If the World were 100 people

From time to time, we all need to step back from life and take another look at who we are, where we are, and what we are doing. If we don’t do this regularly, we tend to get caught up in our own little world—and that is a dangerous place, because it distorts the way we see the world at large, and the way we see the world determines the way we live our lives. How do you see the world? What’s your worldview?

Today there are seven billion people on the planet, but imagine for a moment that the whole world is a village of one hundred people. If we reduced the world’s population to one hundred people, proportionally, this is how the world would look: Fifty-seven of those one hundred people would come from Asia, twenty-one from Europe, nine from Africa, eight from North America, and five from South America. Fifty-one would be women and forty-nine would be men. Six of those one hundred would own or control more than 50% of the world’s wealth, and five of these six people would be U.S. Citizens. One of those one hundred people would have just been born, one would be just about to die, and only one of those one hundred people would have been to college. Thirty-three would be Christian and sixty-seven would be non-Christian. Eighty would be living in substandard housing. Thirty-one would be unable to read and write. Twenty-four would have no electricity. Seventy-one would not have access to the Internet. Thirty-nine of the one hundred people in the village would live on less than two dollars a day. One-third of the world’s population is dying from lack of bread, one-third of the world’s population is dying from lack of justice, and one-third of the world’s population is dying from overeating. How do you see the world?

A simple sketch like this challenges the way we see the world, and draws us out of our own little world. Our worldview constantly needs challenging. Your worldview is made up of a million thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and prejudices. It is unique to you, and largely formed by your past experiences and education. For these reasons your worldview has blind spots and is imperfect. My worldview is distorted and imperfect in the same way. These blind spots and distortions cause us all sorts of problems in life, especially in relationships. This is why God is constantly challenging our worldview.

Jesus challenged the worldview of every person he encountered. Are you open to Jesus changing your worldview? How might your life change?

By Matthew Kelly