What Is Sin?

Overwhelming Belief

Over 99% of evangelicals believe in the concept of sin, even though this belief is not what part of what defines them as evangelicals.

So we know almost all believers agree sin exists. But what defines it? What is sin, and what isn’t?

Where Most Evangelicals Agree

There are 13 different behaviors which at least three out of four evangelicals consider to be sin. These include antisemitism, gossip, abortion, consuming pornography, sex before marriage, and racism. (A full list is explored in the report itself.)

Where they are split

Evangelicals are much more divided over four of the areas we tested. A majority (62%) consider gambling to be sinful, although that’s certainly not an overwhelming proportion. Believers are really split over whether it is a sin to smoke marijuana (49%) or not take proper care of your body (51%). And while 39% feel using tobacco is sinful, on most other behaviors evangelical thinking is substantially less divided.

Go ahead and do it

Then there are the behaviors which two-thirds or more of evangelicals consider not to be sinful. This includes not giving 10% of your income to church or charity (34% say this is a sin), consuming alcohol (31%), not attending worship services regularly (30%), working on the Sabbath (27%), and being significantly overweight (26%). Finally, although movies such as Dirty Dancing paint religious folk as opposing dance, only 6% of evangelicals feel dancing is sinful.

There’s much more detail and nuance in the full report. What Is Sin? Evangelical Beliefs and Behaviors is free by request – just e-mail ron@greymatterresearch.com.

Do as I say, not as I do

On two of the behaviors we measured, we also learned from evangelicals what they actually do – not just what they believe. Unfortunately, it appears many evangelicals are not following what they espouse.

Among believers who say it is a sin not to tithe, only 14% gave even close to one-tenth of their household income to church or charity. In fact, among these people, it’s actually twice as common to have given nothing at all to church/charity (27%) as it is to be a tither. This means three out of every ten evangelicals believe it is a sin if they fail to tithe, but they fail to tithe.

Three out of ten evangelicals believe failure to attend worship services regularly is sinful. Among those people, 36% do not typically attend services once a week, including 24% who do not attend even once a month.

Logically, one is led to extend this attitude to other sins. How many evangelicals fully believe sex outside of marriage, telling “little white lies,” or getting drunk are sinful, yet they knowingly engage in those behaviors anyway?

Get the New Report

Learn all the details in our new report What Is Sin? Evangelical Beliefs and Behaviors, from Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts. It’s a study of over 1,000 evangelical Protestant adults. (For a free copy, simply e-mail ron@greymatterresearch.com.)

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