Pick up a copy of Eugene Peterson’s “Pagan Christianity.” That’s an eye-opener.
"One of the most troubling outcomes has been the effect on average believers: turning them from living expressions of Christs glory and power to passive observers."
It surprises me somewhat that the authors see the ordinary borrowings from paganism as a bad thing. To say "borrowed from paganism" is usually merely to say "borrowed from the vast arena of global human cultures not necessarily found in the Biblical Middle East." That's neither necessarily good nor bad: it's just human, and as such has a great capacity for both.
There's no way to "baptize" Aztec human sacrifice or marriage by bride-capture, but one can certainly "re-signify" most parts of non-Christian cultures.
I have only to think of the beautiful church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.
But I'll look into tht books. Thanks. And a Merry Christmas to you!