How Long Would It Take?

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I love springtime in Montana.

Blue skies, sunshine, forests, and mountains.

For those of you who are trying to scrape out a living in a big city, full of concrete, smog and cars, you can’t imagine what you are missing.

So I thought you might enjoy this clip from “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

It’s been Spring here in Montana for eight days, so I was excited to go outside in the morning and take in the glorious views.

I opened the door and stepped out on the front porch and saw … wait … where is the … I mean, it’s spring … there’s supposed to be green grass in my yard.

Green.

Grass.

My yard was covered with this white stuff. What do they call it?

Oh, yeah. Snow!

I’m a week into spring and there’s snow on my front yard.

A few hours later, the sun came out, blue skies appeared, and fluffy white clouds floated by.

And the green grass finally appeared.

I love spring in Montana.

On to the topic for this episode.

“How Long Would It Take?”

Easter is just a few days away and that made me think about the importance of sharing the Good News with people around the world.

I was wondering how long it would take for the entire population of the world to become Christians if each Christian led one person to the Lord every year.

It’s not difficult to become a Christian.

“… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 (ESV)

I know we have all this amazing technology in our world today but suppose we didn’t. Suppose we could only share the Good News by talking with someone face to face.

I went online to find out how many people are alive today. The “experts” say there are a little over 8 billion — billion with a “b” — that’s how many people are alive in our world today.

If there was only one Christian in the world and each Christian would only lead one other person to the Lord each year, how long would it take for 8 billion people to become Christians?

Eight billion is a big number.

It sounds like it would take a very, very long time.

Let me walk you through this.

The first year, the one Christian would lead one person to the Lord, so now there would be two Christians.

The second year the two Christians would each lead one person to the Lord, so now there would be four Christians.

The third year, the four Christians would each lead one person to the Lord, so now there would be eight Christians.

Oh. Oh. This is starting to look like a math problem.

I went to public school.

I can’t do math.

Oh, wait. I’m old. That means I went to public school back when they taught you how to do math. Okay, I can go on.

In the fourth year, the eight Christians would each lead one person to the Lord, so now there would be sixteen Christians.

This is going to take forever.

I mean I can do the math, but I don’t have time to do this until I reach 8 billion. I need another approach.

I’ve got it!

I’ll ask my friendly AI to do the work for me.

I asked my good buddy, ChatGPT, to solve the problem for me, and it graciously gave me the answer. If you check out my transcript for the episode, you’ll see a year-by-year chart.

ChatGPT
Starting with one person and doubling the population each year, it would take 33 years to reach or surpass 8 billion. Here is a year-by-year summary of the population growth:

Year 1: 2 people

Year 2: 4 people

Year 3: 8 people

Year 4: 16 people

Year 5: 32 people

Year 6: 64 people

Year 7: 128 people

Year 8: 256 people

Year 9: 512 people

Year 10: 1,024 people

Year 11: 2,048 people

Year 12: 4,096 people

Year 13: 8,192 people

Year 14: 16,384 people

Year 15: 32,768 people

Year 16: 65,536 people

Year 17: 131,072 people

Year 18: 262,144 people

Year 19: 524,288 people

Year 20: 1,048,576 people

Year 21: 2,097,152 people

Year 22: 4,194,304 people

Year 23: 8,388,608 people

Year 24: 16,777,216 people

Year 25: 33,554,432 people

Year 26: 67,108,864 people

Year 27: 134,217,728 people

Year 28: 268,435,456 people

Year 29: 536,870,912 people

Year 30: 1,073,741,824 people

Year 31: 2,147,483,648 people

Year 32: 4,294,967,296 people

Year 33: 8,589,934,592 people

After 33 years, there would be 8,589,934,592 Christians in the world, which, if my math brain still functions, is greater than the current population of the earth. 🌍🌎🌏

Just thought you’d like to know.

Before I go, I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.

“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)

Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today