Religion
If the World Were 100 People
I recently saw a description of the world that caught my attention. It’s called Miniature Earth and it broke down the population of the globe by percentages–as if the world only contained 100 people.
Statisticians tell us that the earth will pass the seven billion mark in October. That’s ten times bigger than the world population stood at the time of America’s founding in 1776.
Seven billion is a staggering number to comprehend. Likening it to 100 people will give us some perspective.
Today I want you to step outside your micro-world and ponder the macro-view of Planet Earth in 2011. I believe this view will tell us a few things about God and how he wants us to pray and act.
What would the world look like if there were only 100 people in it? Here’s the breakdown…
Let’s start with the racial make-up. If we could turn the earth into a town of 100 people, keeping the same proportions we have today, it would contain:
- 61 Asians,
- 12 Europeans,
- 8 North Americans,
- 5 South Americans and Caribbeans,
- 13 Africans,
- and 1 from Oceania.
Imagine this group as a 100 person town. If you walked down the main street, the first thing that would strike you is that nearly six in ten people you meet were Asian. And half of them would be from only two nations on earth: India and China.
I’ve been in China twice in the last six months. It’s an amazing nation. China is smaller geographically than the United States, but it has three times more people–1.3 billion. Looking at it this way, China has over one thousand cities of one million people.
I remember walking down the streets of one prosperous Chinese city–teeming with millions of folks. Only fifty years ago, China was a very poor and backward nation. But today, it is urbanizing quickly and will become the world’s largest economy in a few years. The Chinese are very industrious people.
David Wang of Asian Outreach says that God must really love the Chinese because he made so many of them. He also says that Chinese will be the language of heaven because it will take an eternity to learn it! (with its thirty thousand characters).
Putting humor aside, there’s no doubt that God has big plans for China in the 21st century. One of the greatest prayers we can utter is for China to become free. It is currently a Communist nation whose peoples cannot freely travel. If China became a free republic, the Chinese Church has a goal of tithing their people to world missions. That means adding ten million missionaries to the global harvest force.
There are one million cross-cultural missionaries now serving. Freedom to travel from China would increase global outreach ten-fold! You think there are Chinese restaurants in most places now? Well, if the 100 million person Chinese Church sent one tenth of their population around the world to share the Good News of Jesus, then there might be a Chinese Church on every corner.
Then there’s India. It currently has the world’s second largest population at 1.2 billion. But because of China’s one child policy and India’s high birthrate, it will soon pass China as the world’s most populous country. Fifteen people in our town of 100 are Indian. Due in part to their British heritage, the Gospel is also growing in India and many are coming to Christ and engaging in missions.
I am praying that India and China will form a startegic alliance in the 21st century to reach the world for Christ. There are 30 of them in our town of 100–nearly one third of the total. They have been allowed to multiply for some very important reasons.
They are joined by some very zealous Koreans, Indonesians, Japanese, Mongolians, and other Asia races. Korea is currently the sixth largest missionary sending nation in the world. Mongolia is number one–per capita. It takes only 222 Mongol Christians to send out one cross cultural missionary. By contrast, it takes 20,000 American Christians to send out one missionary.
The rest of the racial percentages are also interesting. In our town of 100, the numbers of Europeans, North and South Americans, and Africans are roughly the same–12, 13, and 13 respectively. Then the islands of Pacific have their one resident.
All these regions of the world have a Christian heritage. Europe’s is dying, but goes back centuries. America’s is sputtering, but still giving missionary leadership to the world. The Church in Latin America and Africa is exploding–the southern hemisphere is the new center of global Christianity. Oceania has been Christian territory for two centuries
So this means that the Africans, Latinos and Islanders will be actively sharing their faith in our town of 100. Americans will support that, and the Europeans may come around. This bodes well for God’s purposes at this strategic time in history.
As a point of information, there are 50 women and 50 men in our town of 100. That’s good. Let’s hope that no other nations follow China’s one child policy that tends to allow more males to live than females.
In our town of 100, 47 live in the urban area and 53 live in the country. This appears quite balanced, but it has changed rapidly over the past fifty years as people have migrated to the cities. One hundred years ago, ninety of our folks would have lived in the rural areas and only 10 would have lived in the city.
