THE IMMORALITY OF STATISTICS

I was up late the other night looking at pornography... statistics. I was also looking at statistics of alcoholism, divorce, substance abuse, and other statistics of immorality. In preparation for a sermon series titled DETOX: Living Clean in a Dirty World, I wanted to get a sense of our moral climate and provide the church with jaw-dropping statistics of immorality. My jaw-dropped. I was shocked by what I found.

As I Googled "statistics of immorality", I found an article titled The Immorality of Statistics. While we often have talks, discussions, and sermons highlighting different statistics of immorality, we hear too seldom about the sin of putting our trust in statistics.

You don't see a whole lot of explicit activity of Satan in the Old Testament (although he's surely there). But in 1 Chronicles 21, "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel." When David asked Joab to go count the number of Israelites, even Joab knew that it was evil in the sight of the Lord. He was reluctant, yet King David's word prevailed. And as soon as David received the statistics he requested, he realized the immorality of it. He cried out, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”

In those times, a man only had the right to count or number what belonged to him. Israel did not belong to David; Israel belonged to God. Yet taking the census and gathering the statistics would give David a sense of accomplishment, of pride, of security, and I'm sure, a sense of worth.

We love social media. We're addicted to it. However, a recent study by a group of researchers at the University of Michigan found that the more people spent time on Facebook, the more unhappy they were. One suggested reason for the unhappiness is a social-psychological phenomenon referred to as "Social Comparison". Basically, we compare ourselves to other people. The very thing that draws us to social media networks such as Facebook and Youtube, ultimately is the very thing that repels us and depresses us.

I love looking at your profile and learning of your achievements. I love checking out pictures of how cute your kids are. I'm curious as to who you ate dinner with and what you ordered for desert.

And then I hate you. I hate you because of your achievements, and how cute your kids are, and the fact that I wasn't with you at your dinner sharing that mile-high mud-pie with you.

But besides being crushed by how great someone else's life seems to be, I think we're often crushed by the statistics of it all. Why don't my pictures have as many likes? Why do I only have four comments? Why does she have so many friends? Why does he have so many followers?

The immorality of statistics goes beyond social media. It's found in our social circles:
"Why does he make so much money and I make so little?"
"I'm sure my car is worth more than hers."
"Why is their family blessed with so many kids I have none?"

It's found in the church:
"We've doubled our congregation in the past two years."
"Why is their ministry expanding, and we're still in the same building after 20 years?"
"Why do so many flock to that guy's teaching?"

Often at the root of our addiction to statistics is the toxin of "social comparison". How do my statistics look in the light of yours? We have faith in numbers. We believe that numbers define us and indicate our value.

We believe that our significance corresponds with great numbers.

We believe people's acceptance of us increases with greater numbers. 

We believe God is pleased and moved by our great numbers. 

Numbers aren't inherently evil. Beware the immorality of statistics.

Truth is, I do care how many people read this blog post and how many "like" it.

Truth is, it doesn't matter. My identity in Christ is still the same. My worth is still the same. My call is still the same. My capacity and competence in Christ is still the same... just as He is pleased to determine.