This tsunami report caused me to think about how we subconsciously weigh the value of others according to our own values:

A Christian Freedom International coworker reporting from Indonesia informs of hundreds of minority Christians in need of food, clothes, and shelter on mostly Christian Nias. Ahtought the report is sketchy at best here is what was received by CFI headquarters in Front Royal, Virginia:

“I have contacted Christian friends in Gunung Sitoli, Nias Island, a few minutes ago” said a CFI coworker (name cannot be given for security reasons in this mostly Muslim nation). “They told me that the areas that are severely damaged in Nias are Sirombu and Mandrehe (western part of Nias Island). They have found 70 bodies (most of them Christian) and more than 100 missing. He said that at this time the things that they need are: food, clothes and shelters.

The report is from an organization whose purpose is to stand up for Human Rights for Christians around the world. Did the account move me? Absolutely, but it also made me consider why I was moved. Consider the following statements:

1. People were killed and the survivors are in serious danger.
2. Children were killed and the survivors are in serious danger.
3. Christians were killed and the survivors are in serious danger.

Each statement accurately describes the situation on Nias Island, yet each has a different effect on me, at least until I honestly consider what (or whom) the subject of each sentence really includes. At that point, they become equivalent.

Being human, we are naturally more sympathetic toward people we know or at least relate to. I usually suffer a few moments of sadness when I read news about someone committing suicide. When a family friend called my wife this week and shared that her father had taken his own life, we were shocked and remain saddened by her loss.

For me, the most touching part about this specific report is not that the inhabitants are Christians but that they are being mostly neglected by the humanitarian action in the region:

Dear friends of CFI, the thing that we also have to consider is that when a lot of people give their attention to Aceh they also forget about Nias Island in North Sumatra. This is also the area that was severely damaged by tsunami and it looks like they are forgotten by everyone. FYI, most of the people in Nias are Christian (95%) and they are very very poor. Please pray for the Christian people in Nias.

I agree that it is a very natural response for Christians to be concerned about the well being of other Christians on the other side of the globe. However, after considering the ramifications of death, I find myself to be leaning toward the opposite opinion. The life of a heathen is of more value than the life of a Christian.

I do not wish death or hardship upon anyone - yet I believe Philippians 1:21 and for those who know Jesus, "to live is Christ and to die is gain." Contrast that to the finality that death brings to every lost soul. With nearly 150,000 dead in a region dominated by Islam, Hinduism and Animism, it is a sad fact that the majority of these are now eternally separated from God.

I'm not suggesting we abandon the Christians; relief efforts need to be directed toward every individual it can possibly be delivered to. I'm just pointing out that every lost person save from physical death is given more time to possibly find Jesus.