Weย live in an era oblivious to moral reality, we assume, in which people are relativists, at best, andย complacently immoral at worst. ย And yet our social media and political discourse is rife with virtue signalling, righteous indignation, and politically-correct moralism. ย This suggests that the moral realm retains its force, despite the efforts to alter its content.
But now a LifeWay study has found that two-thirds of Americans (67%) admit that they are out-and-out sinners.ย Only 5% say that they are fine with that.
Just over a third (34%) say they are working on being less sinful. ย Just over a fourth (28%) say they rely on Jesus to overcome their sin.
Only one in ten Americans (10%) believe that sin doesnโt exist. ย That is slightly more than the percentage who deny that they are sinners (8%).
โNonesโโthose who claim they have no religionโare more likely to say that sin does not exist (32%). ย Among Americans aged 18 to 44 , 14% deny that sin exists.
Confirming the Reformation, 48% of Roman Catholics say that they work at being less ofย a sinner, with only 19% saying that they rely on Jesus. ย Of Protestants, 31% claim to be working on their sins, with 49% saying that depend on Jesus.
See the article on the studyย in Christianity Today.ย For the original LifeWay findings go here.
I wonder how much of this belief in oneโs own personal sin is really just a version of the humility signalling excuse that โnobody is perfect.โ ย Is this true conviction of sin, as in the devastating complacency-destroying hammer of the Law? ย Are people living in guilt, shame, and fear of Godโs eternal judgment? ย I somehow donโt think so.
But the study is evidence that the moral nerves are still firing at some level. ย And that not only moral categories are still alive, but so is the religiously-tinged notion of โsin.โ
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Painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, โAllegory of Law and Graceโ (1529), ย [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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