“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27 NKJV).
One persistent tendency of human beings is to mix cultures or traditions. This is often seen in religion.
A new faith enters an area rich in religious heritage. Many converts are quickly made. However, there are elements of their previous practices that continue to have great appeal. Almost invariably these become assimilated into the new religion.
This process is called syncretism, which simply means to bring two things into harmony. The effect is to blend or merge elements of two different items (in this case religions) into one unit.
One need only to study the history of exploration and conquest to see examples. Europeans who conquered lands in the Americas or Africa or Asia and remained to administer their colonies soon took on characteristics of the local culture.
In the same way, a religion may have distinctly different forms and rituals in separate areas of the world, or even in distinctly different regions of the same country.
A wedding I witnessed in South Asia provides an illustration. Both bride and groom are devoutly practicing followers of Jesus. They are serious about their Christian beliefs, reading the Bible daily, talking to others about Christianity, and promoting it in their workplace.
But their wedding celebration, including a reception on the second day, included dress and ornamentation with traditional meaning to other religions. The complete ceremony was an interesting blend of East and West, of Christianity and Hinduism.
It is common to see people converted from Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism continue to use traditional jewelry and clothing, including symbols with some lingering religious meaning. One common sight is a young child with a dark round spot on its forehead or face. This is a good luck charm, believed by many to ward off demons.
Many converted Hindus will continue to abstain from beef. In Islamic Bangladesh many Christians still refuse pork, like their Muslim neighbors.
Some relics of one’s former faith are much more sinister. They may include attempts to continue to practice the former religion along with the new, reliance upon symbols or icons believed to have supernatural effects, and the desire to bring former rituals and practices over into the new faith.
James’ definition of true religion includes staying unspotted by the world. His immediate purpose was probably to warn against immorality. But the world manifests itself often in false religion. Those practices are equally ungodly and defiling.
It was James who authored the letter to the Gentiles (converts from pagan idolatry) in Acts 15:23-29. In that letter the apostles and elders commanded, “That you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well” (Verse 29).
Almost all the things in that list could be found, among other places, in the various religions of the Roman world. Christians were not to assimilate pagan practices into the worship of the true God. Idolatry has no place in the church. Immorality and all things that defile must be avoided and denied.
The world will always seek compromise. It will always try to dilute true faith and defile the righteous. We must ever be on guard against it. Wearing traditional clothing for special occasions may be harmless. Other types of syncretism are certainly not.