Another Barna Poll and Women Making an Idol of Family

This poll from Barna, released over a year ago, but making its appearance again with a new article from Patheos, has me scratching my head and wondering why we're making the conclusion that women now put their families over their faith. Here's what the Barna president says about the study:

The president of Barna Group, David Kinnaman, offers this commentary on the research. “Some may interpret this research as a false choice: can women be asked to choose between their role as a parent and that of their faith? They see motherhood as core to what it means to disciple and be discipled. Others may conclude this study shows too many women have created an 'idol' of their family, perhaps at the expense of their devotion to Christ.

But then Barna states this in the study: 

Though women project a calm, confident exterior when it comes to their faith, the research suggests their spiritual lives are rarely their most important source of identity.

Can we really assert this conclusion from this study?

I'm not an expert in statistics, and I have not studied the poll at length. There are many things to discuss about it, but here are three things that stand out to me as  major concerns with this study.

1) Let's define Christian: This should be the first question with any of these Barna studies. If the pollster just asks, "Are you a Christian" or "Do you consider yourself a Christian?" without further explanation, we have a mixed bag already and perhaps we should take all Barna polls with a grain of salt.

The Patheos article seems to include Mormons as a viable option under the label Christian. No doubt  Mormons elevate family over EVERYTHING.

2) Is being a follower of Christ a "role?": How many of us think of being a Christian in these terms, or rather, do we think of the roles we have as flowing from who we are in Christ?  There is a HUGE difference between these two perspectives! I think the question is a tricky one, and that women who answer that their most important roles are being wives and mothers should not be assumed to be making an idol of their families. What if the question were posed as a multiple choice? "Out of the following roles, which do you consider most important?" No doubt we would see different results.

Consider this story from Joni Eareckson:

"What's the most important thing you do, Joni?" It was a press conference in Poland. My mind, like a computer, zipped through a list of possible answers: speaking...painting...writing...singing. I clicked off another list: campaigning against a euthanasia initiative on the state ballot, visiting cerebral palsied teenagers, delivering wheelchairs and Bibles to disabled people in Africa. 

All of this is significant to me. Especially since it means exhausting travel and long hours away from home. But what is most important to me? I smiled. Among all the options, I knew.

"Being a good wife to my husband." The group of twenty reporters chuckled. I guessed their thoughts. She can't be serious. Her books are in so many languages...she's speaking here in Poland and in other countries around the world. Surely she's being gratuitous...

Would any of us accuse Joni of putting her role as a wife before being a Christian, or is it clear to us that her role as a wife is so highly valued and made a priority BECAUSE she is a Christian and puts Jesus first?

3) Look around us: If anything betrays the assertion that Christian women have their highest priorities set on family, it's what we see before us every day. Our churches and our culture are so affected by feminism that we don't even recognize the signs anymore. I'm convinced that even many complementarians are really feminists at heart. Feminist ideology is in the air we breath, and we have to push back its lies every day and guard against their favorite question, "Did God really say?"


With love,
Trisha