Compare Where You Live

I just found an article on the MSN website detailing the 25 best, and 25 worst, countries to live in. Since I like to compare the US with the status of other countries I thought it would be interesting to see how we (the US) ranked in the overall scope of things.

The countries are thus arranged using data supplied by the United Nations’ Human Development Index (HDI) as they include and compare factors such as average income, life span and education. The listing here begins with the worst countries in numerical order (1-25), followed by the best countries in numerical order (1-25);

The Worst

Niger, Central African Republic (CAR), Eritrea, Chad, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Afghanistan, Senegal, Republic of South Sudan, Djibouti, Sudan, Benin, Haiti, Uganda.

The Best

Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China (SAR-Special Administrative Region), Liechtenstein, Sweden, United Kingdom, Iceland, Israel, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Luxembourg, Japan, Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, Slovenia.

While we compare the factors used by the UN, the first thing that struck me is that there is a major factor that’s left out of this article – the predominant religion of the country. Although there’s a huge difference between merely being religious versus being a Christian, religion plays a pivotal role in how people view life; their role in the universe and how they should conduct themselves. Individual personal convictions (religious or otherwise) will help to determine how people interact with others, it’s what motivates them in nearly everything they do. The influence of the church was undeniably a key to the success of the western world!

It should then come as no surprise that the most favorable places to live are (overwhelmingly) Christian – or at least post­-Christian. It’s also equally unsurprising that the least favorable places to live are (overwhelmingly) non­-Christian. When we compare the countries in this article and include the factor of religious influence, the pattern is, or at least should be, obvious.

This is just another example of the role we each play in how God wants to use us – each of us – to reach out to those He has placed in our sphere of influence. As we impact others for Christ, we help make the world a better place to live!