FollowtheLeader.indd

FOLLOW THE LEADER

of the great lies of the devil that has trapped millions in Haiti in both
spiritual and physical poverty for generations! While I do not want to
be either simplistic or reductionistic, it is safe to say that much of the
physical poverty in Haiti is the direct result of this negative unbiblical
thinking. This mind-set wrongly portrays God as a God of favoritism with
limited resources. When a population – rulers and people alike – believe in
the scarcity mentality, they will seek to reap and rape all they can from their
surroundings when and while they can. There will be little or no thought
about how their taking will affect the lives and futures of others around
them. They will just fight and scrap to get as big a piece of the dwindling
pie as they can – for as long as they can! They will live for the moment
with little thought or forethought about tomorrow. This paucity mentality
is the paradigm that many poor people around the world live – or rather
exist by. It is only the light of the Gospel that liberates people from the
darkness of this negative worldview.

Principle: “Th e belief that ‘God is a good

Provider but a poor Divider’ is a satanic lie that

impoverishes our living and leading.”

In contrast to this negative “pauper mentality,” Stephen Covey describes
the opposite mentality as follows:

The abundance mentality, on the other hand, flows out of a

deep inner sense of personal worth and security. It is the paradigm

that there is plenty out there and enough to spare

for everybody. It results in the sharing of prestige, of

recognition, of profits, of decision-making. It opens possibilities,

options, alternatives, and creativity.^7

Effective leaders are people who live by the positive paradigm of plenty!
They do not live by the paucity mentality that always fears that there is
not enough to go around. They believe that there is “enough supply
to meet the need.” There are enough resources to go around. They do
not have the “pauper mentality” – but rather the “plenty mentality.” They
have learned this positive mind-set by looking at both the natural and
supernatural realms. In the realm of nature, it is easy to see this principle
of plenty. God designed His creation in such a way that there is abundance
from every seed planted. Generally, neither seeds nor fruit reproduce on
a “one-to-one ratio” but on a “one-to-many ratio.” From a single grain