Ubuntu

Spiritual Formation

What is it? What does it mean?

Though confined to one week, there will really never be enough time to discuss such a topic? So, how does a teacher condense to the topic of 'Spiritual Formation' within a time span of four days of class? Our teacher says the main focus always changes every year.

This year, he focused on these topics:

  Biblical Foundation: GOD is. GOD created. Understanding His nature and character
  The Life of Samuel: How his life parallels to Christ's & His understanding of God.
  God's Character, and Who We Are in Him: Intimacy, Humility, and Service 

I'm not alone when I say that the topic which impacted me most was 'Intimacy' and what it means; how we are intimate with God and with each other through our relationships. There is much I can say on the topic, but I suppose it could all be summed up in one word: Ubuntu.

Ubuntu, a South African word meaning "I am because you are." 

I am because You are.

What an incredible word when I take it into the full context of the Bible. I think that the word 'Ubuntu' helps provide the key defining of 'Intimacy' with God. When we acknowledge that we are nothing, and it is only because of Him and through Him, that we have any purpose in this life we are given. And Ubuntu could also change the way we view human relationships: Husband and Wife, Parent and Child, Brother and Sister, Friendships, and even Enemies. We all have a part to play in each other's development and understanding of who we are and Who God is. 

It is hard to be intimate -even with God. I understand this well. It is hard to love some people, harder to trust them, and almost impossible to understand or honor them. We understand relationships primarily based on our own personal experience. And if someone has betrayed us, then we have a tendency to protect ourselves from further hurt and close ourselves off from intimacy. 

I remember, when I was in my teens, how I began developing a distorted view on what family was. And as the years past, I began to hate the entire concept of the very word. But Christ was not content to leave me disillusioned. He led me to studying the meaning of family in Scripture. My personal experience had distorted this, but God's Truth brought me back to understanding what He created it to be, and not what mankind has defined it to be.

It was during those years that I came to know God as 'Father.' Until I sought to understand what His definition of 'family' was, I did know Him in this way.

Intimacy is merely the beginning of Spiritual Transformation, and truthfully, this is not really a concept that could be discussed in one small blog. It's a topic that would take a lifetime of discussion, and I would love to hear your thoughts on it.