarity begins with knowing why the school exists, what is distinct about the school, whom it is called or best-positioned to serve, and how it will serve them with Christ-centered excellence.

Embedding the Mission in Daily Practices

Second, the mission must be more than a quote on a sign or a statement at the beginning of an accreditation report. It is a guide and inspiration for everything. A mission can only thrive when it is actually alive in the day-to-day activities. It doesn’t work to just have chapel and devotions; and then everything else is just like the local public school. Mundane moments matter to the mission. Simple daily tasks matter. It also matters that this perspective is embraced by as many people as possible, ideally every faculty and staff member. High-impact schools focus on helping individuals see how their roles contribute to the bigger picture, and encouraging them to work and act in ways that support the mission.

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Finding Motivation and Meaning

I know from experience that work can sometimes feel overwhelming or meaningless, especially when tasks seem disconnected from something bigger than the tyranny of the urgent. Yet, when people understand how their contributions fit into the broader mission, even the most routine tasks take on a sort of spiritual significance. This is what helps people see their work as a calling, a chance to use their time and talents to love God and neighbor while advancing the mission.

Building Community

In a Christian school, the diverse roles of faculty and staff mirror the parts of the body of Christ. Just as God’s Word emphasizes the value of each part playing an important role, so flourishing schools recognize and honor the contributions of their partners in the Gospel. When people understand their role (along with the roles of others), a culture of collaboration can emerge that is very much like hearing a beautiful harmony.

I’ve been honored to witness schools like this in action, and it is stunning…even beautiful. When every member of the school community embraces their role in the mission, the result is a musical / missional masterpiece that glorifies God and blesses many. Like that choir performing in perfect harmony, each person’s contribution, no matter how small, adds depth and leaves an impact. A school that sings its mission in harmony becomes a testament to what Christ-centered excellence sounds like, inspiring others to sing along.

Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? If you read something from me on Substack, it was written by me. If I ever use AI for anything beyond basic editing, grammar check, or spellcheck, I will indicate it clearly at the beginning or end of an article. Or, if it is an AI-generated image, you will see the noted below the image.

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If a faithful and flourishing education is one that begins and ends with the Word of God, let’s return to the basics this week. What does education look like that is shaped and informed by the First Commandment?

"You shall have no other gods before me." What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things."

Even the most well-meaning of schools, apart from the light shed by God's Word, risk driving us further into the deception that:

1. we are gods of our destiny and creators of our ultimate meaning,

2. belief in ourselves is the key to greatness or grandeur, and

3. truth and reality bend to and serve our will and deepest desires.

Such deceptions redirect us from the reality of God, our sinful condition and need for a Savior, the life-giving news of God's love in Christ, and that which Jesus describes in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

An education that compartmentalizes learning from such Truth is not neutral. It offers a vain vision for life and learning without consideration of a Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. It beckons us to a treasure-less quest described in many ways over the years.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis portrayed it this way:

"All that we call human history--money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--[is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."

In his Confessions, Augustine summarizes this human search for rest in the wrong places when he writes, "You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you."

In Pascal's Pensées, he illustrates it as a God-shaped hole in our hearts:

"What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself."

In Creation and Fall Temptation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer recounts this human search for meaning apart from God in this way:

"The deceit, the lie of the devil consists of this, that he wishes to make man believe that he can live without God's Word. Thus he dangles before man's fantasy a kingdom of faith, of power, and of peace, into which only he can enter who consents to the temptations; and conceals from men that he, as the devil, is the most unfortunate and unhappy of beings, since he is finally and eternally rejected by God."

In "The Rock," T.S. Eliot proclaims the profit-less pursuit with these words:

"All our knowledge brings us near to our ignorance,

All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,

But nearness to death, no nearer to God.

Where is the life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries

Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust."

When done well, a Christian education offers a palliative to such pointless pursuits, directing our attention instead to "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" and that which is "a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." It invites us to speak with Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." It introduces us to the deep, persistent, timeless significance and relevance of Jesus Christ upon modern life, thought, trends, and events. As God works through His Word, He cultivates in us a living confidence in the goodness of God and a recognition of the wisdom of God. Rather than something segregated from the rest of life, a Christian education sees God's wisdom as a seasoning for all of life and learning.

This is an education that heeds the wisdom of the First Commandment.

If you are on the path to being a distinctive Christian school that is faithful to your shared confession and flourishing in its impact, you will undoubtedly run into doubts, questions, and challenges. This week I offer a brief reflection on a common challenge—the claim that Christian schools shelter kids (in a bad way).

Sometimes people mistake Christian education as an act of sheltering from the real world, leaving people ill-equipped for what is next. I am the first to agree that such an education would be a poor substitute, although all good education includes some measure of sheltering, which is why we don’t let three-year-olds play in the middle of busy streets. Yet, when done well, Christian education is not sheltering (in the negative sense), but offering a holistic view while equipping for faith and life in this world and beyond.

Consider a simple analogy. Imagine receiving a treasure chest that has two distinct compartments. One key will allow you to see into a single compartment. The other key gives you access to both. Which key would you choose? Christian education is the second key.

It invites us to:

1. see the transcendent and spiritual significance amid the ordinary,

2. discover tentative and relative truth alongside the wisdom and anchor of absolute truth, and

3. make sense of the wisdom and knowledge of humanity while growing in the far greater wisdom and knowledge of God.

Much of what we learn in school is transitory, so a distinctly Christian education juxtaposes the ordinary with the transcendent, the temporary with the permanent, the relative with the absolute, and human knowledge with divine revelation. In this way, it is a more complete and holistic education, albeit more rigorous, because it requires students sometimes to learn twice as much and to grapple with the distinctions, clashes, and conflicts with these different sources of knowledge. It offers a better chance at an integrated instead of a compartmentalized approach to the Christan life, study, work, and one's many vocations.

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One can attend a non-sectarian school (as if there were such a thing) and strive for this integrated approach. Still, such a path takes an extraordinary amount of time and effort beyond what they teach and require in the formal classes and curriculum. Doing it well would demand assigning oneself additional readings, papers, learning experiences, and assignments beyond what is already needed—and finding wise mentors across the disciplines who can provide guidance and feedback along the way. A campus ministry or youth group can help one stay connected to the church, but it would be the rare pastor ready to help students navigate the truth claims of a dozen disciplines and content areas.

When done well, one benefit of Christian education at all levels is that the curriculum and faculty offer a holistic learning journey intended to cultivate a life that can bask in this more expansive view. While this is aspirational and not a perfect reality in Christian education, to the extent that it is the aim, it offers something not available elsewhere.

Many Christian schools strive for excellence, but what does that actually look like? If we are serious about Christ-centered excellence in education, then we must be serious about excellent teaching. That is why I often say that one of the most important responsibilities of a school leader is hiring strong, skilled, mission-aligned teachers and student-facing staff who embrace the shared convictions of the school. Of course, everyone in the school matters, but those people who are engaging with students each day have the deepest and most consistent impact on the quality of a student’s education. With that in mind, let’s spend this week looking at the distinctions of being a quality Christian educator (at any level).

After spending years working with faculty who came seeking help after a disappointing course evaluation, observing and learning from truly world-class educators, and studying the literature, I'm convinced that it comes down to cultivating competence in four areas.

The first is disciplinary expertise.

Do I know the subject or discipline well, its discourse, truth claims, complexities, unanswered questions, strengths, and limitations? It is not enough to know the facts, although that is important too. Expertise is more profound and immersive. It is necessary to be one who not only transmits knowledge but nurtures growing competence, expertise, and wisdom within a discipline or domain of study.

Second, we look at teaching expertise.

Do I know how to teach in ways that consistently and predictably increase the chance of students learning, growing, and thriving? Such expertise includes, but is not limited to:

1. organizational skills,

2. how to prioritize, establish, and communicate learning goals and pathways,

3. the capacity to translate from expert to novice,

4. communication skills,

5. how to check for understanding, designing and providing ungraded and formative feedback,

6. how to create clear, compelling, and organized lessons and learning experiences,

7. and how to develop fair, consistent assessments that measure student progress toward meeting the stated goals.

The third area is learning how to get to know the learners.