It appears that God is bringing people to the cities not only to raise their standard of living, but also to introduce people to him. It is easier to reach people in the cities. This is how Mongolia was evangelized. A century ago, most Mongolians were nomadic and Buddhist. Then the Russian revolution created five major cities where over half the population now live. Since 1980, 100,000 Mongols have become Christians–primarily through the ease of evangelization in the cities.
Pray that the cities of the 21st century would become hot-beds of Christian community. In our town of 100, the 47 people that live in the urban center are key to reaching the other 53 for Christ.
Now let’s turn to the religious make-up of our town of 100. Here’s the breakdown: 33 are Christians (Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Anglicans, and other Christians), 21 Muslims, 13 Hindus, 6 Buddhists, 1 Sikh, 1 Jew, 11 of other religions, 11 non-religious, and 3 atheists.
As you can see, Christians are the largest group in our town at 33 and Muslims are second. In some ways, this explains the global War on Terror which essentially pits Christian civilization (The West) against those who accept the extreme teachings of Islam (jihad). It’s no wonder these issure are in the news every day. Half of our town contains the Christian-Muslim divide.
While it is important that the followers of Christ in our town protect our citizens and work for justice against those who would kill innocent people, it is even more important that our 33 Christians actively share the love and grace of Christ with our 21 Muslim neighbors.
Encouragingly, more Muslims have become Christians in the past two decades than in the previous one thousand years. This appears to be God’s time for a great Muslim harvest.
There are many other religions in our town–and 14 who don’t believe in God. My next book will discuss at length the religions of the world, where they came from, and how only one of them can be true.
I want our “town of 100” to be filled with the light of Christ.
And finally a few facts about economic conditions in our town of 100:
- 20 people own 75% of the wealth of the community.
- 14 are hungry or malnourished,
- 12 can’t read,
- 12 have a computer,
- 8 have an Internet connection.
- and 21 live on $1.25 or less per day.
While these statistics show the true inequities that exist in our town, the main reason for the differences is not because twenty people stole from the others. In our town of 100, the twenty wealthiest people are a product of Christian principles and ideas. Their wealth came from doing things God’s way–taking dominion over the earth and its resources through faith, creativity, free enterprise, godly character, and hard work. The Christian faith produced both Europe and the United States.
It is the Western nations with their Christian heritage that produce 75% of the global GDP. This didn’t happen at gun point or by theft. It was caused by superior ideas via the Christian worldview that created much wealth and prosperity.
Fortunately, the Christian faith and free enterprise are being exported all over the world during the 21st century. Middle classes are springing up in nations like India and China as they embrace these ideals for the first time in their histories.
In our town of 100 we need to reach out to the 14 that are mal-nourished, bring education to the 12 that can’t read, and bring Christ and his truths into the general culture to bring economic development and blessing to all.
This is what Jesus would want if the world were one hundred people.
Getting Bin Laden: What Should Be Our Response
I’m in Washington, D.C. this week for meetings that include the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 5. Sunday evening I went down to the front steps of the US Capitol where a group of friends were beginning a “Bible-reading Marathon” where the Scriptures are read out-loud from cover to cover over a three day period. We anointed the steps with oil and then the public proclamation of God’s Word began.
Four hours later, now comfortably in my quarters directly behind the US Supreme Court building, I heard the news that President Obama was to make an unusual Sunday night announcement from the White House–just ten few blocks away. I and the nation waited an hour for the president to appear. But before he did (the White House must have been scrambling), the extraordinary news leaked out.
Osama bin Laden was dead.
Forty-five minutes later, the president came on television and told the American people the details of what had happened to the mastermind of 911 who killed thousands of innocent American citizens on September 11, 2001–now nearly ten years ago.
We had gotten our man. Justice had been rendered.
What should be our response?
Here’s how Family Research Council described the significance of the event:
“Four months from now, when Americans unfurl their flags over 10 years of loss, the families of 9/11 can finally mark the anniversary with the assurance that the man responsible has finally met his Maker. Most of us were just sitting down to Sunday dinner while, a half a world away, U.S. forces were engaged in one of the most significant military operations since 2001.”
