What next for France? A view from evangelicals

France is full of a history which casts long shadows on the present. Barely a stone’s throw from the church I’m involved with in Angoulême is the house where, in 1534, Jean Calvin seems to have decided that it was his job to put down in writing what Reformed Christians should believe. That event, and others involving the church, have had consequences that still echo on in French society today.

The complex political situation here seems to be following the script of some nerve-twisting blockbuster series. The key player has been the extreme right, Rassemblement National, (National Rally), with its aggressive anti-immigrant rhetoric and its nostalgic appeal to a long vanished – and white – France. Lead by the strident Marine Le Pen and fronted by the more palatable Jordan Bardella, the Rassemblement National (RN) made powerful gains in the European elections. Although secure as president until 2027, President Macron’s instant response was to announce elections for Parliament. Macron’s manoeuvre backfired when the fractious left-wing groups buried their feuds to unite and half the Republican Party joined the RN. A first round of elections confirmed the dominance of the extreme right and the second election on 7 July seemed certain to confirm them with a Parliamentary majority. But in a turn which left commentators flabbergasted, electors instead pushed them into third place. The result is a multi-party split with a left-wing emphasis that will make governing France very difficult.

One significant feature is the relationship between politics and faith here. In fact, although the National Rally has stood up for some conservative social values, it makes little attempt to appeal to Christians. Once, the extreme right would have appealed to the Catholic Church as part of its vision of ‘the true France’. Now in a country where everybody seems to be a non-practising Catholic, it hasn’t bothered. Anyway, most of the bigger urban Catholic churches are full of those born outside mainland France and so, from the RN viewpoint, are part of the problem.

Evangelicals, now considered by even secular commentators as the driving force in French Christianity, have also been immune to the RN. Increasingly, evangelical churches are filled with those who are young and socially diverse and to whom cultural nostalgia makes little appeal. Furthermore, following the expulsion of a quarter of a million Huguenot Protestants in 1685 by Louis XIV, backed by Cardinal Richelieu, Protestants in France have traditionally tended to take more interest in their own spirituality than in politics. However, those evangelicals with a historical knowledge have been appalled by Le Pen’s open admiration for Richelieu and her suggestion that his brutal cultural purge was a model for dealing with those ‘who oppose the nation’.

The future of France remains uncertain and the fact that it stands, with Germany, at the core of an increasingly vulnerable Europe renders it extraordinarily important. From the evangelical point of view two points for prayer stand out. The wish of most believers is quite simply that, following 1 Timothy 2:1-2, they might live ‘quiet and peaceful lives’. May it be so! Yet as evangelicals become a more acknowledged element in French society, we must also pray that they do not retreat into spiritual bunkers. May they shine as the conscience of the nation and, in these times of confrontation, model gracious and tolerant cooperation across different cultures. They are badly needed!

In related news, Iain Taylor reports: David Brown, pastor of an evangelical church in Clichy, Paris told en ‘The recent elections have introduced strong, extreme voices from both left and right wings of politics, but they are likely to cancel each other out to a degree.

‘The reaction of many in France is one of disillusionment, discontent, and frustration towards politicians, their policies and parties. Many are fearful of the future.

‘This surely represents an opening for the gospel. Evangelical churches in France are used to opposition and barriers, and will continue their work, whatever political party is in power. They are also not a negligible group any longer, and the CNEF (Conseil national des évangéliques de France) has an influence beyond its numbers, but they have no ambition to become a political force.

‘The evangelical church in France has also grown dramatically over the last 50 years. Although we are still small in number, we pray for continued growth – whatever political opposition we might face in future’.