Would you believe that 82 percent of American adults believe they are spiritually mature? Would you believe that 81 percent of American adults believe they are living the simple life? Survey results released in October by the George Barna Institute reported just that. I'm sorry but I couldn't help laughing when I read these results.

How can you read this kind of stuff and not break out laughing? By the way, the percentage of people who believe they are spiritually mature and living the simple life is roughly the same as claim to be Christians in our society. What a confused day and age we live in.

I'm reminded of a sermon I once read where the pastor, responding to the lack of faith in sin with many people, said if Jesus had been crucified today his thoughts might be “if there is no sin in the world, then what in the Hell am I doing up here?”

As greed has driven the world economy into deep recession, the country's divorce rate still hovers around 50 percent, and one of the few sales going up are for guns, it's nice to know we all are so spiritually empowered.

Perhaps we shouldn't be to hard on ourselves. As the following quote from James 4:1-10, from the New International Version, of the Bible shows, people have had difficulty doing an accurate spiritual accessment of themselves for a long time

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.