While the share of Americans identifying as Christian has dropped from 78% to 62% since 2007, a whopping 83% of us still believe in God or a universal spirit, according to Pew Research Center.
We’re less tied to church pews, that’s for sure. Less than half of Americans now say religion is “very important” in their lives. Yet, 79% of us believe there’s a spiritual reality beyond what we can see and touch.
So, we’re a nation of spiritual freelancers, navigating ancient beliefs in a modern world. But what if the Bible’s ‘ultimate offenses’ aren’t just about ancient rules, but are, in fact, a startlingly accurate reflection of our most modern anxieties, backed by today’s data?
Worshipping modern idols over God
The first rule in the Ten Commandments is pretty direct: “You shall have no other gods before me”. In ancient times, that meant steering clear of golden calves. Today, idolatry is a bit more subtle—it’s about prioritizing anything over a higher spiritual connection.
So, what are our modern golden calves? A Lifeway Research study asked U.S. pastors that exact question. The number one idol they see in their congregations is “comfort,” with 67% of pastors flagging it as a significant influence. Right behind it were control or security (56%) and money (55%).
Theologian Timothy Keller put it perfectly. He said, “An idol is anything more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. Anything you seek to give you what only God can give”.
Committing murder in your heart
“You shall not murder” seems like an easy one for most of us to follow. But Jesus took it a giant leap further. He taught that if you’re even consumed by anger toward someone, you’ve already committed a kind of murder in your heart.
On the surface, we’re doing well with the literal command. Homicide rates in major U.S. cities actually dropped by 17% in the first half of 2025 compared to the year before. That’s fantastic news.
But what about that “heart-level” murder Jesus was talking about? The anger, the contempt, the seeing-other-people-as-the-enemy stuff? That seems to be thriving.
As Martin Luther King Jr. wisely said, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars… Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that”.
Betraying trust through adultery
The Bible is crystal clear on this one: “You shall not commit adultery”. But again, Jesus pushed the boundary from a physical act to a matter of the heart. He said that even looking at someone with lust is a form of betrayal.
And modern data shows he was onto something big. When it comes to physical affairs, about 20% of men and 13% of women admit to it. But what about that “adultery of the heart”? When you include emotional infidelity—secret online relationships, intense “friendships”—the numbers skyrocket to roughly 45% of men and 35% of women.
Psychologists Audrey Blow and Kelley Hartnett define infidelity as any “sexual and/or emotional act… [that] constitutes a breach of trust”. That breach of trust is the core of the offense.
Stealing more than just property
“You shall not steal” is the Eighth Commandment. Theologically, it’s not just about taking stuff. It’s seen as a sin against God’s providence—a deep-seated sign that you don’t trust that you’ll be provided for.
Of course, the “taking stuff” part is still a huge problem. A burglary occurs every 26 seconds in the U.S., resulting in an estimated $3.4 billion in property losses each year.
But the act of stealing violates something more profound than just property rights. As the great author Toni Morrison wrote, “Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another. ” Theft violates a person’s sense of security and self.
Bearing false witness in the age of misinformation
The Ninth Commandment says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”. Initially, this was about lying in court. But its broader meaning is about avoiding lies that tear apart the fabric of your community.
And it turns out, we’re a nation of liars. The average American tells about 11 lies per week. According to the National Institutes of Health, in a typical 10-minute conversation, 60% of adults will lie an average of three times. We lie to impress people, to avoid trouble, to protect feelings.
Philosopher Sam Harris pointed out the exhausting work this requires: “Unlike statements of fact, which require no further work on our part, lies must be continually protected from collisions with reality”.
Letting pride become your downfall
In Christian tradition, pride is often called the “original sin”—the one that led to all the others. It’s the sin that supposedly turned Lucifer, the highest angel, into Satan. Theologically, it’s an “excessive love of one’s own excellence”.
It’s putting yourself in the center of the universe where God should be. This ancient spiritual problem has a modern, clinical name: Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). And it’s surprisingly common, with studies estimating that up to 6% of the general population has it.
The condition is marked by an inflated sense of self-importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. Sound familiar? As leadership expert Ezra Taft Benson said, “Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right”.
Succumbing to an insatiable greed
Greed is defined as a “disordered love of riches”. It’s a form of idolatry that the Bible warns against repeatedly, from the Ten Commandments’ prohibition on coveting to Jesus’s famous warning that you “cannot serve both God and money”.
This isn’t just a personal vice; it’s a sin whose consequences are now written across our entire economic landscape. The data on wealth inequality in the U.S. is the clearest picture of systemic greed you’ll ever see. The top 1% of American households now own 30% of the nation’s wealth. The bottom 50%? Just 2.5%.
As Mahatma Gandhi famously put it, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed”. The numbers don’t lie. They paint a portrait of a society where the “disordered love of riches” has created a profoundly disordered reality for tens of millions of people.
Sowing discord and tearing people apart
Here’s an offense the Bible says God literally “hates.” Proverbs 6 lists “one who sows discord among brothers” as one of the seven things that are an abomination to the Lord. It’s the act of deliberately causing conflict and shattering unity. In 2025 America, sowing discord isn’t just a sin; it’s a political strategy and a business model.
The data on our division is stark. Pew Research shows that 92% of Republicans are now to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican. The ideological overlap between the parties has virtually vanished.
The philosopher Bertrand Russell warned about this exact danger. “Social cohesion is a necessity,” he wrote. A community can be destroyed by “the growth of individualism… that makes cooperation impossible”.
Turning your back on faith
In theological terms, this is called apostasy: the “abandonment or renunciation of Christianity by someone who formerly was a Christian”. It’s a conscious decision to walk away from the faith you were raised in.
For centuries, this was a deeply personal and often hidden act. Today, it’s one of the most significant demographic shifts in American history. The share of U.S. adults who are religiously unaffiliated—the “nones”—has soared from 16% in 2007 to 29% today, according to data from the Pew Research Center. That’s a massive cultural change.
Even more pointedly, a complete 35% of American adults no longer identify with their childhood religion. That’s about 90 million people who have actively “switched” away from their faith. This journey is often filled with doubt and questioning. The pastor Ray Ortlund reflects, “My capacity for belief is not measured by my certainty but by my need.”
Committing the one “unforgivable” sin
This one sounds terrifying. Jesus speaks of a single, “unforgivable sin”: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. For centuries, people have worried they might have accidentally committed it. But what is it, really?
Across Christian denominations—from Catholic to Baptist to Presbyterian—the consensus is that this isn’t about saying a bad word or committing a terrible act. It’s a final, settled, and persistent rejection of God’s grace—a state of heart so hardened that you look at a clear work of God and call it the work of the devil.
Interestingly, the fear of this sin has a name in modern psychology: scrupulosity. It’s a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that focuses on religious or moral worries. Studies estimate that over 2% of people experience OCD, and a full third of them suffer from scrupulosity. That means about 1 in every 150 people may be struggling with this intense anxiety.
Key Takeaway
So, what’s the bottom line? These ancient “offenses” are less a list of divine rules and more a profound commentary on the human heart. They reveal timeless struggles with pride, greed, division, and betrayal that are not only relevant today but are now measurable through modern data.
From economic reports on wealth inequality to psychological studies on narcissism and political polls on polarization, the data show us one thing clearly. The issues the Bible raised thousands of years ago are the same ones topping our news feeds today.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information. It is not intended to be professional advice.
Disclosure: This article was developed with the assistance of AI and was subsequently reviewed, revised, and approved by our editorial team.
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