A global survey has revealed some startling statistics about the distribution of wealth in our world. The upshot of it is that if you have $2,200 in assets right now, you are in the top half of the world’s wealthiest people. To be in the top 10% you need just $61,000. And if you have $500,000 you are in the 1% bracket.
Half the world, on the other hand, lives on just $2.00 a day–less than a latte at Starbucks. Our country, with 6% of the world’s population, has 34% of the world’s wealth.
The question I’d like to pose this morning concerns whether those are facts of which we should be proud or ashamed. In this "season of giving," we’ll spend more on Christmas crud than the rest of the world has to live on. Something is seriously out of whack.
Given that Jesus was born in a barn to a family so poor they couldn’t rub two drachmas together, it says something about our faith, too. How willing are we to share our abundance with those who need help just to survive? How willing are we to identify with the poor? How much concern do we have for those living in third world countries whose standard of living is less than what people lavish on their pets in this country?
It’s something to think about and pray about this Christmas…