Do I know the learners in general and specifically? In general, do I know the proclivities and tendencies of the particular group I teach? This may involve what is unique to that group/culture/context, age, developmental tendencies, shared past experiences that may influence their readiness, etc. Specifically, am I growing in my knowledge and understanding of each student's joys, challenges, fears, strengths, challenges, history, etc.? By the way, this is not just about knowing the learner demographics and facts. Ultimately, this is about building a positive, caring, trusting, and mentoring relationship with the students.

Fourth and most important is knowing the Scriptures.

Do I know the Scriptures well, including the areas where God's Word clashes or aligns with the discipline I teach? Do I know how to communicate God's Truth as it relates to the truth claims, ethics, and other considerations of the field of study?

The important part is that these four areas go together. A struggle in one area will diminish the overall impact.

If you have all of these but the first, disciplinary expertise, you will struggle or fail to teach with truth, integrity, and excellence.

If you have all of these but teaching expertise, you will frustrate, disenfranchise, and struggle or fail to help students learn and thrive. You will also likely confuse academic rigor (making learning painful) with academic rigor (challenging and stretching learners in good and positive ways).

If you have all of these but knowledge of the learners, your teaching will struggle or fail to achieve the best possible results for the specific group of learners. Furthermore, the distinct needs of individual learners will often be unmet, resulting in an education that will diminish the benefit of the education for select students.

If you have all of these but knowledge of the Scriptures and their implications for your discipline, you will struggle or fail to engage intentionally in discipleship of the mind, unique to a Christian educator's calling.

All of these become foundational to being an influential and effective educator who is also capable of being an inspiring mentor and cultivator of wisdom, competence, and ultimately excellence. None of us are excellent in all of these areas all the time. Rather, each of these four are areas where we as educators are called to embrace a commitment to lifelong growth and formation.

Yet, if we are on a shared journey toward being faithful and flourishing Christian schools, there are few areas that yield as many benefits as investing in the encouragement, support, and professional development of the teachers—those people who live out your school’s purpose each day.

LCEF Luncheon Comments, July 31, 2023

Bernard Bull

Luther reminded us that human nature is like a drunken peasant. Having fallen off the horse on one side, he gets back on and promptly falls off on the other side.

This quote could also speak to the Christian's struggle as a citizen.

On the one side, we have the example of the Apostles. When charged by the authorities to remain silent about the Gospel, they replied, "Judge for yourself whether it is right to obey you or God, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen or heard." When the laws of the land or rulings of those in authority call for us to go against God's Word, we pray for the courage and character to obey God rather than man.

Yet, some fall off the horse on this side, using such a passage as an excuse for disrespect, defiance, and disregard for those in authority, even when there is nothing against God's word. They do so simply because they don't like what is said or done. Like the spirit of the age (and prodded by our sinful nature), defiance comes easy to us. Or we distort such a passage and decide that the task of the Church and the Christian is to take over the government and recreate it in our image.

But what about the other side of the horse? From the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, we read, "For the Gospel does not destroy the state or the family, but rather approves them and asks us to obey them as a divine ordinance, not only because of punishment but also because of conscience." Yet, in our wretched state, we take this truth of God's Word and use it to fall off the other side of the horse. We use it as an excuse for compromising our convictions, remaining silent in the face of injustice, and failing to act on behalf of our neighbors.

What is the solution to this wretched state? Thanks be to God for Christ Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. And where do we learn of such good and life-giving news? It is in God's Holy Word.

I've long admired and followed Mark Noll's work. His 2022 800+ page text is no exception. In America's Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, Noll wrote the following:

"From Christopher Columbus to the present day, the appropriation of universal scriptural values in American history has mingled constantly with its use for particular purposes, sometimes in keeping with those [scriptural] values, sometimes violating them with abandon. That mixed record must temper anything triumphalist Bible believers might say in its favor. Yet an honest assessment of the nation's history, and at no time more than the present, should also recognize that a democratic republic needs something like the Bible more than Bible believers need a democratic republic."

The last sentence in the quote is of particular relevance for a thought-provoking discussion about Christian education, more specifically Lutheran education today. That sentence and Noll's supporting evidence point to a dual claim:

1) Christianity and this grand and beautiful experiment that we call the United States of America are not the same, and Christianity does not depend upon this one nation to exist now or in the future.

2) At the same time, Noll makes the case that many values that help the United States work are scriptural values and that some past and current efforts to extract those values from the American experiment may prove far more dramatic than advocates realize. They may even be necessary to maintain a stable democratic republic.

As such, if we are gathered at a synodical convention where what holds us together in Concord is a shared commitment to the Scriptures and the Confessions, then I contend that this is a worthy emphasis for our discussion. While our purpose as a Synod is about something much more significant than preserving a nation, what we do in our churches and schools can nonetheless be a blessing to this nation. I contend that there may be no greater gift that we can offer to the country but to provide people with an education grounded in the Holy Scriptures. For in them, we are introduced to Jesus Christ and him crucified. I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. We are called to be schools where we are not ashamed of the Gospel.

Or, in the bold and beautiful words of Dr. Luther in his well-known letter to the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany that They Establish and Maintain Schools, "I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth." A nation of people educated at the gates of hell? That sounds like a problem.

Luther warned that God's Word and grace is a passing rainstorm. He recounted instances of persistent rejection of God's Word in a community only to find themselves suffering from the vacuum created by its absence years later. Lutheran education is distinct when and only if it heeds the wisdom of these words and strives for a learning community where we explore a myriad of subjects while placing a high priority on the Truth of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that "all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Walther said it this way, "You certainly will share the sense of importance which I attach to these new high schools which are coming into being in our Church. Beyond all question, they are the very best means that we have to spread our Lutheran doctrine to the mass of people of this land. From now on our confirmed youth must get the ability to attain to, and to hold with dignity, all American civil positions and State offices, and for this high purpose they must be trained." - "Schools of Higher Learning" in Schulblatt, 1870 -possibly written by C.F.W. Walther

Or in another place, Walther wrote:

"In the first place, we confess that no matter how much we think of learning, we do not rank it above the truth of Scripture, nor even as its equal, but immeasurably below it. Hence we indeed say frankly and openly with Luther: "It is better for learning to be destroyed rather than religion, if learning refuses to be a servant and desires to tread Christ underfoot" (Letter to Amsdorf, June 28, 1534; St. Louis Edition, XXIb, 1912).

Or in yet another place, Walther writes:

"We admit further that as necessary as we consider learning to be, especially the study of languages, logic, rhetoric, and history, for searching the content of Scripture, we nevertheless reject any learning that,

instead of being handmaid and pupil, wants to assume the role of mistress and teacher

instead of merely helping to discover the truth contained in Scripture presumes to sit in judgment,

instead of submitting to Scripture's correction desires to correct Scripture,

instead of remaining in its sphere attempts to elevate the laws that happen to obtain in its field to universal ones and impose them also upon Scripture.

This is why a fundamental distinction of a faithful Christian education is that it is led by educators whose first loyalty is to the Holy Scriptures and that over their disciplinary or professional educator guild."

A faithful Lutheran education is one where God's Word is present and prevalent. It is not merely a school that teaches conservative or Christian values, that teaches the classics, or that prepares citizens. Lutheran education is shaped and reshaped by God's Word. One that heeds the wisdom of Isaiah 55, “For as the rain and the snow come down from Heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Or how about Hebrews 4? "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

We also turn to the wisdom of our Lord in Matthew 24, "Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away."

An education grounded on the timeless, life-giving Word of God. That is what we are about in the Synod's schools.

Schools where the Bible is not just another classic, but the very Word of God, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

Schools as learning communities where we point one another to the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Schools where God's students and staff alike encounter God's Word and say like in Jeremiah 23, “My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.”

Did you know that:

According to an American Bible Society survey, 18% of Americans opened a Bible in 2021.

29% of those surveyed report never using or reading the Bible.

Only 16% of those surveyed reported reading the Bible multiple times a week?

Contrast that to a Lutheran K-12 school or university where God is at work through His word daily. These are communiteis where God's Word is not banned or muzzled but is joyfully read, studied, proclaimed, and shared, given free rein in every class, club, committee, and especially chapel.

In Toward a More Perfect Union, Hillsdale is lifted up as a model and undoubtedly a fine higher education institution. Still, they have a fundamentally different mission and philosophy than Lutheran education. I'm compelled to provide a brief contrast between the Hillsdale and Concordia University approach, as an illustration of a Lutheran education distinction, and I think this is true of all of the Concordias represented here today. Before I do this, Tim, I don't mean any of this as a critique of you or your fine book. I state these things to contrast the foundational differences between a vision of Lutheran education and the Hillsdale model.