“After months of coordination with American intelligence officials, an elite team of Navy SEALs stormed Osama bin Laden’s million dollar hideout in suburban Pakistan. With high-ranking security and military personnel watching from a situation room thousands of miles away, the assault was fast and furious. Forty minutes later, President Obama got the news the world had waited two decades to hear: the reign of America’s most wanted terrorist was over.”
“In an operation that showcased the power and precision of the U.S. military, 22 people were killed or captured–Osama bin Laden among them. For years, brave men and women, whose names we will never know, laid down their lives to see this mission accomplished. Today, their sacrifice is not in vain. The United States has sent a message to the world that terrorists can run and hide, but America will not rest until they’re brought to justice.”
There was an incredible atmosphere in the capital city that night. Thousands came down to the White House to celebrate the news. New York City also saw spontaneous crowds show up at Ground Zero–as did other US cities.
As I watched the details unfold, and in the coming forty-eight hours pondered the killing of the world’s most wanted man, I kept asking myself the following question: What should be our response to the death of one of the most evil men of our time?
Here are some of my conclusions. The second-to-last point may surprise you:
First, we should be very grateful for the courageous and skilled men and women of our US armed forces who are protecting our liberties and who exacted justice by killing Osama bin Laden. The elite group of Navy Seals who carried out the mission were amazing in their preparation and success. Behind them were all branches of our armed services who have been gallantly fighting the War of Terror for over a decade in Afghanistan, Iaq, and other nations around the world. Thousands have given their lives in that cause.
Because of their commitment and competence, we are still the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”
I salute our mighty warriors on a job well done. Their work is not finished–the greater war remains. But an evil and charismatic figure who guided much of the mayhem of the last ten years has now been removed from the battle field. This is good news for the world.
A Hitler of our generation is gone.
Thank you US military.
Second, praise is due for the leadership of President Obama, his Administration, those of the CIA and other intelligence branches who didn’t take their eye off the ball in finding the world’s most famous terrorist.
The story is now unfolding on how this operation came into being over the past five months; Five briefings with the president; Plans drawn up to carry out the mission including building a replica of the bin Laden fortress in Abbottobad that would be the site of the siege; The go ahead finally given; The president’s senior team watching and monitoring the mission; The word “Geronimo” being uttered–code for “we’ve found Osama bin Laden” just before his life was taken; Identifying his remains by DNA testing; His burial at sea being sensitive to Muslim practices and the wisdom to not allow a land-based burial “shrine” for the prince of terror.
Good job President Obama and team.
Third, thanks are due to former president George Bush and his administration who faithfully launched America’s response to terrorism after President Clinton’s dithering. George Bush laid the groundwork for the death of UBL. He didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing the terrorist leader brought to justice on his watch, but without his laser beam focus and policies he inaugurated, the Obama Administration would probably not have succeeded.
We are now learning that President Bush’s so-called “harsh interrogation techniques” including water-boarding were vital to getting the information that led to Osama bin Laden’s death. So was the use of Guantanamo Bay as a staging ground for captured enemy combatants.
Let’s put to rest the nonsense about “water-boarding” being torture and Guantanamo Bay needing to be shut down. These techniques are not torture and Guantanamo is necessary.
Thank you President Bush and team for preparing the way for victory.
Fourth, we should be happy for the survivors of 911 and the families who lost loved ones who now have a greater sense of closure after the attack. As President Obama declared, “Justice has been rendered.” That justice cannot bring back a lost loved one, but it reminds us that human life is important and should be avenged when it is unlawfully taken.
I will be visiting New York on Friday and Saturday and look forward to praying and having a greater sense of closure myself at the sight of Ground Zero. I’m sure many will be joining me there this coming weekend.
We need to keep persevering in prayer for the freedom and renewal of Islam worldwide. President Obama said one thing on Sunday night that was not true when he intoned that we were not fighting against the Muslim faith. Yes we are. We are fighting against one form of this global religion that is probably supported by thirty percent of its adherents.
Jihad is not an extreme fringe of the Muslim faith. It is a central teaching to many. Even those who are “peaceful Muslims” must admit that the advance of Islam over the past thirteen centuries has primarily been linked to violence and bloodshed. It is not the exception. It is the rule–from the time of Mohammed to the present day.
