When in Egypt do as the Egyptians

When in Rome, do as the Romans. This phrase means to live like the people among whom you find yourself. The picture above shows a Roman in Egypt doing as an Egyptian. It is from the Temple of Hathor, Dendera, and shows Roman emperor Trajan dressed as a traditional pharaoh. Unlike his adopted son Hadrian, he never visited Egypt as far as I can tell, and certainly never dressed in that manner. Yet he authorised this portrayal as a means of soothing Egyptian nationalist feeling: although a Roman, he looks and sounds Egyptian. 
 
To the Corinthians, Paul writes:
 
and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
 
We need to be sensitive to people’s backgrounds and culture when we witness for Christ; by the same token, neither must we become ‘worldly’ to appeal to the world. 
 
Photo credit: Ramy Romany. If you are a wondering, I too think it looks like he caught his skirt in a kitchen cupboard.