Through a series of meetings during 2000-2001, the KINDLE Program Team of Steve Arnold, Jack Giles, Alan Gunderman, Bill Karpenko, and Sue Steege created the following servant leader definition:
A KINDLE Servant Leader helps others celebrate their baptismal identity, become more Christ-like, and commit to the development of others as Christ-like servant leaders.
While this definition has been refined somewhat, three questions are still regularly posed during KINDLE training experiences:
- Are those being served daily celebrating their baptismal identity as children of God?
- Are those being served growing more Christ-like, manifesting the Grace-Filled Marks of Obedience, Well-being, Leadership, and Community?
- Are those being served committing to foster and multiply generations of Christ-like servant leaders in their homes, workplaces, congregations, communities, and the world?
Accompanying this definition and these questions is a set of four strands and 20 practices designed to explicate the attitudes, knowledge areas, and skills of a Christ-like servant leader.
While the original development, and ongoing refinements, of these Christ-like servant leader strands and practices evoked discussions that were ardently debated, the result of these interactions have produced an enduring framework around which KINDLE continues to conduct its various training ventures.
Today, participants of KINDLE’s network, as well as those who purchase this resource, are challenged to think about how these Practices and Grace-Filled Marks might, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, help them to become more Christ-like. KINDLE’s aspiration is that your use of the practices in this devotional might also deepen your desire and intention to be God’s Christ-like servant leader in your unique family, workplace, congregation, and community setting.