Churches failing to preach about sin is a ‘bodyblow’ as many Christians reject basic teachings: Barna

September 8, 2025

A study from the Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University shows that a significant number of Christians reject basic teachings about sin, prompting a strong reaction from Evangelical researcher George Barna.

The Christian Post reports that the founder of the Barna Group and lead researcher at the CRC described the study’s findings as “a devastating bodyblow to the Church world.”

The study was the eighth installment of the 2025 “American Worldview Inventory” which features data from the responses of 2,000 U.S. adults queried in May 2025.

In that study, 84% of respondents agreed that “sin exists” and that “it is real.”

However, respondents were far less likely to agree with the statement, “I am a sinner.”

Barna attributed the lack of unanimous belief in Christian views about sin to a lack of discussion about the subject in U.S. churches.

Barna portrayed “taking refuge in the idea that other people have a sin problem, but they personally do not” or that “sin is an outdated concept” as “harmful strategies.”

“The job of the local church is to educate people about God’s ways,” he explained, adding, “Yet, a 2019 Pew Research study that analyzed sermon content across the nation determined that just 3% of all sermons preached even mentioned sin. That’s a devastating bodyblow to the Church world.”

According to the Christian Post, the researcher warned that “avoidance of teaching and accountability regarding sin can be quickly and easily rectified by those who seek to add value to the spiritual journey of the people they influence.”

Barna concluded that, “Allowing Americans to skirt around the personal implications of sinful living is a major disservice to the people they influence, and facilitates the continuing demise of American society.”

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