America is a religious nation. Ninety-two percent of Americans believe in God. Eight-three percent believes in heaven, 82 percent believes in miracles, 72 percent believes that Jesus is the Son of God and 62 percent believes in the devil and hell.
These are just some of the results recently released by various polling services including the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Harris Poll and CBS Poll.
It should not be surprising then that a poll by Ellison Research in Phoenix earlier this year found that 87 percent of Americans believe in the concept of sin. For the purpose of the poll, sin was defined as “something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective.”
Every way the researchers examined their findings, the result was the same — the clear majority of just about every type group believes in the concept of sin. For example, 97 percent of black Americans said they believe in the concept of sin. For white Americans, 86 percent said they believe in sin; for Hispanics, it was 80 percent.
Among those who attend worship regularly, 94 percent believes in the concept of sin. For those who do not attend services regularly, 80 percent believes in sin. That is a surprisingly high percentage for people who do not reflect any concern about their lifestyle through church participation.
When the question switched from the concept of sin to which actions were considered sins, differences quickly emerged. For example, 100 percent of evangelical responders said adultery is a sinful behavior. Of those attending Protestant worship, 92 percent said adultery is sin, and for those attending Catholic worship, 82 percent labeled adultery as sin.
Racism was labeled sinful by 96 percent of evangelicals, 87 percent of Protestants and 79 percent of Catholics.
Having an abortion was considered sinful by 94 percent of evangelicals, 74 percent of Catholics and 72 percent of Protestants. Homosexual behavior was considered sinful by 93 percent of evangelicals, 72 percent of Protestants and 49 percent of Catholics. Getting drunk was considered sinful by 90 percent of evangelicals, 63 percent of Protestants and 28 percent of Catholics.
Lest one feels comfortable about the religiosity of our nation as evidenced by these poll results, it should be noted that at least three troubling signs are consistently revealed. One relates to the impact of culture on religious belief.
For example, in this writer’s youth, most Baptist churches taught that dancing was a sinful behavior. Today, according to the polls, only 8 percent of evangelicals label dancing as sinful. Drinking alcoholic beverages is another example. Baptists were expected to be teetotalers in previous generations, but today only 28 percent of evangelicals believe drinking alcohol is sinful.
When results are examined by age group, the impact of culture is also evident. Of those age 55 and above, 83 percent said adultery is sinful. The percentage of those age 35 and below who called adultery sinful dropped to 72 percent. The percentage that considers homosexual activity sinful dropped from 56 percent to 44 percent. The percentage that considers pornography sinful dropped from 57 percent to 42 percent.
Sexuality and sexual ethics are major issues in American society. They are part of the “culture wars” about which much is written. That younger Americans and younger evangelicals are more accepting of these behaviors than their parents and grandparents should be troubling to the church.
The poll reveals a second danger sign — inconsistency.
Sixty-nine percent of evangelicals said failing to take proper care of one’s body is sinful. Yet being significantly overweight was considered sinful by only 39 percent of that group and using tobacco was considered sinful by 47 percent. Medical research points out that being overweight and using tobacco are both harmful to the body.
If one believes that caring for the body is important, then it is logical to expect one to connect the dots and believe that healthy behaviors are also important.
Failing to tithe was labeled as sinful by 42 percent of evangelicals. However, the percentage of evangelicals who tithe is far smaller. Ask any pastor what percentage of the congregation he serves practices tithing, and the answer will be far less than 42 percent.
To be consistent, one would expect an individual who believes not tithing is sinful to practice giving 10 percent of his or her income to God’s work through the church.
Gambling was considered sinful by 65 percent of evangelicals, but only two-thirds of that number (43 percent) believes it is wrong to play the lottery, the most pervasive of all gambling activities.
When a significant portion of members disagree with church teaching as indicated in this poll, that is a problem.
When support of church teaching seems to be waning among younger members, that is a problem. When members seem unable to translate the implications of basic principles to individual behaviors, that is a problem.
All of these point to the third troubling sign raised by the poll — church teaching. No, not what the church teaches but how those teachings are communicated to members and the public at large. Obviously a better job must be done to communicate the timeless truths of the Bible including its values and ethics. A new emphasis must be made to help members understand the impact of belief in the concept of sin on individual actions.
Perhaps that will mean more listening and less pronouncements. Perhaps that will mean helping members understand how beliefs in a concept work out in what one does each day. Perhaps it will mean more relational learning experiences (small groups and mentoring) and less emphasis on large group experiences. Perhaps it will mean more evidences of grace and forgiveness and less judgment and condemnation.
One thing is sure. Until the church does a better job with its teaching ministry, we will not do a better job of overcoming the inconsistencies in the behaviors of members or a better job in combating the influence of secular society on the actions and attitudes of people.
It is encouraging to know that 87 percent of Americans believe in the concept of sin. Now the church must do more to help people understand more about sins.
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