Three Great American Sins

"Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you." (Ps. 67:5, read all of Psalm 67)

Psalm 67 was read annually at the feast of the harvest by the Hebrew people. We know that celebration as Pentecost. And while it celebrates the gathering of a literal physical harvest, ultimately God was talking about the harvesting of the people groups of the world. Bible scholars now understand that "nations" in all of the scripture does not refer to geo-political boundaries like England, or China, or the U.S., but to the "ethne", the people groups of the world, all of them.

This psalms speaks of the greatest good that is described in the Bible, God getting the glory He deserves. And it describes it happening among all of the people groups of the world. John Piper says that the central aim of his life is best summarized this way, "The supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ." "The supremacy of God in all things" speaks of appropriate and true worship. "The joy of all peoples" speaks of mission. "Through Jesus Christ" speaks of the only way it can happen.

To the degree that anyone or anything takes God's rightful place in our lives we are guilty of idolatry. So to fail to make God supreme in all things in our lives is to be guilty of idolatry. To the degree that we are not concerned that all peoples give God glory, we are guilty of blasphemy. To the degree that anything deters us from making God famous in all the earth, we are guilty of blasphemy. To think that there is a way other than through Jesus Christ for this to happen, we are guilty of heresy. Surveys of the people sitting in the pews of churches across America today suggest that as many as 57% of those claiming to be evangelical think that someone can worship God through some other source than Christ.

I would suggest based on this that idolatry is the number one sin in America, that blasphemy is a close second. And multitudes of American church goers are either heretical in their belief system, or close. Where do you fit in this?