Although it once had a strong Protestant witness in the sixteenth century, France is now known for its philosophical rejection of Biblical revelation and, as a result, is a thoroughly secularised and materialistic country.

The Roman Catholic Church, always the principal target for the anti-clericalism that characterizes French thinking, declined steeply at the end of the twentieth century, and mainline Protestantism fared little better. But this is not to say that religion in France is dying. Islam is making an impact.  It is estimated that there are as many as 4 million Muslims, largely made up those of North African descent and the cults and sects are flourishing. The occult is big business, with large numbers of mediums, witches and spiritists, as well as every variety of cult, on the scene. This "supermarket" approach to religion (take a little of what you like) makes it difficult for the Gospel, which is regarded as just another religious product that you can buy into if you want to or it is regarded with overt hostility because it claims to be the only way to God.

Problems with many of these cults has led to legislation that has tried to limit the influence they have on people. The French Government hopes to restrict the activity of those that exploit or manipulate people. The legislation has laudable aims, but the wording is vague and there are dangers that other groups (such as evangelicals) that the secular mindset does not understand will find themselves in the firing line, too.

Spiritual work in France is, hardly surprisingly, very slow and there has been no real breakthrough. It would be fair to say that France is the largest western nation that has not felt the power of the gospel. You might even say it is the largest "unreached" western nation, since there are large tracts of land and many cities with no evangelical witness. The spiritual ground is hard and unyielding and will only respond to patient evangelism and prayer.

France is possibly the key to reaching Western Europe. French thinking has played a vital role in world history: John Calvin shaped the Europe of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through the Reformation; René Descartes started a philosophical train of thought at the end of the seventeenth century that spawned what we know as the Enlightenment, which has shaped the way Western Europe thinks to this day; and Post-Modernity, that is defining the way 21st Century people think, grew out of Enlightenment thought and has its origins in French philosophical writings of the past forty years. If we can reach France with the Gospel, we will reach the world.

And the good news is that the French are very interested in the spiritual realm and are seeking for spiritual meaning. And God has not abandoned France. The fact is that in the last 35 years, over a 1,000 new churches have been planted,
adding to a total of roughly 2,200, mainly in the big cities. It has been a tough but rewarding work. The challenge is great, since most rural areas are still unreached. It is not unusual to have to drive an hour to find the nearest Evangelical church. But as said: "if we can reach France with the Gospel, we will reach the world!"