Most Muslim people are not murderers. But some of Islam’s tenets support it. They need to be repudiated.
Let’s pray that the current volatility in the Middle East and other Muslim nations will lead to an honest examination of their faith and the total rejection of violence. This could be a day of great salvation for the Muslim world.
Fifth, I was very disappointed by the celebrating in the streets over the death of Osama bin Laden. Though it was good for the world that an evil man had been taken from us, I don’t believe we should giddily applaud the death of anyone–even a mass murderer. Life and death are serious–and should be looked at with self-examination and sobriety. The European response to bin Laden’s death seemed to be more appropriate: sober joy.
Here’s why. As I looked at the pictures of the young people celebrating in the streets of Washington, D.C., I was struck with this reality: We, too, will meet our Maker one day. We, like Osama bin Laden, will have to give an account for the life we’ve lived, the choices we’ve made. That’s where real justice meets each individual–without exception.
As I looked into their celebrating faces, I thought about their lives–and mine. Are they sleeping with their girlfriends and will have to give an account to God? Do they cheat on their tests? Have some of them also joined in Obama bin Laden’s sin by killing other human beings through having an abortion?
Murder is murder–despite the quantity. It’s worthy of death.
When true justice dispensed, it’s not just for dictators. It’s for all of us. We stand on equal ground condemned by the sinful lives we’ve lived either in word or deed.
We should soberly think about that–and repent–before we celebrate or point fingers. Our day is coming too. Are we right with God through faith in Jesus Christ which washes away our sins?
Finally, let’s truly give thanks to God that justice has been achieved in small measure through the death of Osama bin Laden.
The theme of this year’s National Day of Prayer is “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Let us celebrate his incredible holiness, justice, protection, and love.
That would be our wisest response.
Responding to Islam
The ninth anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks was solemnly remembered on Saturday. The Mosque-near-Ground-Zero debate and the possible burning of Qurans in Florida seemed to heighten the tensions all across our nation. President Obama pleaded for “tolerance,” and everywhere on the air waves people grappled with how to respond to Islam.
There are three clear responses we must make to Islam and Muslim peoples. If we fail at any of them, we and they will pay dearly for our mistake.
Before we look at those responses, let’s remind ourselves of the historical context. The clash of Western (Judeo-Christian) culture and Muslim civilization is one of the paramount struggles of the 21st century. It’s not a new battle, but it is new to us.
We have entered the era of the third jihad.
Gary Randall has written an excellent article on the triumphalism aspect of the Islamic holy wars. You can read that article by clicking here.
But now back to the brief history.
The first jihad started with Mohammad when his armies conquered all of Arabia. In the hundred years after his death, they subjugated most of the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. The first jihad lasted from 622 AD until 750 AD.
The second major jihad started in 1071 AD. Islamic armies toppled Constantinople and spread into Europe, India, and further into Africa. The second jihad began to decline when the Muslim army was stopped on September 11th, 1683 at the gates of Vienna, Austria. (Notice the interesting date of 9-11-1683.) Its remnants lived on until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
After that there was a sixty year lull in Islamic expansion. The Builder and Boomer generations grew up during this season of “Muslim quiet.” That’s why Islam was not on our radar screens. To us, the Muslim faith was a distant foreign religion of primarily poverty-stricken states scattered across the Middle East and Africa.
Then oil was found in Saudi Arabia. This launched the Wahhabiism era of the third jihad. Funded by petro dollars, militant Islamicists flexed their muscles once again, trying to remove Israel from Palestine and igniting a barrage of terrorism which continues to this day.
2740 Americans lost their lives on 9-11-2001 at the hands of the third jihad. The fight continues in America over building mosques and burning Korans.
What should be our Christian response? How should we react to increasing Muslim presence in our lives and world?
Let’s focus the question further. How does God want us to respond to Islam?
I believe there are three distinct categories of response.
First, there is our personal response to Muslim people. We are to love all people, including our enemies. This is the famous teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:43:48:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
The Sermon on the Mount was written for individual behavior, not the role of governments. As individual people, we are to love all people, including our enemies. We are never to take vengeance in our own hands or act as vigilantes. On the a personal level, we must love and forgive.
