Value and Power of Faith

(also from the book Seven Faith Tribes)

Intellectuals tell us that faith will fade away as people awake to the frivolous nature of belief in a higher power but too many have had it proven too real to them.
Faith continues to be an unassailable source of reasonable hope in an unreasonably hopeless world.
What are the alternatives?
Rely on politicians and bureaucrats, and in the systems they offer.
Trust the business world and the marketplace to solve life's deepest issues.
Live for pleasure and allow the entertainment industry to rule.
Believe the theories and spin that the educational system offers as "truth" until new discoveries or revelations shatter those pronouncements.

Faith provides meaning, hope, health, and a cohesive narrative to make sense of one's life and give it direction.

12 commitments of great followers

More thoughts from the book Seven Faith Tribes:

Leaders need to have followers in order to lead. Some of us may be leaders, but we are ALL followers in some way. If we want those we choose to follow to be great leaders, we need to do less compromising and expect more of what we really want. Specifically this applies politically, but it also applies at home, in our communities, in our faith groups, and in business.

With that thought in mind, look at this list of what it means to be a great follower:
Know what you are looking for in a leader
Live and die for the vision
Refuse to settle for anything but the best
Provide constructive feedback
Hold leaders to the highest reasonable standards,
      and expect them to do the same for you
Always place community interest above self interest
Be proud of your leaders
Become a great team player
Perform your duties with excellence
Add value all the time
Focus on the future
Keep growing personally
(For more details, read the book)

And while we are on the subject of leaders here are a few more thoughts:

Great leaders
appreciate the past
live in the present
and think in the future

Leadership is an act of service,
not an exercise of power.

Never stop increasing in wisdom and knowledge.

When you think you know it all,
you have just lost the heartbeat of life.

Seven Faith Tribes by George Barna

 I highly recommend reading this book. It is well researched and enlightening in that research. It is a call to action and a vision on how to bring America back to greatness. America has gone through many National Identities including: Revolutionaries- rebelling against religious restrictions and heavy taxes, Pioneer- exploration and entrepreneurialism, Superpower- economic and military, Vast Consumers- everything from entertainment to food. Now our primary focus seems to be  Individualism and Entitlement.

Individualism may feel good in the moment but it detracts from the strength of society and is very divisive.

This book takes a look at the worldviews of those living in America and then divides us into seven faith groups including: Casual Christians(68%) Captive Christians(16%) Jews(2%) Mormons(1.3%) Panthiests(1.4%) Muslims(0.4%) Skeptics(11%)
He has chapters on each of the faith groups full of data that tells what by our own perceptions we believe and how we view the world, then he also includes by the data what we do and how we live(how those beliefs translate into action)

From this data he has pulled 20 values that we all share in varying degrees.
Those are:
represent the truth well
develop inner peace and purity
seek peace with others
demonstrate wisdom
be forgiving
practice self-restraint
get yourself together before criticizing
invest in young people
respect life
treat others how you want to be treated
be a good citizen
justify people's respect
avoid harmful behavior
honor the elderly
be generous
do not judge or condemn others
be mutually respectful of human rights
cultivate civility
belong to a caring community
facilitate basic skills

He asks the question "Who do we want to be?" (national identity)
and proposes: expand our experience as world leader in becoming a peacemaker, compassionate ambassadors of justice, sensitive to the basic needs of others around the world. Basically a global servant
We need to model: respect , love, generosity, & care for the less fortunate

There are other things from this book that I will address in additional blog posts such as:
different worldviews
12 commitments of great followers
7 components of unity
value of faith and responsibility of the faith tribe in achieving the national identity