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Surveys of Spiritual Issues
God gives us abundant opportunities to trust Him, know Him, serve Him, and seek to imitate Him as we respond to the issues facing America and the world. Our Lord teaches us that preaching and action must be relevant to the issues of greatest concern; see, e.g., https://reformedwiki.com/verses/relevance/niv. Below (and at http://tinyurl.com/top15issues) is a summary of issues that most trouble Americans at this time. The first table below shows how behaviors often rooted in sin may cost Americans more than $26 Trillion per year. The second table shows results from Gallup surveys detailing what issues make Americans worry. Obviously, stress and relational consequences of sin can be far greater than the economic costs. Fortunately, we have solutions available through Christ and the institutions He put in place to love and protect us according to models in God’s Word. See more about solutions in the "Spiritual Solutions" tab of this website.

Problems Quantified by Economists

Problems Ranked by Gallup

Gallup Ranking Cost to Americans Yearly Problem Endnote
  $435,000,000,000 01 Administrative Law 01
  $105,000,000,000 02 Civil Lawsuits 02
14 $1700,000,000,000 03 Crime 03
15 $53,000,000,000 04 Foreign aid corruption 04
  $100,000,000,000 05 Fraud: Health Care 05
2 $233,333,333,333 06 Governmental Disruptions 06
7 $174,000,000,000 07 Gun-related violence 07
11 $300,000,000,000 08 Immigration 08
  $39,000,000,000 09 Incarceration costs 09
13 $53,000,000,000 10 Ineffective family law system 10
  $64,000,000,000 11 Racial Discrimination 11
  $63,500,000,000 12 Recidivism 12
  $353,000,000,000 13 Regulations: EPA 13
  $840,000,000,000 14 Religious Discrimination 14
  $250,000,000,000 15 Tort litigation 15
  $165,000,000,000 16 Unjust/Inefficient Food Distribution 16
  $676,800,000,000 17 Interest on consumer debt at 6% 17
2 $500,000,000,000 18 Interest on federal debts 18
  $105,000,000,000 19 Interest on state debts at 6% 19
1 $175,000,000,000 20 Regulations: Federal 20
6 $1,000,000,000,000 21 Taxes - "Excess Burden" caused by taxes 21
  $168,000,000,000 22 Unfunded state pensions at 6% 22
  $92,000,000,000 23 Waste: Gambling losses 23
  $224,000,000,000 24 Disease: Alcoholism 24
  $203,000,000,000 25 Disease: Alzheimers 25
  $225,000,000,000 26 Disease: Cancer 26
  $109,000,000,000 27 Disease: Heart 27
  $200,000,000,000 28 Disease: Mental 28
  $112,000,000,000 29 Divorce 29
  $576,000,000,000 30 Illness: Causing Work Absense 30
5 $500,000,000,000 31 Poverty 31
8 $40,000,000,000 32 Corruption of ethics 32
  $484,000,000,000 33 Disease: Drug Abuse 33
12 $4,500,000,000 34 Educational failures: college 34
  $1,000,000,000,000 35 Illiteracy 35
  $71,000,000,000 36 Lack of Health Training 36
  $200,000,000,000 37 Lack of Sex Ed: Abortion 37
16 $300,000,000,000 38 Lack of teamwork 38
4 $520,000,000,000 39 Unemployment 39
9 $200,000,000,000 40 Unnecessary health costs 40
  $1,600,000,000,000 41 Bad Customer Service 41
  $5,900,000,000,000 42 Angry Customers 42
  $3,000,000,000,000 43 Bad Data Problems 43
  $1,500,000,000,000 44 Communication Problems (10 Years) 44
  $26,188,133,333,333 Total Annual Cost to the Economy  

Medical, spiritual and legal problems afflict families because of the lack of
  • family medical clinics
  • family counseling centers
  • family law centers