Hillsdale is a Christian college. By that, they seem to mean it has a Christian ethos and promotes Judeo-Christian values. When Hillsdale says it is a Christian college, it does not mean anything close to what we mean by Christian college at a Concordia.

At Concordia, 100% of faculty are expected to be Christian and are preferred to be Lutheran. At Concordia Nebraska that is 80-90% of the faculty are Lutheran. If you find a faculty member who is an atheist at Concordia, that is a problem, and people in the Church shout that it is a sure sign of infidelity and compromise. And they should be concerned. That is not who we are. After all, the faculty are crucial to nurturing students spiritually and intellectually, serving as wise Christian counsel and mentors as they equip students for lives of Christian conviction and character. At Hillsdale, being a Christian is not required to be a faculty member, and their website proudly proclaims that it has atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Jewish, and other faiths represented in the faculty.

If any Concordia had a student group that celebrated and supported the practice of Mormonism or Judaism, that would be deemed infidelity and a critical issue that needs to be addressed. At Hillsdale, that is present, accepted, and celebrated.

At Concordia, all graduates typically take 2-3 or more theology courses, a baseline. And these are courses that get students directly into the Word of God. At Hillsdale, one course is required, and it is called Western Theological Tradition.

At Concordia, 100% of theology faculty are, at a minimum, ordained clergy in the LCMS. At Hillsdale, those teaching even this broad theological tradition course come from a myriad of denominational or theological traditions.

At Concordia, there is formal theology taught by superb Lutheran theologians. At Hillsdale, while they have some fine Lutheran scholars…the closest they have is a combined theology and philosophy major, perhaps due to its strong influence of Calvin and Aquinas—that blending and blurring of theology and philosophy.

Hillsdale offers a message about the power of hope in the human spirit. At the Concordias, we offer a message of hopelessness if we depend upon ourselves, our own strength, our own ideas (no matter how great we think they are), or any human institution. Rather, our hope and inspiration come from God's love in Christ.

I do not say any of this to disparage Hillsdale but only to note that our mission and vision for Lutheran education, at all levels, is distinct. We are schools that proclaim Christ crucified, where God's Word runs free as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, even as we equip students for a myriad of callings, equipping them to be blessings in their families, churches, communities, workplaces and yes, to their nation.

That is a fundamental distinction, and while our mission in Lutheran education is not about a more perfect union, I contend that what we do in our schools has a powerful and preserving effect in the communities and nations where our graduates live, work, and worship. It is at the foot of the cross that we stand, that "we return daily as beggars seeking whatever crumbs the teacher is willing to give us…and regularly humbled by the lavish feast that he offers us, a feast that we did not earn and we do not deserve on our own, a feast bought with the very blood of our Savior Jesus."

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Distinctly Christian education (at all levels) is not rocket science. There are other nuances and critically important considerations, but much depends on how a school answers the following five questions.

To what extent do each of your leaders, faculty, and staff believe:

1. the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God?

2. these Scriptures are the norm and source of doctrine?

3. this doctrine has immense implications for faith, life, work, relationships, learning, and leadership?

4. their loyalty to the truth and wisdom of God’s Word exceeds any obligation to their discipline, professional guild, professional organization, human affiliation(s), political or ideological tribe, or professional goals?

5. the school/university has a fundamental calling to provide an education that is shaped and informed by God's Word?

I contend that any school that openly, honestly, and persistently asks and does what is necessary to answer yes to each of these questions in the affirmative is likely on a path to fidelity and flourishing. There is, of course, more to it, but this establishes a firm foundation from which to build everything else.

Yet, this is not an easy task. Asking the questions is not hard, but the step of doing what is necessary to answer each in the affirmative can be humbling, gut-wrenching, and vulnerable, even as the end result is a reminder that it is a work of God and not the result of mere human effort or ingenuity.

We find ourselves grappling with the challenging and startling words of Jesus in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Eventually, we squirm under the exhortation of 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

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We further find ourselves asking God for wisdom to apply what He teaches in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Even as we find ourselves overwhelmed and feeling inadequate fro the task at hand, we are pointed to the love and forgiveness of God in Christ that is described in 1 John 1:8-9, “If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (an odd blend of the NIV and ESV).

Rejoicing in such conforming words, we are further comforted by Romans 3:23-24, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

W are reminded that God works in us, both to will and work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

Then, as we joyfully go about the tasks in our school, we are further encouraged by the words of Proverbs 16:9, that “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

In other words, the path toward fidelity and flourishing in a Christian school is paved with a posture of humility before the commands and promises of God’s Word that guide each of us through this life, and gratitude for the God who is at work in, amid, and despite us.

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For your consideration this week, I offer small excerpts of what you can think of as a guest author from the 1800s, along with my own commentary. Please note that these quotes come from a wonderful translation thanks to the labor of Rev. Joel Baseley. If you like what you read, I urge you to check out one or more of his translated works and support him with a purchase.

C.F.W. Walther gave an address at the Laying of a First Foundation of Stone of a College/Seminary in St. Louis in 1849. In this address, he decided to focus on the role of Christian education in the arts, sciences, and society. Check out the following excerpts for his inspiring vision for the role and blessing of Christian education.

“…all human wisdom turns into foolishness when it arises as a critic against the divine wisdom of the Gospel, or to be its mistress over it. But must the church, for that reason, be an opponent of human wisdom, when she is merely pointing wisdom back into the sphere, into the territory, to which it is consigned?”

With this critical distinction stated, he goes on to talk about the Christian contribution to the arts, sciences, and society:

“The church has always been a faithful, honest friend and supporter of the arts and sciences, and, by her nature and calling, must always be that.”

While there are brothers and sisters in Christ who look at all secular knowledge as suspect, that is not how Walther saw it.

“Yes, the church, far from banning its scholarly institutions from reading the classical authors of the heathen in some enthusiastic, narrow-minded attitude, much rather used these masterpieces of style, of form, and of discrimination, out of which they formed their language curriculum and put them to use in developing peoples’ discernment and taste. Already in the second century we find, in the lap of the congregation of Alexandria, a famous college where, over the course of time, the most outstanding scholars, like a Pantaenus, a Clement of Alexandria, an Origin, and many others, that is, more and more famous philosophers converted to Christianity and were employed as teachers. One institution, along with other Christian academies, like the one in Caesarea, soon left over other institution of higher learning in the Greek and Roman so far behind, that Emperor Julian the apostate, zealously opposed the progress of Christianity in the educational institutions and would not allow Christians in the 4th century to use the classical authors of antiquity in their schools. Yet, the service rendered by the church through the institution of her so-called catechetical schools internally, in the individual congregations, was an even greater means to a higher level of education for the common good of both the nations and the laity. While among the cultured heathen there were only schools for scholars in one subject, or for the children of the rich, the church first surfaced the necessity of people’s schools. These grew up in the shadow of the church and of the Gospel, and, even now, this makes the Christian peoples unique among all the nations of the earth.”

There are so many valuable insights in this small excerpt, but allow me to highlight a few for your consideration.

First, note how Walther emphasized that these liberal arts Christian education efforts existed for the benefit of the individual, the church, and the society in which they lived. This remains a confusing topic for some today because Christian schools are neither a church nor are they a secular education institution.

Second, this illustrates the approach to knowledge and learning in Christian education since at least the second century, namely an openness to learning from the best of secular knowledge and wisdom, not in a mindless acceptance, but out of a genuine search and respect for that which is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy (taken from the KJV version of Philippians 4:8).

Third, note Walther’s highlight of Christian education as something akin to “people’s schools” in contrast to training targeting either very specialized training or education reserved for an elite segment of the population. This is not to suggest that there is anything wrong with specialized training, or even schools targeted a select audience. Yet, the history of the church’s influence is consistently oriented toward an education for all and that benefits all. This is, I contend, a part of history that is largely lost—or at least ignored. Yet, this is part of our legacy in Christian education, and its merit persists.

“Yet, as the church sanctified the sciences, so also the arts. The church opened new fields in areas including rhetoric, or the art of preaching, through the preaching office, which now would be established in every congregation, even the smallest of them, and this became the norm; the poetic or rhyming art, through the great deeds of God which it preaches; the visual and the plasticine arts through the great events of holy history and revelation which they represent; the art of construction through the houses of worship which they employed; music through the congregational hymns that belonged to her worship. In short, there was no endeavor of human scholarship and human art into which the church and Christianity did not breathe new life, and into which she had not brought new occasions for divine inspiration.”

