Don Quixote of la Mancha is well known around the world. People talk about his battle against giants/windmills, his quest, his eccentricity, but, more importantly, his love for Dulcinea. However, this knowledge comes not necessarily from Miguel de Cervantes’s masterpiece, but the Broadway production, Man of la Mancha (1965) by Dale Wasserman. The Tony Award-winning production is emotive, funny, and poignant; its success is the result of being a transformation of Cervantes’s magnum opus and not merely an adaptation. When a story first exists in some medium, translating it into another type of speech is going to gain or lose some things.

For example, Wasserman allows Dulcinea and Quixote to meet in a bar, where she allegedly works as a prostitute. On the other hand, Cervantes’s knight (of the sad figure) never meets his Dulcinea. Wasserman portraits Dulcinea as a beautiful young woman. But Cervantes tells his readers in the voice of Sancho Panza, Quixote’s squire, that Dulcinea is manly, strong, with a powerful voice, and rustic as any shepherd from La Mancha (Part l, Chapter 25).

I often wonder if the modern church is an adaptation of Christianity. Has the church modified Christianity in such a way that it does not look like the original masterpiece?

There are differences between adaptation and transformation.

In Rom. 12, arguably one of the top ten most quoted Bible verses among Christians, we find the idea of adaptation versus transformation. The word suschēmatizesthe (identified with or having outward shape) is the antipode of the word metamorphousthe (to be transfigured, reform, or transform). Reading two translations of the same passage can help illustrate this point:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. (NIV, emphasis added)

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT, emphasis added)

Transformations are helpful because they simplify and contextualize the original message. Plenty of people wouldn’t want to read all 126 chapters of Don Quixote but would gladly sit for two hours and watch a musical production made for the theater. Transformations change the way the work is delivered to benefit the audience’s comprehension.

Transformation also addresses a need. Tex-Mex is a remix of Mexican food. It is almost impossible to find authentic Mexican food in Texas. So the Lone Star State people have transformed their food. Tex-Mex cuisine is similar to Mexican food but is far from a replica. Still, Texans are happy with their version of Mexican food.

Adaptations, on the other hand, tend to be apocryphal and to take many liberties. For example, God gave the law to Moses, and according to Ps. 19:7, it was perfect. But the Pharisees adapted the law and adjusted it to their interpretation and preferences. The law of the Pharisees looked kind of similar to what God gave Moses but was far from being what God designed it to be.

Adaptations are also selective in what they use from the original story to fulfill egotistic desires. The church became an adaptation numerous times in history. The American slavery system is an example of how the church became an adaptation of Christianity, where the only exception to the commandment to “love one another” was the slaves. Slavery was more than adaptation; it was a perversion of Christianity. Believers have defectively adapted their Christianity when race, politics, status, comfort, tradition, or personal preferences come before their faith.

Many Christians are happy with their version of Christianity. Some are living an adaptation of the original message of the cross, and others are living a transformed Christianity distilled by the gospel.

The evolutionist believes that transformation is what helps some species survive in the process of natural selection. The economist often refers to the Blockbuster failure and eventual disappearance as the result of a non-transformative behavior. The practical theologian talks about a gospel that is not merely something to believe but also something to be lived, an active faith sustained by constant renewal (transformation).

May we, the church, understand that Christians are not expected to live precisely how Christians are described in the book of Acts but are expected to be in a constant state of transformation into the image of Christ. May we embrace the transformation that helps, simplifies, and serves the needs of the children of God.