Conflicting Studies Regarding Young Women And Christianity

 

Among the Gen Z and Millennials surveyed, there seems to be conflicting studies regarding young women and Christianity as one study from the Survey Center on American Life makes it appear that there is more unbelief among Gen Z and millennial women than there is among men of the same generations [1] and while the American Survey Center does give insight as to what is causing women of the Gen Z and Millennial generations to reject Christianity and those causes need to be actively addressed, the study may not be giving the entire picture as to the receptiveness of Gen Z and Millennial women towards Christianity.  If we are to just simply rely on the study from the Survey Center on American Life, we would get the impression that the spiritual gap between Gen Z/Millennial men and women is quite significant, but according to a study from the Barna research group, the spiritual gender gap between Gen Z/Millennial men and women is not that extreme (6 percentage points) [2]
 
Granted that there has been a sharp increase in men of the Gen Z and Millennial generations coming to faith in Christ Jesus, the Barna study shows that there is also a rise in women of those same generations coming to faith as well albeit the rise in faith among women is not as sharp or dramatic as it is among men but some increase in faith is better than no increase at all and if the trend continues upward, Gen Z and Millennial women will eventually catch up with their male counterparts but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t barriers that need to be addressed and if addressed properly, we may very well see Gen Z and Millennial women become every bit as receptive to Jesus as the men of those generations.
 
The Survey Center on American Life stated that the following reasons they believe why Gen Z and Millennial women may not be as receptive to faith in Christ as men are to due to the following:
 
 
 
1.  More Gen Z and Millennial women are college-educated than men (only most of them are not really receiving an honest education but an indoctrination filling their heads with lies and poisoning them against the faith and this hasn’t affected just women by the way, but college-educated men as well)
 
2.  There is concern among women of unequal treatment in American society despite the fact that there are laws and Constitutional amendments in place that were designed to ensure that they are treated just as fairly as men, granted the same rights as men, and under the same standards as men.
 
3.  They have a distrust of institutions that uphold traditional social arrangements and that does include the Church; traditional and conservative minded congregations in particular.
 
4.  Churches do not treat both men and women equally.
 
5.  Many theologically conservative congregations do not allow women to serve in positions in leadership
 
6.  The issue of abortion is an obvious issue [3]
 
 
 
And how does the Church go about addressing these issues from a biblical perspective?
 
 
 
1.  Undoing the lies that have poisoned minds and have hardened hearts against the faith which is why apologetics (presenting a defense or a case for faith) is vitally important (2 Cor. 10:41, Pet. 3:15, Jude 3) because there are a lot of intellectual, philosophical, and even theological barriers that have kept multitudes blind to the truth of the Gospel message and if there is to be any hope of persuading them to come to Christ, those barriers have to be broken down in their minds and hearts and I am not about to go into what all of those barriers are; I’ll save that for another post.
 
2.  Any who believe the lie that the Church does not treat men and women equally probably haven’t been to church and so they have this stereotype implanted in their minds by academia, the media, social media (the wrong influencers and platforms by the way) and even the entertainment industry or if they were, they were given a very poor sampling of what the body of Christ is like as a whole as every congregation that I’ve been a part of and have attended treated everyone equally in accordance to scripture.  It also needs to be said that equality began with God (Num. 15:16, Acts 10:34, Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11) and if anyone is being treated differently or subjugated to a different standard than everyone else due to the color of their skin, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, economic or social status, then that is ungodly and needs to stop.
 
3.  Don’t tell a woman what her place should be in society.  That needs to be left between her, God, and if she is married or desires to get married, her husband or prospective husband.  Just as no two men are entirely like, no two women are entirely alike either as every woman has instilled her a set of interests, passions, gifts, and talents in accordance to her respective God given purpose.  Some women are perfectly content with being full time homemakers while there are others who feel a need to be more than just a wife and mother and if women are to be full time keepers of the home, then they need to do so out of a sense of personal conviction and because that is where they find their fulfillment and not due to societal or cultural pressure.
 
If women are taking up homemaking for any reason other than a heartfelt desire to do so and a sense of personal conviction, then it only becomes a drudgery to them instead of a role they enjoy and find contentment in and that goes for being an active participant in the workforce or in pursuit of a career.  As long as women are setting their sites on occupations and work that is honoring to God and beneficial to society, they should not be kept from pursuing their respective dreams and ambitions.  God has given women, as well as men, gifts, talents, and skills in accordance to each respective purpose and He expects women, just as He expects men, to put what He has instilled in them to the best use possible. (Mt. 25:14-30)
 
 
4.  Now as for leadership roles, that is a difficult one and not a subject that I intend to delve deeply into on this post except to say that the reason why not many women are placed in Pastoral positions is because the Apostle Paul himself did not permit a woman to hold authority over men in the Church but it needs to be made clear that the passage that is used to justify denying women positions of leadership within much of the Church, according to its context, is not a direct prohibition from God but was Paul’s own personal judgment; the reasoning for which he explains:
 
 
 
I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence.  For Adam was first formed, then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1 Tim. 2:12-14)
 
