When Statistics Aren’t Statistics

Most of us have heard the old adage that goes something like this: Figures can’t lie, but liars can figure.

I guess that this is supposed to encourage us to be discerning when we hear and/or read about various statistics. On one hand, the statistics we are looking at may be totally factual. On the other hand, somebody may be trying to twist or “interpret” them because they have an agenda.

Some statistics are, indeed, “just the facts.” Things like physical distances, population numbers, and a host of other things are just what they are. There doesn’t need to be any interpretation, explanation, analysis, etc.

However, when it comes to other matters, the picture may change entirely. We can find information about everything from some very personal matters to the opinions of others to voting preferences to health information to family dynamics to — you name it.  

These are the kinds of statistics I had in mind when I typed the title above. Please allow me to provide a few examples of what I mean. Statistics are available for (among many other things): 

• The number of people in certain age groups, lifestyles, genders, etc. who are likely to contract a particular illness.
  • The number of people who actually contract that illness will succumb to it.
  • The number of survivors who will have long-lasting, debilitating, effects.
• The number of marriages which will likely dissolve due to separation, abuse, and/or divorce.
  • The number of children who will be reared in what used to be called broken homes.
  • The number of spouses who will be left alone due to the actions/decisions of another.
• The number of people who will be “downsized,” “let go,” or otherwise terminated because of an arbitrary decision by an employer or merely because of economic factors.
• The number of lives that will be lost due to vehicle accidents. (What may not be included are the people affected in various ways.)
• The number of people who are or will be the primary caregiver for an elderly parent, a spouse, a child, or another relative. (This can be broken down into a variety of subcategories.) 
• The number of people who feel lonely, unwanted, and forgotten.

I think you get the idea. The list could go on and on.  

The reactions to statistics like these could be varied. There are those who might try to make some adjustments to their lifestyles in order to keep from being a statistic. Others may sort of choose to accept the inevitable. Others may be merely curious to learn about them. Of course, there will always be those who totally ignore statistics and merely “go on with their lives.”

May I suggest another reaction?  

What if we saw these statistics as something besides numbers? What if we realized that each number is a person? What if we realized that God wants His people to be those who reach out to others in order to help? Some statistics aren’t statistics.  Sometimes statistics are people!

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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn