Most Americans Believe They're Sinners, but They Disagree on What to Do About It

Most Americans understand they are guilty of sin, according to a new survey by LifeWay Research.

Scott McConnell, executive director at LifeWay, says he was inspired to conduct the survey after seeing a group of religious people preaching and calling people sinners on the street outside a Nashville Predators hockey game. 

This led McConnell to question how many people really think of themselves as sinners. 

Overall two-thirds of Americans (67%) believe they are sinners, but five percent say they are OK with it. 

The survery showed the following: one third of Americans say they are sinners and are working on being less sinful; a quarter say they are sinners, but rely on Jesus to overcome their sin; and one in ten Americans say sin does not exist or that they are not guilty of sin; while fifteen percent prefer not to say if they are sinners at all. 

Certain areas of the U.S. feel differently about sin. 

1) People in the Northeast (9%) are more likely to be fine with being sinners than those in the South (5%) and the West (4%). According to the report they are also more likely to say that sin does not exist (14%). 

2) Evangelicals are more likely to say they rely on Jesus to overcome their sin (72%) than those who don't believe in anything. 

3) Those who do not have a religion are more likely to say that sin does not exist (32%) and one-in-ten say they are fine with being sinners, while 27 percent say they are working on overcoming their sin. Six percent say that they depend on Jesus to cleanse their sin. 

4) Members of non-Christian faiths are more likely to say they are not sinners (27%) than Christians (7%) and those who don't believe anything are at (6%). 

5) Catholics are more likely than Protestants to work at being less of a sinner (48% vs. 31%) and (11% vs. 5%) say they are not sinners, but they are less likely to say they depend on Jesus Christ to overcome sin (19% vs. 49%). 

6) Lastly Americans at the age of 18 to 44 are twice as likely as those who are 45 and older to say sin doesn't exist (14% vs. 7%).