Life in the Mediterranean provides many chances for RI workers Raleigh and Opal to join their Muslim friends and neighbors in religious and cultural tradition. Using the example of a recent experience, Raleigh and Opal share how the gospel transforms these traditions for Mediterranean believers—and how these traditions inform their own understanding and practice of the gospel.
When a baby is born here, the family hosts a special celebration called a “se-boo-wa”: a time to celebrate the baby’s life and to dedicate the child to God. Recently, our family was invited to two seboowas on the same day! Because one seboowa was an hour and a half southwest of our home and the other an hour southeast, we had to make a hard choice. Instead of choosing between them, we split up—Opal took our car, filled it with neighbors, and drove southwest into the foothills, while Raleigh rented a car and drove our children southeast into the mountains.
On this particular day, the seboowa that Opal attended was very traditional. In a parallel to the story of Abraham and Isaac—when God provided a ram in place of the child’s life—our friends sacrificed a sheep. As they cut the sheep’s neck, they spoke the name of their son and blessed him.
The reader may wonder—how do we, as believers, navigate participation in Muslim religious traditions? Some local believers, ourselves included, choose to appreciate the joy of cultural and religious traditions even if we are at odds with their underlying theology; in many of these events, we see elements of good and truth that we can learn from. We enter these times prayerfully, willing to share the hope that is in us—while also not raising unassailable barriers between ourselves and our Muslim friends. We desire always to embody 1 Peter 3:15-16 in this, sharing the gospel with gentleness and respect, and keeping a clear conscience.
As believers participating in a traditional seboowa, we can view the sacrificed sheep as a representation of Jesus, giving Himself for this child. This is also a powerful entry point for our Muslim friends to step into the story of God and to remember His provision of a sacrificial lamb for each human life.
The second seboowa, which Raleigh attended, was a beautiful example of this. The baby girl whose life we celebrated is the daughter of family friends who are followers of Jesus. Because our friends believe that Jesus once and for all satisfied all the requirements of sacrifice when He gave us His life, they chose not to kill a sacrificial lamb. Instead, we rejoiced together over the blessing of new life with feasting. Our friends thanked God for His great love and for their great community of friends—both Christian and Muslim—who had joined together to help raise this wonderful new little girl.
These religious celebrations provide opportunities for us to share the gospel in context with our Muslim friends; they also challenge us to learn and grow in our own understanding of our faith. For example, we are deeply inspired by the communal aspects of life here, which are demonstrated in traditional celebrations. After the seboowa celebration, the meat from the sacrificed lamb is divided into three parts: one for the family, one for neighbors and friends, and one for the poor. Thus sharing and compassion become a natural part of life, lived out ritually.
Related to this, we are constantly reminded through life in the Mediterranean that the Christian life is not a matter of individualistically following God, but of joining with others in faithful community living. In contrast to our Western upbringing, our cultural context here in the Mediterranean is much closer to that of Jesus, Paul, and the other authors of the New Testament. Because of this, our Muslim friends—without meaning to—are always reminding us how to live out the gospel communally.
Names and locations have been changed or omitted for security.
