Christian cultural adaptation can be fun. Having said that, adapting the Gospel to the local culture is fraught with problems, challenges, and arguments. Inevitably, you have those who argue the two extremes. One extreme is that the Church should baptize and, and all, local customs. The fact that if that is done, you will syncretize the Gospel out of existence flies right by those who argue this. The other extreme is that the Church should reject anything that is not already being done in the sending culture. The fact that the sending culture, itself, has changed some practices in order to better express the Gospel in the sending culture flies right by those who argue this.
The reality is that some adaptation is necessary, otherwise the Gospel will not be understandable to those in the receiving culture. For instance, had the Church insisted that leggings could not be worn, then the Early Church would not have successfully reached out to Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and others who wore leggings as a regular part of their culture. Celtic Christianity always had a much more communal approach than non-Celtic Christianity. The Kiev residents themselves found that the worship of Constantinople fit better with their culture than the worship of Rome. I should note that I have very serious problems with those who point to that choice as evidence of Eastern superiority. That is, at best, an anachronism, at worst an inappropriately judgmental attitude given that Rome was still part of the Church during this time.
But, I have included the video above to show how Evangelical/Pentecostal Christianity has adapted to Fiji culture. I will let you decide for yourself whether this is an appropriate adaptation or not. Meantime, enjoy!
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