Wow. I couldn’t believe it.
It was right there in front of me in clear black and white text. I read it several times to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding. Yet I still found it hard to believe. The Alabama Baptist reported the results of a recent poll by George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
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Among other things, the poll found “widespread resistance to the idea that everyone is guilty of sin.” In fact, 48% of all adults surveyed — just under half — do not believe everyone is a sinner. Only 52% of adults classified themselves as sinners.
More disturbing was the finding that, among those who identify themselves as Christians, one out of three don’t believe everyone is a sinner.
This doesn’t make sense. If you don’t consider yourself a sinner, you don’t need a savior. Which means the death and atoning resurrection of Jesus for the redemption of sin was meaningless. I don’t understand how one can label oneself a Christian, but not accept the need for salvation. Redemption of sin was Jesus’ very purpose in coming to earth in human form. Identifying as His follower is based on that premise.
Then there is the notion that you can be without sin.
Essentially, you would be calling yourself perfect. Really? Never a bad thought? Never a capitulation to temptation? Never jealous, greedy, unjustly angry, selfish? Never?
I can understand why we struggle to comprehend some of the great revelations of the Bible. How God can be eternal and omniscient. How Jesus can be both God and man at the same time. How the universe can be created in six days. Our limited ability to understand makes us rely on faith to accept these truths. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord” in Isaiah.
Maybe denying our sinful nature is a way to rationalize our lifestyle — to make us feel better about ourselves. But even this is self-deception. Nothing feels better than the security of assuring our eternal future by acknowledging sin and accepting Jesus’ ability to wash us white as snow.
None of us is perfect. All of us are flawed. The most tragic flaw would be failure to admit to it.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ken Lass is a retired Birmingham television news and sports anchor and an award-winning columnist for numerous publications and websites.
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