Walther’s concept of “the church sanctify[ing] the sciences” and the arts is also largely an aspect of the history and legacy of Christian education, and coming from Walther, a vision or Lutheran education. Notice that what he describes after that quote is a truly beautiful and inspiring example of how Christian education and those who benefit from it become great blessings in church and society. He casts a grand vision of a Christian education system that nurtures the best artists, architects, composers, writers, and others who “breathe new life” through their vocations.

In other places, Walther wrote about creating universities that rivaled the best in the world, graduating the next generation of leaders in government and all aspects of society, as well as schools that equip future pastors and teachers. His vision for Christian education entailed the cultivation of Christ-centered excellence across the sciences and the arts—such that the church, through her people, leads, creates, and serves in ways that give glory to God and are an immense blessing to others. For Walther, this was not a “mission creed” of the church, but rather a noble and needed means of equipping people for lives of love to their neighbors through their knowledge, gifts, abilities, creative works, sacrifices, and service.

The excerpts are translated and provided in From Our Master’s table — Lutheran Bread Crumbs by C.F.W. Walther collected and translated by Joel Baseley. If these small quotes captured your interest, please consider supporting Rev. Baseley’s work by purchasing one or more of his texts.

I’m an unashamed and relentless champion for Christian education, especially celebrating the distinctions and benefits of Lutheran education. I also praise God at work in various approaches to education, to some extent, even different philosophies and theories of education. How can I do that and not drown in a sea of subjectivity? It comes down to regular exercise, doing my laps in the following three pools of knowledge, which better prepares me for the open seas of the fourth.

1. Theology before Philosophy - The foundation of faithful Christian education is not a philosophy but rather a theology. Skip this step, and you might as well give up on the entire process. It is easy to get pulled under by the call to adhere to a ready-made model or philosophy, even if just because it is the status quo or those you respect are passionate advocates for it. Still, getting your laps in the following two pools is vital.

2. Scripture as the Norm and Source of Doctrine and the Foundation for Theology - Revelation precedes reason (and philosophy). “All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If we disagree on this point, then I will probably lose interest. I look for prescriptions in the Scriptures first. Next, I look for examples and descriptions. The Holy Spirit prepares us for what comes next through regular laps in the Word. God works with our level of understanding as we meet Him in the Scriptures, although wise counsel is invaluable. As one author explains it, the Scriptures are “a pool in which a child can wade and an elephant can swim.”

3. Lessons from the Public Confession of the Church & the Past - I look for lessons and insights from those people and texts of the past that agree with #1 & #2. This part begins with the public confession of the church, continues with seeking wisdom from church fathers, and follows with other thoughtful Christian scholars. This also includes an exercise in humility, sitting at the feet of and learning from the many learned and brilliant people who preceded me, but doing so with a Berean mindset (Acts 17:11) and not abdicating the responsibility to think deeply. It is not just about knowing the doctrine and theology, but cultivating the mind that comes from swimming regular laps in this pool.

4. Praxis and Evaluation - At this point, I can explore and evaluate theories, philosophies, practices, and possibilities based on the first three. Jumping into this fourth without regular laps swimming in the others can lead to unintentionally misaligning praxis with the Truth of God’s Word, becoming a trend-based or tribe-driven advocate of a given approach to education, or simply not cultivating the capacity to discern and decide upon faithful and fruitful approaches to education. Even with the first three, we will make mistakes. I’ve been caught in the currents many times, but the more I get in my regular laps with one through three, the more likely I can find my way out of such troubled waters.

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In a previous article, I asked, Do Christian schools need a strategic plan? The summary in a sentence? While they don’t need a traditional, corporate-style strategic plan, they are wise to plan and think strategically.

Then, at the end of the article, I alluded to this follow up article related to a topic that I’ve been discussing with my own team lately. What happens after you make a plan? What happens when new and unexpected opportunities arise? What do you do if you are six months into a plan and discover information that you didn’t have when the plan started?

In faithful and flourishing Christian schools, plans are not rigid roadmaps set in stone. They are also not etch-a-sketch documents meant to be rewritten several times a day. They are starting points and guardrails. A good plan protects us from chasing every new shiny object or opportunity, but it also offer a foundation for what we might think of as improvisation. While I’m not an accomplished musician, I’m mesmerized by how great jazz musicians can improvise, with what seems like incredible ease, over a melody. What I’ve come to appreciate is that there is a comparable skill associated with adapting and improvising with a strategic plan.

You Can Plan and Be Flexible at the Same Time

It’s tempting to think of planning as fixed an inflexible. Make the plan, get people on board, execute the steps, monitor your progress, and achieve the goals. If only the real world was that simple. As Mike Tyson alleged said, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.” Hopefully we are not getting physically assaulted in the course of a day, but we sure do have the educational ministry equivalent occur from time to time. When that happens, how do we respond?

Plans are valuable because they clarify the mission and top priorities. They get everyone moving in the same direction, They help us move together, in unison. They also create a framework for reflection, feedback, and improvement.

With that said, no plan is perfect and no plan is complete. Circumstances change, problems arise, opportunities reveal themselves that we didn’t expect. Similarly, sometimes you can’t see the most promising possibilites at the start of a plan. It is only once you get down the road a bit, or live in the plan for a time, that you start to see incredible new opportunities that fit the plan quite well. Faithful schools understand that plans are tools, and we can use them creatively. They guide decisions, but they must also remain flexible enough to allow for mission-minded progress and improvisation.

The Role of Improvisation

Improvisation is about building on top of the plan. In a school setting, it can take on a variety of appearances. Maybe a plan prioritizes academic improvements, but an unexpected community crisis (or say, a global pandemic) requires a shift in focus toward student care and well-being. Or, perhaps there is a planned curriculum update, and a sudden grant opportunity or gift from a donor allows you to do 10x more than you thought possible.

Plans often reveal gaps or new challenges, prompting us to adjust and refine our strategies. In addition, as much as we want people to give their best feedback in the planning stage, it doesn’t always work that way. Some team members are timid or inhibited at first, or perhaps new team members join who have fresh and valuable insights.

Here is another possibility. When enacted, plans help us grow and learn, and amid that learning we may very well see possibilities and opportunities that would have been invisible to us previously. This is not a problem. It is all part of using and improvising around a mission-minded plan.

Of course, improvisation requires skill to do it well. It requires listening to the needs of the community combined with wisdom from God’s Word while staying grounded in the school’s mission.

Back to the Jazz Example

Jazz musicians know how to improvise, but it comes from lots of preparation…I mean, a ton of practice. They understand the chord progressions and the melody (think of those as the plan), and they devote ample time to improvising from a place of experience and incredibly deep understanding. They improvise in awe-inspiring ways only because they know the music so well. When they find themselves in the middle of the song, they are ready and free to delve into a solo without going too far astray.

This is just how improvising works with a strategic plan. You get to know the plan inside and out. You have it memorized. You know how the parts are interconnected. You understand its nuances and key features so well that when an opportunity presents itself, you are able to turn it into something that serves and supports the plan rather than take you off track. The new opportunity just adds more depth. Before you know it, a simple plan has a half dozen layers that takes your school to an entirely new level.

This is not easy. It requires careful thinking and discipline. Those around you who would rather just set the plan aside and pursue the new thing will probably get annoyed with you at times. They may think you are being too rigid. Why? Because it is easier. It doesn’t require the level of strategic thinking and intense study necessary to execute on, and improvise within, a plan with excellence.

Many people are used to just leading an organization one day at a time, one month at a time, one school year at a time. That works for many things, but it cannot achieve what is possible with an entire team working toward a set of multi-year goals. This sort of multi-year, big payoff planning requires study, lots of conversation and clarification, and the hard work of getting as many people as possible engaged and on board with what you are trying to accomplish. Then, and only then, can you begin to experience the equivalent of playing what seems like a perfect jazz solo on top of an already amazing melody. While it is incredibly hard work (harder than you think), once you experience it, I guarantee that you will want more of it.

Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? The ethical use of AI is an important topic. When new technologies emerge, they often evolve faster than our ability to make sense of the ethical implications. As such, I offer this disclaimer to provide a transparent picture of my own journey and approach. I’ve already made mistakes, even embarrassing ones, but I will strive to quickly learn from them and provide a transparent view of my present approach. As such, this disclaimer will be updated over time.

The full initial draft (in writing or as an audio dictation), words, and ideas for my Substack articles always come from me. From there, I often use AI for editing Substack articles. I regularly use Grammarly and/or Microsoft Word’s built-in Spellcheck or Grammar Check (both of which are a form of AI) to aid in proofreading and editing my work on Substack. In instances where I use AI for something other than background research or editing my original work, you can expect that I will cite or note it in the article.

I also regularly use DALL-E to generate the images for many articles. In addition, I sometimes use royalty free images. If credit is required by law, requested by the creator, or simply the courteous thing to do, you can expect to see the credits right below the image.

I continue to evolve in my experimentation with the use of ChatGPT, Grok, CoPilot (and various other ChatBot technologies) to serve as an editor for my Substack publications.

What does this mean? There are three common scenarios, though I hope to experiment with others in the future (and I will update this accordingly):

1. I write a full first draft in Word, Grammarly, or a word processor, and then submit it to the ChatBot, asking it to serve as an editor, akin to how I have one or more people edit almost anything that is published in my formal capacity. This is also similar to how editors review my manuscripts when they are submitted to a journal, newspaper, or book publisher. By the way, when I write for any of these partners, I never use AI beyond the basic spellcheck / grammar check available in Microsoft Word—not even to use and then cite it.

2. I record myself speaking on a topic and then place the recording in a ChatBot to transcribe, remove disfluencies, and provide a draft transcript that I can refine before publishing it. This is where I’ve made the most past mistakes. Because the ChatBot is transcribing, it adds its own grammatical interpretations and even takes liberty with sub-titles, organization, corrections, and adding clarifying language. As such, I’m still learning to use prompts that ensure my words, voice, style, and intent dominate—while also achieving a quality, personal, but streamlined approach to sharing ideas. Because this is an evolving practice for me, and also because it sometimes creates a final draft that can be flagged as AI-generated content, expect that when I use this approach, it will be noted at the beginning or end of the article.

3. I use ChatBots to conduct background research related to topics that I’m writing about, akin to an interactive and advanced search engine. If there are quotes or unique ideas that I include in the article, you can expect that I will give some sort of citation or in-text credit.

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Over the past two decades, three of the fastest-growing trends in Christian education are homeschooling, micro-schooling, and classical Christian education. As such, when I speak at conferences and visit schools, I’m often asked about one or more of these topics. I’m quick to point out that the one type of education I do not support is a “one-size-fits-all” education system. I reject the idea that there is one perfect model or approach to Christian education that is faithful to God’s Word and serves every student and family according to their situation and distinct needs. I remain a fervent advocate for what I refer to as a varied educational ecosystem, a more extensive system of Christian schools committed to being schools of the Word, yet doing so in ways that best meet the needs of one or more distinct groups of students and families. Having visited and studied hundreds of schools, I can confidently say that there are many models of schools that can be faithful to God’s Word and flourish in how they serve students.

So, when people ask me about classical Christian education, I explain that I do not believe it to be the only path to fidelity and flourishing. Still, I see great merit in many things emphasized by schools that identify as classical. I usually follow that up by pointing out that there are varied and even competing ideas about education within classical education groups. For example, several years ago, I was in an online forum where one homeschooling parent was told by a scholar of classical education that it was not possible to be a classical education homeschooling family. They are mutually exclusive. You might imagine that the homeschooling parent disagreed, as do many others. So, with both of these points stated, following are some of my thoughts about the wisdom and merit of classical education. These words come from a 2025 welcome provided at the Consortium of Classical Lutheran Education Conference in Seward, Nebraska. Whether you consider yourself a champion of classical education, unaware, a skeptic, or an intense critic, I think you may find something in these words to which you can relate.

If we must, as is the custom and infatuation in our generation, create a quick and easy test for the fidelity of a Christian school, I would look no further than the role of God's Word. In James Burtchaell's book, The Decline and Fall of the Christian College (1991), he outlined nine stepping stones to secularizing an educational institution. More important than any other in his list is the step in which faculty make their first intellectual and practical loyalty to their disciplinary guild rather than to the Truth revealed in God's inspired and inerrant Word. Once that step is taken, all else will soon be lost. Dewey or Dante, Constructivism or classics, CRT or Shakespeare's "To be or not to be…", Postmodernism or Pascal, pop culture or Latin… While some of these are far better than others, all of them are not only stepping stones to secularization but stumbling blocks in the life of a Christian; if our hearts and minds are not enlightened by the precious Word that the Psalmist reminds us, is "a lamp unto my feet and a light until my path."

We Christians of the Lutheran strand have long been criticized as anti-intellectual for resisting the scholarly spirit of the age, instead giving preference to the Holy Spirit at work through the Word while also learning from the wisdom of those who came before us. C.F.W. Walther, in Are We Guilty of Despising Scholarship? (1875), responded to such a critique with the following:

"We admit further that as necessary as we consider learning to be, especially the study of languages, logic, rhetoric, and history, for searching the content of Scripture, we nevertheless reject any learning that [formatting adjusted for clarity]:

-instead of being a handmaid and pupil, wants to assume the role of mistress and teacher,

-instead of merely helping to discover the Truth contained in Scripture, presumes to sit in judgment,

-instead of submitting to Scripture's correction, desires to correct Scripture,

-and instead of remaining in its sphere, attempts to elevate the laws that happen to obtain in its field to universal ones and impose them also upon Scripture."

Or, in the bold and beautiful words of Dr. Luther in his well-known letter to the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany that They Establish and Maintain Schools, "I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth."

Luther warned that God's Word and grace is a passing rainstorm. He recounted instances of persistent rejection of God's Word in a community only to find themselves suffering from the vacuum created by its absence years later. Lutheran education is distinct when and only if it heeds the wisdom of these words and strives for a learning community where we explore a myriad of subjects while placing a high priority on the Truth of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that "all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

To those of you gathered for this conference, I recognize that I am "pushing at an open door." You are here today, at least partly because you know that "He who marries the spirit of that age today will die a widower tomorrow" (Dean Inge). You are in pursuit of education that is life-giving and sustaining rather than decaying, one that seeks and celebrates Truth that transcends, one that plants and cultivates beauty rather than revels in deconstruction, an education enlightened and informed by the words of the Apostle Paul when he wrote, "…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).

For these and so many other reasons, I consider each of you to be trusted sojourners on a good and noble quest. May God bless you on the portion of that quest that brings you to our beloved campus.

Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? The ethical use of AI is an important topic. When new technologies emerge, they often evolve faster than our ability to make sense of the ethical implications. As such, I offer this disclaimer to provide a transparent picture of my own journey and approach. I’ve already made mistakes, even embarrassing ones, but I will strive to quickly learn from them and provide a transparent view of my present approach. As such, this disclaimer will be updated over time.

The full initial draft (in writing or as an audio dictation), words, and ideas for my Substack articles always come from me. From there, I sometimes use AI for editing Substack articles. I regularly use Grammarly and/or Microsoft Word’s built-in Spellcheck or Grammar Check (both of which are a form of AI) to aid in proofreading and editing my work on Substack. In instances where I use AI for something other than background research or editing my original work, you can expect that I will cite or note it in the article.

I also regularly use DALL-E to generate the images for many articles. In addition, I sometimes use royalty free images. If credit is required by law, requested by the creator, or simply the courteous thing to do, you can expect to see the credits right below the image.

I continue to evolve in my experimentation with the use of ChatGPT, Grok, CoPilot (and various other ChatBot technologies) to serve as an editor for my Substack publications.

What does this mean? There are three common scenarios, though I hope to experiment with others in the future (and I will update this accordingly):

1. I write a full first draft in Word, Grammarly, or a word processor, and then submit it to the ChatBot, asking it to serve as an editor and give me feedback, akin to how I have one or more people edit almost anything that is published in my formal capacity. This is also similar to how editors review my manuscripts when they are submitted to a journal, newspaper, or book publisher. By the way, when I write for any of these partners/publishers, I never use AI beyond the basic spellcheck / grammar check available in Microsoft Word (or Grammarly if permitted by the publisher)—not even to use and then cite it.

