92 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY across the centuries will keep us from erring.”87 For this reason, it is proposed that further study in the spiritual disciplines in Christian leadership begin with a limited list of recognizable spiritual practices that have benefited Christians throughout the centuries. This list of disciplines should meet the criteria of being (1) historically attested, (2) measurable and repeatable, (3) universally accessible to all believers, and (4) specifically Christian in practice. These criteria will help provide a list that coincides with Christian living, virtue ethics, and the voice of the church across the ages. It will be important to the theologian that such an approach does not view the disciplines as powerful in themselves to affect spiritual change in the Christian leader. After all, God himself is the one who, by his Spirit, transforms the mind and heart. Richard Foster affirms this when he states, “By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done. They are God’s means of grace.”88 This is a strong and important theological point. However, the emphasis of the current study is not on causality, but outcomes. Whether it be by God’s grace, human effort, or a combination of the two, the important question for the purposes of this study are whether the spiritual disciplines make a measurable difference in the resilience of a pastor or Christian leader. This does not negate the earlier discussion on virtue as opposed to a utilitarian or consequentialist outlook. While predictive outcomes in this study are in view because they are measurable, the outcome desired is itself morally based on a eudaimonic teleology. Virtue ethics do not need to be viewed as necessarily opposed to deontological approaches. Rather, it is the rooting of one’s teleology in a formative framework that gives it meaning and purpose. While one focuses on conduct, the other focuses on character.89 Like two sides of a coin, the reciprocal relationship between conduct and character cannot be separated. It is this separation which was addressed in the early part of this article so that character in the leader might find its place in the conversation once again. Thus, a deeper study of spiritual disciplines as predictive mediators between risk and resilience factors may provide useful insight into how Christian leaders and pastors might chart a path toward greater eudaimonia in their life, family, leadership, and community.
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