 
 
It is a passage that has been commonly misconstrued to be a direct prohibition of God for women to take on Pastoral roles but nonetheless, it is Paul’s reasoning why qualified men should be the first to be sought out for Pastoral roles before calling upon women and even if it were a direct prohibition from God, that does not mean that women are excluded from teaching or leadership roles entirely.  God does give some women the gift of leadership just as He does to some men which can be useful in event planning and organization, worship leading, and in heading outreach endeavours in their respective communities.  It must also be noted that scripture calls upon older women who are more established in the faith to disciple younger women who may not be as experienced (Titus 2:4) Women can also be called upon to lead congregations in prayer and if they have the gift of prophecy, to share a word that they have received from the Lord. (1 Cor. 11:5)
 
5.  There is always the obvious issue of abortion and this the most difficult of all to address because abortion is the killing of a human being and constitutes as murder.  It is an issue that the Church cannot compromise on but does have to remain firm in opposing even at the risk of women setting themselves at enmity with the faith because it is the displeasure of Christ we need to fear even more than the displeasure of women (Mt. 10:28) because it is Christ, not women, who is going to be handing out the final sentence and final rewards and honors to each and every one of us according to all that we have done in this life which will determine the nature of our eternity and where we spend it for it is better to offend some with the call of repentance for a season with the hope of them later having a change of mind and heart and coming to Christ but as we call women to turn away from abortion, and that is just one of many things they need to be called away from, we need to do so in love, compassion, and understanding. 
 
We need to present to them not only a biblical case against abortion and to help them to view the lives of the unborn from the perspective that God presents in His Holy Word, but we also need to actively counter and undo the lies that the abortion lobby has told and spread as best we can and those who would be the best at changing the hearts and minds of women who might otherwise pursue an abortion and who will be the best at persuading those of them who have yet to do so to humbly come to Christ Jesus in repentance are pro-life women who are devout followers of the Lord.  If there is anyone who needs to be at the forefront of the pro-life movement and even leading it, it is pro-life women who need to be leading it because it is women who are best able to relate to issues pertaining to women, but that is not to say that men shouldn’t have a voice in the pro-life movement---their voices are needed in it too---but I am saying that it is women within the movement who need to be the leading voices within it.
 
The gender gap between men and women began spiritually before it ever took place politically and it is a gap that needs to be closed up as much as we possibly can and it is a gap that God never intended to exist between men and women because He had created them to be in perfect unity with each other just as He made us all to be in perfect unity with Him.
 
Genesis 2:18-25 states that the woman was to be a helper to the man and in order for her to be the proper helper to the man and fulfill her purpose in that, there cannot be needless division between the two genders.  There has to be unity between the two as God intended and that begins with a spiritual unity for it is spiritually that the gender gap began because it is spiritual division that is the source of all other divisions and discord and before that division came into the world, there existed in it a perfect and uninterrupted harmony between God, man, and nature and there was no death, no sin, and no suffering in the world at that time, for it was world intended only for goodness, light, life, peace, happiness, and contentment and there was nothing withheld from mankind except for one thing: A fruit from a certain tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having been warned of God that in the day that they ate thereof, they would surely die (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3) but instead of heeding the warning, the first man Adam and the first woman Eve, being Adam’s wife, ate of that very fruit that they were told not to eat and it was in that day that sin had entered into them and due to sin entering into them, the sentence of death came upon them just as they had been warned (Gen. 3:19) and to which they had eventually succumbed but the consequences of their disobedience did not stop with them as they were extended to the rest of mankind which is the reason why we are all inherently sinful and inwardly corrupt by nature since we are all descended from them (Rom. 5:12) and it is this inward corruption of our nature that causes us to sin and sin is the reason why we all die, for as it is written, the wages of sin is death, (Rom. 6:23) but the consequences of sin did not stop with mankind but extended to all of creation as well, for as it is written that the entire creation groans and travails in pain to this day (Rom. 8:19-22) which is the reason for the death, suffering, evil, darkness, and misery that we see and experience in this world and is the reason why nothing in our world is the way that it should be and that includes relations between the two genders.  Adam and Eve were created to be perfectly united with one another.  They were in unity in listening to a lying voice instead of heeding the warning of God and in listening to that lying voice which came in the form of a serpent, they then were united in the eating of that forbidden fruit which they were told not to eat and they were united in the deception of thinking that in eating of the forbidden fruit that they would receive things better than what they were already given. (Gen. 3:4-5)
 