2. I record myself speaking on a topic and then place the recording in a ChatBot to transcribe, remove disfluencies, and provide a draft transcript that I can refine before publishing it. This is where I’ve made the most past mistakes. Because the ChatBot is transcribing, it adds its own grammatical interpretations and even takes liberty with sub-titles, organization, corrections, and adding clarifying language. As such, I’m still learning to use prompts that ensure my words, voice, style, and intent dominate—while also achieving a quality, personal, but streamlined approach to sharing ideas. Because this is an evolving practice for me, and also because it sometimes creates a final draft that can be flagged as AI-generated content, expect that when I use this approach, it will be noted at the beginning or end of the article.

3. I use ChatBots to conduct background research related to topics that I’m writing about, akin to an interactive and advanced search engine. If there are quotes or unique ideas that I include in the article, you can expect that I will give some sort of citation or in-text credit.

Some time ago, I saw an online video commercial of a private secular University promoting its online graduate programs. The background music for the commercial? It was “This Little Gospel Light of Mine.”

There is a trend in education where schools of all stripes and levels try to tap into the spiritual yearnings of prospective students by using words and concepts like meaning, purpose, calling, legacy, inspiration, faith, hope…even eternity. I’ve seen state universities and public P-12 schools promote themselves as places to “find your calling.” I’ve witnessed schools celebrate themselves as places that offer parents the chance to help their children make their dreams come true, even as teachers or professors at these schools sometimes undermine the very Christian beliefs and character that parents taught & nurtured in their children.

Many schools use these spiritual terms because their market research indicates that such words tap into a deep and widespread yearning in people, a persistent void, a craving for meaning and significance, a desire for “unfailing love” (Proverbs 19) and a perpetual grappling with the eternity that is “in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Now, we find ourselves in a time when some secular schools are appropriating the words of Christian spirituality to somehow suggest that what they have to offer is about equipping you to shine with the light of the Gospel. Only they do not teach the Gospel, and it is my suspicion that you will not hear them speak about the love of God in Jesus Christ.

There is no recognition that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24).

There is no reminder that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

The name Jesus is not spoken in these places, nor is there a calling to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

There is no challenge to “no longer conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (Romans 12:2).

There is no mentoring and equipping people to “always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope that you have…” (1 Peter 3:15).

There is no discipleship of the mind.

There is no fundamental mission of nurturing people of Christian conviction, character, and courage to be salt and light in the world.

For that, I invite people to consider a school where the Holy Scriptures are supreme, where people are invited to “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” and where education is done at the intersection of faith and learning, where people are taught to think about complex issues in “Christian categories” (as T.S. Eliot writes). Whether it is a preschool, elementary school, high school, or university, if these are things people value, I invite them to vote with their choice of school.

As a Christian school, to the extent that you lean into your distinctly Christian identity, you have all these things to offer and more. In such an era, our marketing can reflect our mission in a deep, undeniable, authentic way. If you are leading or serving in a Christian school, you have the joy of being able to advertise in ways that match what you do each day—who your school is at its core. Then, you can invite students and families to come and see for themselves. You can urge them not to take your word for it. While some try to convince students and families that they have something transcendent to offer, you can show them.

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Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? The ethical use of AI is an important topic. When new technologies emerge, they often evolve faster than our ability to make sense of the ethical implications. As such, I offer this disclaimer to provide a transparent picture of my own journey and approach. I’ve already made mistakes, even embarrassing ones, but I will strive to quickly learn from them and provide a transparent view of my present approach. As such, this disclaimer will be updated over time.

The full initial draft (in writing or as an audio dictation), words, and ideas for my Substack articles always come from me. From there, I sometimes use AI for editing Substack articles. I regularly use Grammarly and/or Microsoft Word’s built-in Spellcheck or Grammar Check (both of which are a form of AI) to aid in proofreading and editing my work on Substack. In instances where I use AI for something other than background research or editing my original work, you can expect that I will cite or note it in the article.

I also regularly use DALL-E to generate the images for many articles. In addition, I sometimes use royalty free images. If credit is required by law, requested by the creator, or simply the courteous thing to do, you can expect to see the credits right below the image.

I continue to evolve in my experimentation with the use of ChatGPT, Grok, CoPilot (and various other ChatBot technologies) to serve as an editor for my Substack publications.

What does this mean? There are three common scenarios, though I hope to experiment with others in the future (and I will update this accordingly):

1. I write a full first draft in Word, Grammarly, or a word processor, and then submit it to the ChatBot, asking it to serve as an editor and give me feedback, akin to how I have one or more people edit almost anything that is published in my formal capacity. This is also similar to how editors review my manuscripts when they are submitted to a journal, newspaper, or book publisher. By the way, when I write for any of these partners/publishers, I never use AI beyond the basic spellcheck / grammar check available in Microsoft Word (or Grammarly if permitted by the publisher)—not even to use and then cite it.

2. I record myself speaking on a topic and then place the recording in a ChatBot to transcribe, remove disfluencies, and provide a draft transcript that I can refine before publishing it. This is where I’ve made the most past mistakes. Because the ChatBot is transcribing, it adds its own grammatical interpretations and even takes liberty with sub-titles, organization, corrections, and adding clarifying language. As such, I’m still learning to use prompts that ensure my words, voice, style, and intent dominate—while also achieving a quality, personal, but streamlined approach to sharing ideas. Because this is an evolving practice for me, and also because it sometimes creates a final draft that can be flagged as AI-generated content, expect that when I use this approach, it will be noted at the beginning or end of the article.

3. I use ChatBots to conduct background research related to topics that I’m writing about, akin to an interactive and advanced search engine. If there are quotes or unique ideas that I include in the article, you can expect that I will give some sort of citation or in-text credit.

The legend goes that when Steve Jobs was recruiting John Sculley to leave the CEO role at Pepsi for an executive spot at Apple, Steve said, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to join me and change the world?" I might have to repurpose this line when talking to prospective students, families, staff, and faculty about serving in a Christian school.

I've read, studied, and taught about faith formation and catechesis for over thirty years. Last year, I was re-reading C.F.W. Walther's The Church and Ministry. While reading Thesis V, I realized that I've sometimes made things too complicated when discussing the core distinction of Christian education. The foundational difference of a Christian school is quite simple. It is the presence and prevalence of God's Word, not just in chapel or theology classes but in all of our life and learning together. This is no small thing, especially not in our current age. It is a precious gift to have learning communities where God's Word is welcome in any office, meeting, stage, dorm, performance, class, conversation, court, field, locker room, or lab. We have ample room to grow, improve, and learn—but what a treasure to be part of a school where God’s Word is wanted and welcome!

Not to take anything away from my past writing and teaching on the subject, but the most important why and how of Christian education can be summarized this way. Christian education matters because God's Word matters and because God speaks to us through His Word. Why would we not want to create as many schools and learning communities as possible that provide a solid education (across levels, disciplines, and purposes) while also making them communities where God's Word is sown freely, joyfully, repeatedly, and pervasively?

God tells us through the prophet Isaiah, "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I intend and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Martin Luther once wrote, "Do you really want to consider the Word of the Gospel on a par with the word or the talk of a peasant in an inn or a tavern? Remember that God has said: When the Word of Christ is preached, I am in your mouth, and I pass with the Word through your ears into your heart. So, then, we have a sure sign and know that when the Gospel is preached, God is present and would have Himself found there" (W 16, 210).

I might make a few modern additions to his comment. Do we really want to consider the Word of God on par with the word of a textbook, philosopher, politician, professor, social media influencer, or anyone else? Then why not create learning communities where God's Word is regularly shared amid one's study? After all, it is in His Word that God promises to speak to us. Why not celebrate and support those places where God speaks so freely and regularly?

Look at the Concordia University, Nebraska seal where I’m honored to serve. You will see a man sowing seeds, pointing us to the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 and Luke 8…" the seed is the Word of God" (Luke 8:11). That seal reminds us that this is fundamental to who we are and what we do. We are a community where God's Word is sown, and where God works, as he promises, through that Word.

Luther further wrote, "Whenever a man reads the Word of God, the Holy Spirit is speaking to him. Wherever the Word of God is, there the Holy Spirit, faith, and other gifts of the Spirit must necessarily be." (W 31 II, 755). This Word has immense relevance for temporal and eternal life, pointing us to the significance of Jesus Christ in and amid modern life, thought, trends, and events.

