Interesting verse

So one of the biggest challenges of working in Thailand is that Buddhism is so ingrained in the culture and customs that it's hard to know how to approach some of the customs and whether or not those customs are indeed problems for God or are they just hard for me. In Thailand it seems everything is tied to something Buddhist. As a matter of fact Thai hold three things very important (these things were taught to me in a cultural class by Thai's); The King the nation and Buddhism. I have even had christian Thai's tell me that they are Buddhist Christians, they are Christian but believe in Buddhist principle (which are also Christian principles when the list them). Needless to say it is sometimes hard to know how and when and even if to approach some of these issues because they are so ingrained in the culture they have become almost one and the same and if you question whether or not they should examine the festivals or traditions they think your trying to change their culture to more western. To be honest thats hard because I don't want to make Thailand more like the western culture I want them to remain uniquely Thai but also to adopt the culture of Heaven.

Anyways while contemplating these issues I came across and interesting verse in a pretty well known story. 2 Kings 5 tells the story of Naaman a commandeer of a foreign coming to Israel to be healed of leprosy. Elisha hears about this and calls for Naaman and asked him to wash in the Jordan 7 times which Naaman does after the prodding of his servants. Most know that Naaman did this and was cured after the 7th dip and then out of gratitude tries to give Elisha gifts that Elisha does not accept. Naaman then tells Elisha he will never offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to any other God other but the Lord. Now a verse that I had never heard as part of the story verse 18 reads:

But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also--when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.

Elisha then tells him to go in peace. What does this mean or how does it apply? It seems to go compromise. Is Elisha being culturally sensitive? Is he allowing for Naaman's weak faith or his understanding? To be honest I'm not sure but it does give me pause to think and to realize that God is truly a God of grace and compassion. Just a little food for thought. May God bless you all.