Religion & Personality 1

Good morning and welcome to Sunday school.  I’m going to begin a miniseries today addressing a topic that is given varying degrees of value and importance in the contemporary church.  You will find this more prevalent in non-denominational churches, but it is a practice that we see becoming routine even in the most conservative of seminaries.

In today’s society, we Christians are often shamed to admit that we seek the world’s way of doing things before doing things God’s way.  Let’s face it; it’s easier to do things the world’s way. When you get too much change at the store, it’s hard to give it back. It’s even harder to return to the store if you’ve discovered that the sales clerk didn’t charge you for an item. In the end, of course, we know it costs us more if we do things the world’s way. From a purely world-view, we know that not paying for an item, or too much change will result in higher prices. From a spiritual view, it’s all sin, and costs us in separation from the Father.

Jesus said, Matt 7:13-14   

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

In the area of Christian counseling, especially in today’s society with the ease of litigation, many pastors turned to psychology rather than to the word when counseling members.  

Why?  

Again from a worldly perspective, it is easier to obtain malpractice insurance if one has a degree in psychology rather than a degree in theology. 

In essence, we’ve copped out. We’ve looked for a formula that will explain why people act the way they do. We’ve refused to call sin – sin. SO, in our attempts to understand one another, we have adopted the psychology of personality type. 

Are you familiar with the terms: sanguine, choleric, melancholy, and phlegmatic?  Some of you are.  If you’re not that’s okay. They’re all very clinical sounding.  Back in the 1980’s Christian author and psychologist Gary Smalley put a more friendly spin on these terms.  He categorized them as otter, golden retriever, lion, and beaver.  That is that some more familiar? 

The theory is that everyone falls into one of four personality types. That means that if you can identify a person’s temperament, you can successfully predict how that person will act or react in any given situation.

In order to find out what personality type one has, you would complete a questionnaire and based on the frequency of answers that reflected one personality type over another, you could conclude that you or someone else had the traits of one and sometimes two personality types. 

So let’s take a sample test. I’m going to give you a list of personality and attributes. I want you to read down lists and circle anything that you feel applies to you. When you’re finished, total up the number of traits in each category and listen on the bottom of the page.

And that wasn’t very hard wasn’t? This all seems very harmless.

OK before you share your results with anyone let’s take a look at our findings.

The sanguine has a God given ability to live in the present. He’s very optimistic.  He enjoys life.  He’s fun to be around.  He’s outgoing, handshaking, backslapping, and wants his brother to feel that way too. He has a tender compassionate heart.

The choleric is self disciplined and self determined. He is confident and plans his activities. He is tenacious and will finish any project he starts.  He is a strong leader in good to be around in times of emergency. He is often optimistic and has a pioneering spirit.

The melancholic has the richest and most sensitive nature. He is prone to genius.  He excels in the fine arts and creative thinking. He has a high standard of excellence with analytical abilities. He can always be depended on to finish what he begins and prefers behind-the-scenes tasks.

The phlegmatic can often see the humor in things. He has an inborn sense of timing and stimulating imagination. He is easy going. He is a faithful friend. He is practical and efficient.

This all sounds pretty good and you’re probably wondering why there’s a hint of skepticism in my voice?  The answer is that there is a flip side. Let’s take other quick test.

Again without sharing your answers with anyone we see that there is a weaker site in to each of the temperaments.

The sanguine temperament is restless. He is often impractical and disorganized. He has an emotional nature which often leads him to act impulsively. He doesn’t think before he speaks.  This carries over into his spiritual life, where he finds it difficult to concentrate on reading the word. The sanguine person seldom lives up to his potential. Although he tends to get by on his dynamic personality it is often just a cover for a weak character.

The choleric temperament includes anger, a hardness of character and an emotional deficiency. He is thick skinned and unsympathetic to the needs of others. He often carries a grudge to the point of revenge. Spiritually he grieves the Holy Spirit through bitterness wrath and anger. He is also impetuous, proud, and stubborn. It is very difficult for him to apologize.

The melancholic temperament is self centered. He carries his feelings on his sleeve and a suspicious of those who hide their feelings with him & may harbor a grudge for years.  He is pessimistic, indecisive, and fearful. He is not concerned about his spiritual state instead is prone to hypochondria. He is a moody with high highs and low lows.

The phlegmatic is slow and lazy. His lack of motivation tends to make him a spectator in life.  He is stubborn and will become more and more resistive when pressed into service.  He is prone to vacillate between wanting to do something and not wanting to pay the price.  He can use his humor and wit as a divisive tool to stir up strife. 

All very interesting, right?  Well, I was having fun until I looked at my negative traits. And then I was reminded of a personality test I took in grad school. After I had completed my first 4 classes, I was required to complete a 2 hour exam similar to the one we just took. It was more in-depth and repeated questions, sometime rephrasing them or listing options in a different order. The purpose was to determine if I was mature enough to complete the program.

When the results came back, my advisor said that I scored by and large as he had predicted. With one serious exception, I had scored off the charts in the area of authority. People who score this way had an unnatural respect or awe for people in law enforcement. People who had been arrested or spent time in prison generally scored this way. He asked me if I had a criminal record that I did not share when I applied. He was dumbfounded when I laughed and laughed and laughed.  When I shared that my husband was a veteran jail guard, he was blindsided, that there would be an acceptable explanation outside of the established result parameters. If someone else were to see my scores without the explanation, they would be led to think that I was hiding a criminal past.

My experience led me to be wary of personality testing. When I was researching this topic, and looking for a test I could use for this class, I stumbled across a number of sites on the internet where companies could have potential employees take tests to rule out unacceptable personalities as part of the employment process.

In two churches I worked at, personality tests were required for staff and volunteers. The premise for taking these tests was to best place you in an area of ministry where you would succeed. Can you see a problem with this?

Which test do you think had a bigger impact in where you were placed? The strengths or weaknesses?

Can you imagine the ministry meetings? Oh no, you can’t put Mary on the usher team, sure she has a bubbling personality, by she’s a sanguine, she can’t be relied on to show up on time.

Bruno wants to work with the kids, he choleric, put him in with the teens and kiss that ministry good-by.

Now what if God told Mary to volunteer to work with the ushers? What if her future husband was to attend a meeting she was ushering, and that was the way they would meet?

Or what if God told Bruno to work with the youth, so he could build a healthy relationship with his estranged son?

Can you see the danger in categorizing people by personality type?

Do you see how a worldly process has infiltrated the church and affected the way we do ministry? In my research, I discovered that personality terms stem from Astrology. That is you can trace the origin of predicting person’s behavior to his astrological sign. The church has unknowingly allowed the enemy, thru personality testing, determine where people will and will not minister.  

One more point. I am not the same person I was 20 years ago. You are not the same person you were 20 years ago. Your likes and dislikes have changed. You have grown and gained knowledge the effect how you act and react. Your personality has changed. If you’re a believer, the Holy Spirit had a lot to do with that.

Next week we will begin charting our spiritual journeys with the Lord. The goal will not be to see how far we’ve come, or what level we’ve achieved in God, but to discover where we are in the journey.