There are many ways that we learn and acquire knowledge. We learn through the scientific method, philosophical inquiry, and by experience. These are readily available in schools throughout the world. Yet, none of them get us to the highest form of learning, the Holy Spirit at work through the Word—"…teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness" that we might be well-equipped for our present and future callings (2 Timothy 3:17).

God's Word is, again in the words of Luther, "…a thunderbolt so powerful that its impact turned the whole Roman Empire…into a pile of rubbish" (W 34 II, 531). It is also a salve for the wounded, a quencher of the deepest thirsts, a source of life to a valley of dry bones, a means of turning hearts from stone to flesh, and (as reminded by C.S. Lewis) an irrigator of our modern educational and ideological deserts.

By God’s grace, I’ll probably keep writing about the why and how of Christian education, and I will probably still make it more complicated than it needs to be. Yet, for today, suffice it to say that Christian schools matter because God’s Word matters.

Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? The ethical use of AI is an important topic. When new technologies emerge, they often evolve faster than our ability to make sense of the ethical implications. As such, I offer this disclaimer to provide a transparent picture of my own journey and approach. I’ve already made mistakes, even embarrassing ones, but I will strive to quickly learn from them and provide a transparent view of my present approach. As such, this disclaimer will be updated over time.

The full initial draft (in writing or as an audio dictation), words, and ideas for my Substack articles always come from me. From there, I sometimes use AI for editing Substack articles. I regularly use Grammarly and/or Microsoft Word’s built-in Spellcheck or Grammar Check (both of which are a form of AI) to aid in proofreading and editing my work on Substack. In instances where I use AI for something other than background research or editing my original work, you can expect that I will cite or note it in the article.

I also regularly use DALL-E to generate the images for many articles. In addition, I sometimes use royalty free images. If credit is required by law, requested by the creator, or simply the courteous thing to do, you can expect to see the credits right below the image.

I continue to evolve in my experimentation with the use of ChatGPT, Grok, CoPilot (and various other ChatBot technologies) to serve as an editor for my Substack publications.

What does this mean? There are three common scenarios, though I hope to experiment with others in the future (and I will update this accordingly):

1. I write a full first draft in Word, Grammarly, or a word processor, and then submit it to the ChatBot, asking it to serve as an editor and give me feedback, akin to how I have one or more people edit almost anything that is published in my formal capacity. This is also similar to how editors review my manuscripts when they are submitted to a journal, newspaper, or book publisher. By the way, when I write for any of these partners/publishers, I never use AI beyond the basic spellcheck / grammar check available in Microsoft Word (or Grammarly if permitted by the publisher)—not even to use and then cite it.

2. I record myself speaking on a topic and then place the recording in a ChatBot to transcribe, remove disfluencies, and provide a draft transcript that I can refine before publishing it. This is where I’ve made the most past mistakes. Because the ChatBot is transcribing, it adds its own grammatical interpretations and even takes liberty with sub-titles, organization, corrections, and adding clarifying language. As such, I’m still learning to use prompts that ensure my words, voice, style, and intent dominate—while also achieving a quality, personal, but streamlined approach to sharing ideas. Because this is an evolving practice for me, and also because it sometimes creates a final draft that can be flagged as AI-generated content, expect that when I use this approach, it will be noted at the beginning or end of the article.

3. I use ChatBots to conduct background research related to topics that I’m writing about, akin to an interactive and advanced search engine. If there are quotes or unique ideas that I include in the article, you can expect that I will give some sort of citation or in-text credit.

About ten years ago, one of the more popular catch phrases in education was “reflective practice.” Entire books were written on the subject, but it ultimately came down to the fact that people who excel in almost any endeavor take the time to reflect on what what is working, what is not, and where to go next. Of course, as Christians, we know that the general concept goes back much further. Consider even just a handful of relevant verses in the Scriptures.

“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:40, ESV)

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5, ESV)

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

“The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” (Proverbs 18:15, ESV)

“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16, ESV)

“The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.” (Proverbs 14:15, ESV)

With this in mind, I was searching through backup files on my computer last week, and I came across a document called “Weekly Accountability Form.” I created it in 1995, when I was a second-year middle and high school theology teacher. Using this simple list of questions, I set aside an hour each Friday to reflect on the past week, pray, and then map out my plans for the week ahead. While I was a new teacher and had much to learn (I still do), I remember how much I valued these Friday afternoons, and how they helped me learn and grow.

Years later, as I began to study high-impact schools, I was surprised but delighted to discover that the questions I asked myself in those first years of teaching are some of the same questions that these thriving schools ask themselves on a regular basis. Because they are committed to growing and improving, they crave feedback…and that includes cultivating time for self-feedback.

While there are common questions that all thriving Christian schools (as well as the leaders and teachers) regularly ask, I’ve come to believe that it is the desire and discipline of prayerful, humble, regular, mission-informed question-asking (and answering) that is the most important part of the process. Below, I’ve included the questions that I asked myself so many years ago, but perhaps it would be even more valuable to take the time to reflect on your mission, your school’s distinct values, and use those to establish a list of questions that are meaningful to you and your school.

If you choose to take up the challenge, please consider sharing what you develop. I’d love to learn from you!

My Friday Afternoon Questions as a New Christian School Teacher

Instructional

• Can I support everything that I plan to teach or have taught with the Word of God?

• Have I been well prepared for classes through prayer, serious study, and planning? Am I giving my best effort?

• Do the students understand the relevance of what I am teaching?

• Have I attempted to explain the relevance of what I am teaching lately?

• Are there any recent events in society, the lives of students, or the world that should be addressed from God’s perspective?

• Have I fulfilled my objectives for this week? What needs to be reinforced? Is there something that I need to teach again?

• Am I taking the time to evaluate student assignments, homework, tests, and quizzes in a careful and honest manner?

• What is the “feel” or “atmosphere” of my class? How can I change or sustain it?

• Are there any behavior problems or attitudes that I have not effectively addressed? What should be done next?

Relational

• Have I spoken words of encouragement to students this week? Is there a particular student who could use a few words of encouragement?

• Am I keeping parents informed about their children? Do I need to inform any parents of student positive or negative behavior? (If I were the parent, what would I want to know?)

• Do I know what is going on in the lives of my students?

• Have I expressed personal love and interest in the “needy” kids within my classes?

• Have I prayed for each of my students by name this week? Are there any situations in the life of a student/teacher that I should commit to prayer?

• Do I have any bitter feelings about any students or teachers that I need to address?

Personal

• Have I spent time in serious study of God’s Word each day this week?

• Am I praying regularly?

• Am I connecting with other brothers and sisters in Christ whom I can encourage and who are encouraging me?

• Are there any sins that I need to confess? (10 commandments, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 1 Corinthians 13, James 3:1-12, James 1:19-21

Do Christian schools need a strategic plan?

The short answer is no.

I mean, not exactly.

Actually, yes and no.

Okay, maybe more yes than no…but not in the way you think.

Christian schools are NOT for-profit businesses with maximizing profit as their primary objective. They are nonprofit communities with a distinctly Christian mission, called to serve students and families in ways that reflect their shared confession. Their mission is not defined by the latest strategic planning model.

While Christian schools may not need a traditional, corporate-style strategic plan, they do need to plan and think strategically. Faithful and flourishing Christian schools are clear about who they are, whom they serve, how to serve them best, and how they grow and improve over time. Many, if not all, of the elements found in a good strategic plan, are relevant to the work of being a faithful and flourishing Christian school.

So maybe the answer isn’t no after all. You need to plan and strategize. It is just a matter of determining the best way to do such work. Schools need to know where they’re going, how to get there, who is doing what, and how to gather feedback along the way. When used wisely, strategic planning tools and resources help Christian schools do these things with intentionality (which is one of my favorite words when it comes to Christian school leadership).

Why Corporate Models for Strategic Planning Do Not Always Fit

Strategic planning has its roots in military tactics. Leaders design long-term strategies to achieve specific outcomes in battle. Over time, these ideas were adopted by businesses seeking to “defeat” competitors and achieve market dominance (Quick aside: There are a surprising number of education practices that have a military origin, including the multiple choice exam.). In the mid-20th century, leaders and scholars like Peter Drucker helped refine strategic planning for the corporate world, emphasizing efficiency, measurable goals, strategic thinking, and doing all these to achieve a competitive advantage.

