The 648,957,200th Richest Person in the World

I'm not exactly wealthy.

Of course, I have enough to eat every day, I can pay my heat and electricity bills, and my car, while a bit beat up, is still functional.

That's not quite enough to get me on the Forbes 400 list, but still, when I visited the Global Rich List, I found that I am the 648,957,200th richest person in the world-- in the top 10.8% of the approximately 7 billion people on this planet.

Just out of curiosity, I retried the experiment with my salary as a grad student, "making just enough to starve on." Even in my first year, when my stipend was considerably below the federal poverty line, I was in the top 14.17%.

I guess that's not too surprising, considering that "At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day" (GlobalIssues.org). The top 20% of people, of whom I've always been a part, are responsible for 76.6% of the world's consumption (GlobalIssues.org).

It's easy for statistics like this to make us feel guilty. Who are we to take up three quarters of the world's resources?

That is a valid question, of course, and I'm certainly trying to be aware of how much I consume and cut down on wastefulness. But I don't think we should feel guilty about the ways we have been blessed. We should be thankful for our blessings-- and we should consider how we can use them to bless others. After all, it is "more blessed to give than to receive." Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

In 1 Timothy 6:8, Paul writes, "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that" (NIV). I've definitely got plenty of both of those things, but not everyone does. In 3rd world countries, 1 in 3 children lacks adequate shelter, 1 in 5 lacks safe water, and 1 in 7 lacks basic health care (GlobalIssues.org).

We can't do everything, but we also aren't powerless. I think we often underestimate the impact of small sacrifices on our part. For the 80% of people living on less than $10 a day, even $10--the price of a pizza or a trip to the movies--can make a huge difference.

Those are sacrifices I can definitely afford to make. After all, I am the 648,957,200th richest person in the world.