Why? Because on a personal level, God does the same thing. Our “Father in heaven” does not harbor selfish rage or bitterness. He does not stoop to the level of his race of rebels on earth. He is personally gracious toward the unworthy. On the Cross, Jesus even expressed forgiveness to those who were violently killing him.
We must be like him–and personally do the same.
As hard as it is, all the victims of 9-11 or any other even atrocity must personally choose to love their enemies. This keeps us from becoming like them and also provides motives for them to individually change. God wants all Muslim people to also come to repentance and faith. He wants to deliver them and set them free. Our personal loving acts toward them can be used by God to touch their hearts and bring them into the arms of the Savior.
As a follower of Christ, I must love all Muslims–including jihadists–when in personal contact with them. It is not my job as an individual to execute vengeance or justice. It is my job to try and win them for Christ through self-sacrificing love. He died for them as much as he died for me.
That’s why I agree with the cover story of a recent US Center for World Missions magazine that was entitled “Loving Bin Laden.” It was filled with numerous articles on how we must love Muslim people into the Kingdom of God. On a personal basis, it truly asked the question: How would Jesus personally treat Osama bin Laden?
The answer is that he loves him and died for him. As individual human beings, we must do the same to all Muslims that we meet.
But secondly, there is also a necessary governmental response to the third jihad. The government’s job is to protect its people by punishing evil-doers.This is the role of civil authority in a fallen world–to represent the justice of God on earth by bearing the sword on behalf of innocent people (Romans 13:1-8) . This is what makes the War on Terror so right and important. It is the responsibility of civil governments to bring criminals to justice and to defeat enemy armies. That is their God-given duty.
The same Jesus who tells us to personally love our enemies also instructs government to punish evil. He inspired both Matthew 5 and Romans 13. But his teachings apply to different domains.
Individuals are to love and forgive. Governments are to punish and protect.
Let’s stop confusing the two. President Obama, for one, is completely baffled on this issue. As a political leader that many consider very “intelligent,” he wrongly believes that the Sermon on the Mount cannot be squared with having a national military. That’s ridiculous. it doesn’t even meet the common sense test. We all know that as individuals, it is not our role to punish crime. That is the role of the governmental domain. Civil governments lock up criminals for the public good. National armies win wars to protect their people from evil.
The Bible doesn’t contradict itself. It just needs to be read in context and with common sense. The real Jesus who personally loves all people will also return one day in the role of a conquering King to exact governmental vengeance and justice against every form of evil (see Revelation 19).
Jesus knows he wears two different hats. One is his personal response toward sinners. The other is his governmental responsibility. Maybe Jeremiah Wright didn’t teach the difference at the Chicago church.
Thirdly, there is our philosophical response to Islam. The Muslim faith is a false religion. Even in its benign sense, it does not teach the truth about God or how human beings can be reconciled to him. In its moderate form it discriminates against women, and in its militant forms it rewards those who callously kill innocent people.
Islam is a false, deceptive ideology. We must firmly and politely expose and reject its false teachings on life and religion. We do not believe in relativity. There is truth and there is error.
This exposure of error includes the Quran. A few months ago I purchased a copy of the Quran because I hadn’t read it for over thirty years. I took the time to do so. I was again amazed at its poor writing style, bad grammar, historical errors, harsh attitude toward Jews and Christians, numerous ramblings, and open support of jihad (one hundred different verses).
Let’s stop apologizing for the “sacred writings” of Islam. There’s nothing sacred about them. In fact, probably one of the best things we could do in America is to encourage every person to read the Quran. If they did, they would purposefully reject the “recitations” (that’s the meaning of “Quran”).
Let’s not burn it. Let’s read it–and remind ourselves why we reject it. It doesn’t pass the muster of good literature, let alone Scripture.
To summarize, let’s be wise in our responses to Islam. On a personal level, let’s love all Muslims, including those who want to kill us. As citizens, let’s support our government and troops in winning the war against terror. And in the realm of literature and critical thinking, let’s civilly expose the falsehoods of an ideology that enslaves over one billion people.
If we respond rightly to Islam in these various ways, God’s love and power will be released to bring many Muslims into true “submission” (Islam” means submission) and his protection and blessings to our nation.
That will be wisdom for us and salvation for them.