By the late 20th century, strategic planning had spread to schools, government agencies, nonprofits, and even churches. The appeal was that they offer structure and guidance.

Alas, there’s a challenge when Christian schools adopt these models without question. Secular strategic planning often prioritizes temporal successes like market share or maximizing profits (even though newer models look at things differently). While these are valuable in some contexts, Christian schools operate with a different framework. As the banner said in the gym of one of the Christian schools where I served, “We change lives for eternity.” A Christian school’s success is measured in more than academic outcomes or enrollment numbers (although these are certainly important), but traditional strategic plans sometimes (but not always) lead us to focus on that which is most easily measured. So, the measurable becomes the priority.

In my study of hundreds of schools, I’ve seen excellent schools with detailed traditional strategic plans and equally impressive schools with simple and less conventional plans. One thing they all had in common was intentionality and a clear direction for the future. They knew their mission, who they were serving, where they were going, and why, and thought strategically about their plans and next moves.

What You Need

And yet, while Christian schools don’t need a strategic plan in the secular sense, the core principles of good planning still matter. If you strip away everything else, a strategic plan simply focuses on mapping out answers to about ten key questions and then using that map regularly. This sort of work can be quite helpful for a Christian school. Whether they call it a strategic plan or not, they ask and answer these types of questions:

1. Why are we here, and what is our mission? Where are we going and why?

2. What is important to us? What do we believe, teach, confess, value, and prioritize? [Note: This area warrants far more depth and attention than when used in a secular context.]

3. What is happening inside and outside (local community, surrounding culture, etc.) of our school? What are the joys and challenges? What are the risks, worries, concerns, opportunities, and promising possibilities?

4. Given all this, what are our next important goals and priorities? Who are the next priorities…meaning whom are we going to serve and why? How do we want to improve, and what do we want to accomplish next (this can be in the next year all the way to five or ten years from now…but some schools strategize for decades)?

5. What is it going to take for us to get these things done? How will we go about accomplishing it? Who needs to do what, when, how, and why? What is the role of each person in this work?

6. How do we keep all of this in mind and help as many people as possible be engaged in making it happen? What stories will serve as anchors for our mission, goals, and life together?

7. How do we know if we are going in the right direction and making progress? How do we create a system to track this regularly?

8. How will we ensure that we have what is needed (people, funds, partners, etc.) to make it happen?

9. What do we do when things don’t go according to plan? Do we have a plan for when parts of the plan don’t go well?

10. How will we know if we have succeeded?

Strategic planning models, used wisely, can help schools clarify their goals, align their efforts, make measurable progress, and ensure faithful stewardship of resources. The key is to adapt these tools to reflect the school’s distinct mission and values. This means not allowing secular frameworks to dictate priorities and processes.

What Faithful and Flourishing Christian Schools Do Instead…or in Addition

Notice how very little in that list of ten questions speaks to the role of God’s Word or the role of prayer. Those are not nice additions. They are fundamental to a Christian school, so they must be essential to how we plan and strategize. Just read through the book of Acts for ample examples, including the disciples gathering and praying in advance of Pentecost. Or, perhaps two of the most helpful books in the Bible when it comes to planning and strategy are Proverbs and the Psalms. Let prayer and study of God’s Word be the starting point for your school…persistently. Then, you can use strategic planning like the ten questions above in a way that serves your mission and purpose rather than becoming your mission and purpose.

Faithful and flourishing Christian schools most certainly plan. They are not aimless. They are intentional. They are reflective. They are unified. They also engage in prayerful planning that is regularly informed by God’s Word. With these fundamentals, they periodically revisit their origin story and reason for existence, ensuring that their mission shapes each decision, policy, program, practice, and priority. It never does…there is always room for improvement, but these schools have formal and prayerful plans to improve over time.

I’m a Fan of a Good, One-Page Plan

Ask anyone who has worked with me. While I may critique overly complex or rigid strategic planning processes that become the tails that wag the Christian education dog, I am a strong, even relentless (some might say fanatical), advocate for strategic plans that are simple, focused, informed by God’s Word, commended to the Lord in prayer, and deeply immersed in the mission of the organization. When done well, a strategic plan is a powerful tool to provide clarity and a shared direction, all while keeping the mission front and center. In fact, I may well talk about the strategic plan more than almost any leader you will meet. Yet, we are also working from a 5-year strategic plan that fits on the front and back sides of a single piece of paper. It is bold, strategic, flexible, immersed in the mission, simple, and inspiring enough that I (and hopefully the entire team) can get up every morning excited to help make things happen. That is my type of strategic plan.

The Real Difference

My point is this. Rather than restricting ourselves to overly rigid frameworks or trying to follow the steps defined in the latest and greatest strategic planning book, thriving Christian schools focus on prayer and discernment in their planning. We revisit core questions regularly. What is our mission? Are we serving families faithfully? How can we grow in fidelity and Christ-centered excellence? Our planning is not about control. It is about trusting God to guide and provide,,,and aligning our words and actions with God’s Word. Along the way, we commend our efforts to the Lord, seek forgiveness and wisdom, find strength and comfort, and receive direction from God’s Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Is This Just Semantics?

So, do Christian schools need a strategic plan? Some will read this and say yes, that I’m just playing with words. Ultimately, I don’t think it matters, except to say that, yes, thriving Christian schools strategize and plan. What you want to call it is up to you. However, whatever you do, let it be founded on, guided by, sustained by, and held together by being a community of the Word that regularly turns to God in prayer.

Strategic planning models and theories may come and go, but the mission of a Christian school is persistent…to glorify God, serve others, and to provide an education where God’s Word is present and prevalent...ultimately pointing all to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. By focusing on what matters most, Christian schools can flourish, not because they follow the latest strategic planning model but because they are strategic in planning and living out their mission.

Not Quite Done

By the way, I’m not quite finished with this topic, even as the article is getting a bit long. As such, look for a follow-up article next week on what a good plan has in common with Jazz music…improvisation.

Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? The ethical use of AI is an important topic. When new technologies emerge, they often evolve faster than our ability to make sense of the ethical implications. As such, I offer this disclaimer to provide a transparent picture of my own journey and approach. I’ve already made mistakes, even embarrassing ones, but I will strive to quickly learn from them and provide a transparent view of my present approach. As such, this disclaimer will be updated over time.

The full initial draft (in writing or as an audio dictation), words, and ideas for my Substack articles always come from me. From there, I often use AI for editing Substack articles. I regularly use Grammarly and/or Microsoft Word’s built-in Spellcheck or Grammar Check (both of which are a form of AI) to aid in proofreading and editing my work on Substack. In instances where I use AI for something other than background research or editing my original work, you can expect that I will cite or note it in the article.

I also regularly use DALL-E to generate the images for many articles. In addition, I sometimes use royalty free images. If credit is required by law, requested by the creator, or simply the courteous thing to do, you can expect to see the credits right below the image.

I continue to evolve in my experimentation with the use of ChatGPT, Grok, CoPilot (and various other ChatBot technologies) to serve as an editor for my Substack publications.

What does this mean? There are three common scenarios, though I hope to experiment with others in the future (and I will update this accordingly):

1. I write a full first draft in Word, Grammarly, or a word processor, and then submit it to the ChatBot, asking it to serve as an editor, akin to how I have one or more people edit almost anything that is published in my formal capacity. This is also similar to how editors review my manuscripts when they are submitted to a journal, newspaper, or book publisher. By the way, when I write for any of these partners, I never use AI beyond the basic spellcheck / grammar check available in Microsoft Word—not even to use and then cite it.

2. I record myself speaking on a topic and then place the recording in a ChatBot to transcribe, remove disfluencies, and provide a draft transcript that I can refine before publishing it. This is where I’ve made the most past mistakes. Because the ChatBot is transcribing, it adds its own grammatical interpretations and even takes liberty with sub-titles, organization, corrections, and adding clarifying language. As such, I’m still learning to use prompts that ensure my words, voice, style, and intent dominate—while also achieving a quality, personal, but streamlined approach to sharing ideas. Because this is an evolving practice for me, and also because it sometimes creates a final draft that can be flagged as AI-generated content, expect that when I use this approach, it will be noted at the beginning or end of the article.

3. I use ChatBots to conduct background research related to topics that I’m writing about, akin to an interactive and advanced search engine. If there are quotes or unique ideas that I include in the article, you can expect that I will give some sort of citation or in-text credit.

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