And after eating of that forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were united in sin and united in shame and united in a futile attempt to hide the shame that came upon them from the Lord (v. 7-8) but it was when they were confronted by the Lord over their transgression that the gender gap between the man and the woman took place; (v. 9-12) that is, if you really want to look at it that way and the first signs of the gender gap between men and women was when Adam blamed Eve for his disobedience thinking that by placing the blame on Eve for the transgression that he would be absolved of all responsibility and while it is true that Eve did lead Adam into disobedience after she herself had been deceived by the serpent,  Adam, along with Eve, still faced punishment for his part and the judgment that came upon Adam and Eve for their disobedience, both men and women are still subject to this day and it is due to our inwardly corrupt and sinful nature with which we are born that a gender gap exists between men and women and it is a gender gap that ought not exist but does but the gender gap is but a symptom and a consequence of the separation and estrangement with our Creator due to the sin into which we are born which is the worst part of the consequences brought about by Adam’s disobedience and it is an estrangement and a separation that would not exist had it not been for sin and it is due to the increase of sin and wickedness that this present world will face eventual judgment for though the Lord God Almighty has patiently born with the evil present within this world, He cannot allow it to continue forever and must eventually eliminate all sin and that means eliminating all who are still in their sin when that day comes and any who remain in their sins have nothing to look forward to but an eternity of everlasting judgment filled with an unrelenting torment in the fires and darkness of Hell itself  but because the Lord God is not a God who desires or takes pleasure in punishment or judgment, but is a God of love and mercy, He is not willing that any should perish in their sins and face eternal damnation, (2 Pet. 3:9) but that all would come to repentance, and therefore has done for us what we could never do for ourselves in that He, in His graciousness has purchased redemption on our behalf in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, (Jn. 3:16) who came to us in the flesh, (Jn. 1:14) and being without any sin (2 Cor. 5:21) was made that perfect sacrifice (Heb. 7:26-27) that was needed to take away the sins of the world and because of His perfect goodness, He was able to offer Himself up on our behalf to satisfy the demanded penalty for all sin and granting mercy and grace through the shedding of His blood on the cross and after having died, rose again from the dead three days later that we might be justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) if we will but call upon His name so that we might be saved from what would otherwise be a terrifying everlasting punishment if we will but call upon His name (Rom. 10:9, 13) and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9) for it is by calling upon His name in sincere repentance that salvation is granted and our souls made clean from sin thereby liberating us from the threat of eternal damnation and with that cleansing comes a new spiritual transformation (2 Cor. 5:17) that causes us to no longer desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven,
to no longer take pleasure in those things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ Almighty who is the source of all truth, (Jn. 14:6)
no longer placing our hopes in the things of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us by God, (Mt. 6:25-33)
to no longer fear what men can do to us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but the glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, (Jas. 1:5) nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice, but only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
 
And it is this new inward transformation that reconciles us to our Creator (2 Cor. 5:18) from whom we had once been estranged and just as our souls are cleansed from sin and our spirits regenerated in Christ Jesus thereby liberating us from the eternal tormenting punishment that must come upon all who remain in their sins, so one day we look forward to the liberation of our bodies from death itself when our mortal and corruptible forms are transformed into that which is immortal and incorruptible and from that which is imperfect to that which is perfect (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1 Thess. 4:13-18) and lastly, creation itself will be delivered from the curse placed upon it because of sin when it is made into a new and better world (Rev. 21-22)
 
 
If you long to be a part of a world and Kingdom that is better than this present one and if you have not done so already, then I urge you reader to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins so as to receive peace about where you will be spending eternity.  It is but a simple sincere prayer of repentance away:
 
 
 
"Lord Jesus I need you.
 
 
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
 
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
 
 
Amen."
 
 
Know that God is not concerned with the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
 
 
 
End notes:
 
 
 
1.  Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre Hammond, “Young Women Are Leaving Church in Unprecedented Numbers,” Survey Center on American Life, April 4, 2024
https://www.americansurveycenter.org/newsletter/young-women-are-leaving-church-in-unprecedented-numbers/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
 
2.  “New Research: Belief in Jesus Rises, Fueled by Younger Adults,” Barna Research, September 2, 2025
https://www.barna.com/research/young-adults-lead-resurgence-in-church-attendance/
 
3.  Cox, Hammond, “Young Women Are Leaving Church in Unprecedented Numbers,”
 
 
 
Scripture references:
 
 
 
 
1.  2 Corinthians 10:4
 
2.  1 Peter 3:15
 
3.  Jude 3
 
4.  Numbers 15:16
 
5.  Acts 10:34  
 
6.  Galatians 3:28
 
7.  Colossians 3:11
 
8.  Matthew 25:14-30
 
9. 1 Timothy 2:12-14
 
10.  Titus 2:4
 
11.  1 Corinthians 11:5
 
12.  Matthew 10:28
 
13.  Genesis 2:18-25
 
14.  Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3
 
15.  Genesis 3:19
 
16.  Romans 5:12
 
17.  Romans 6:23
 
18.  Romans 8:19-22
 
19.  Genesis 3:7-8
 
20.  Genesis 3:9-12
 
21.  2 Peter 3:9
 
22.  John 3:16
 
23.  John 1:14
 
24.  2 Corinthians 5:21
 
25.  Hebrews 7:26-27
 
26.  2 Corinthians 5:17
 
27.  John 14:6
 
28.  Revelation 21-22
 
29.  Matthew 6:25-33
 
30.  James 1:5
 
31.  2 Corinthians 5:18
 
32.  1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

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