My comments:
I too think Mary Eberstadt is very sharp and I always benefit from reading her. I agree with many of her points but our blanket embrace of “family” as instrumental in the transmission of the gospel to me sounds a bit idolatrous if we read both Scripture and more ancient history.
1. We need to own the filter that when we hear “family” we think of dad+mom+biological kids. This is a very limited, very post WWII view of family. I found this woman who was my great-great-grandfather’s sister. Single woman, raised two kids. What was “family” in the Roman world? In the age of the patriarchs?
2. This kind of thinking tends to have us imagine (especially in the CRC) that the gospel only spreads through this intact family system. Is that system when healthy beneficial? Certainly. But what about Saint Patrick the former slave? Where was the Apostle Paul’s family? What does Jesus say about family? Family can become as hindrance as well as a help.
3. Her view is actually quite secular in terms of how any religion spreads (at least from this article). Couldn’t the same be said of Islam or Mormonism? It seems she is giving us a sociology of religion rather than necessarily a specific Christian application.
I have come to believe that deep in the CRC psyche I received as part of the package was the assumption that “raising a child” the right way (church attendance, family devotions, Christian education, parental morality, etc.) insures that the church follow along in the faith and ideally the CRC. We all know that this formula does not “work” as does any “formula” for making cookies, but I was surprised at how deep my emotional attachment to this was.
I somehow imagined that with enough control, wealth, and power (because the system depends on all three) I could insure the outcome I desired.
While I deeply appreciate the spiritual benefits of faith-filled family life I also feel the pull of the idolatry that snuck into my heart. I need not depend upon God, I can do it myself. My faith shifted from trusting God for faith to trusting a sociology of religion approach.
I suspect the idolatry in my heart around these matters was received (via sociology of religion) from our CRC idolatries. We might consider his as stewards of our community.
While Eberstadt again is helpful on many counts, I fear the power of this piece might tend to reinforce the idolatry rather than challenge it.
Leadingchurch.com 