THE OBSOLESCENCE OF GOD

"Obsolescence" is a fancy word (a "fifty-cent word," Momma used to say) that means something that is no longer relevant, too old to be of any value any more, and no longer usable. In the software support world where I work, we deal frequently with customers who are reporting problems with our software, and it becomes my duty to tell them that the software release level they are operating on is no longer supported, so we aren't going to help them with their problems. It's obsolete, so get rid of it and move up to the new stuff, and stop bothering me with that old stuff.

Some of you may know that I've been offered and have accepted a job transfer to do software support for my company in France. Contemplating this upcoming move, assuming it goes as planned, I have invested a lot of effort considering French culture.

Here's one interesting cultural contrast. In the USA about 40% of Americans attend some form of church services weekly. That number varies widely among the states, and the bottom four states in terms of lowest percentage who attend church regularly are Vermont (dead last at 23%), New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. If you're scoring along at home, I grew up in Maine, currently live in New Hampshire and attend church in Massachusetts. Now that you know the lowest ones, email me or contact me with your guess for which state has the highest percent who attend church weekly (63%) and win big brownie points.

Contrast with France, where a Gallup survey in 2004 showed less than 10% of Frenchmen attend religious services weekly. And I wonder how many of those are from France's growing Moslem immigrant community rather than those who profess some form of Christianity.

One might accurately call France (and perhaps Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts) a "post-Christian" culture. The French have great cathedrals (Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, etc.) that are reminders of a past when people devoted huge time, expense and effort at glorifying God, whether one agrees with their doctrines and methods or not. But those are past. The culture has moved on, and the great cathedrals are tourist attractions, architectural wonders, works of art, and a great place for beggars, street hucksters and Tshirt shack vendors to ply their trade. It rarely occurs to anyone that someone would worship God there.

In a congregation of francophone Christians in Paris, the first time I attended, I was surprised at what I did not see: French people. Probably 90% of the members were immigrants from Haiti and the former French colonies in Africa. European believers in Christ were scarce. You see, from the average European's perspective God is obsolete. We've moved on. Darwin has explained the origin of life without reference to God, so we don't need him any more. The state has solutions to the need for charitable works that were once done by those who loved their neighbor as themselves and who honored father and mother with their wallets as well as their words. Those are obsolete too. We can get on with our lives now.

Regardless of the culture around you, remember that you serve a God who describes himself as the "I AM" and a Savior who called himself "the Alpha and the Omega." He was there before the cathedrals were built and before Massachusetts was populated and he will be there after it's all gone. You can be there too, if you put your trust in Him.

Vance