Different Personality Types United in the Body of Christ
By Ereeny Mikhail
Have you ever been in a situation and thought to yourself, why a person did a particular thing? Or why a person responded in a certain way? Or why a person made a specific decision? And then proceeded to think to yourself, I would have never done that.
Well, there’s one perfect reason for this – personality. The concept of personalities has been studied for a long time, and it has been found that the most accurate way to classify individuals, based on personality, is the Myer Briggs Test. The Myer Briggs Test is not a test that describes who we are, but rather helps us understand every individual’s natural preference. This means by your nature why you do or don’t do a certain thing. There are 16 categories but of course this does not mean there are only 16 types of people in the world, as personality is not the only thing that makes us who we are. Further to personality, experiences, talents, likes, dislikes, and environment also help us understand who we are.
And this is a great thing – as much as these differences may seem to separate us, they in fact, unite us together. Imagine if we were all created the same. Every situation we respond in the same way. We all have the same dreams. We all have the same flaws. This is something I ponder often in order to give myself a greater understanding into why a scenario played out the way it did. And I come up with the same conclusion every time. We are not robots. We are not all the same. Although someone’s response to a certain scenario may have been different to the way I would have responded, it is actually a good thing because it provides new ideas, opens new doors, and teaches us new things. The world develops and changes because of different personality types uniting.
Let’s think back for a second to the different personalities in the Bible. St Paul was Saul – Saul was aggressive, wasn’t he? Yet, St Paul would not have done the work he did without being Saul. He used this boldness to do mission trips and to preach. He stayed true to who he was but gave it to God. Now let’s compare that to St Mary – she was quiet and gentle and pondered things in her heart. Without being so, she would not have given us The King of Kings.
Contrastingly, St Peter was impulsive, and he transformed his impulsiveness to a passion which brought others to Christ. Again, differently, Mary Magdalene was courageous. Imagine being a woman in those days, waking up in the early morning, walking alone to the tomb, after watching the violence and crucifixion only a few days earlier. It’s scary to even think about. Yet again, without this courage, she would not have been the first to witness the resurrection of Christ.
St Augustine poses a question that may seem confronting, “How can you draw close to God, when you are far from your own self?” And this is true – in all the above scenarios, these individuals were true to themselves and thus, drew closer to God and drew others to God. Therefore, it is essential to fully understand ourselves. St Clement of Alexandria says, “Know yourself. He who knows himself will know God. He who knows God will become like God.” By knowing who we are we learn more about how God communicates with us, we learn more about our strengths and weaknesses and are therefore able to completely fulfil our purpose.
St Isaac the Syrian further contemplates on this and says, “Blessed is the man who knows his own weakness, because this knowledge becomes to him the foundation, root and beginning of all goodness.” Knowing our weaknesses gives us a greater understanding of how to respond to our sins in order to get closer to God. We can turn this weakness into our strength.
Let’s spend some time scratching the surface of the different personalities in the Myer Briggs test. Each personality consists of four letters. The first letter is either an I or an E meaning Introvert or Extrovert, respectively. Ultimately, this is where you go to recharge – whether you prefer quiet environments or loud environments.
The second letter is either an N or an S meaning Intuitive or Observant, respectively. This is how we gather information from the world around us. Intuitive individuals imagine the past and picture the future whereas Observant people assess facts.
The following letter is T or F whereby T means thinking, and F means feeling. Thinking are individuals who view things as either right or wrong whereas feelers view things more emotionally.
Finally, J and P means judging and perceiving, respectively, and is referring to how you get from point A to point B. J individuals are more calculating whereas P individuals are more spontaneous. Of course, there are gradings on each scale meaning no two individuals are the same.
Once we have learnt about ourselves, we cannot deny who we are, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) The more we remove what we currently think we are and let Him take us over, the more true to ourselves we become. So, we should ask God to reveal our heart to us, and once it is revealed, we must accept it. As St Paul says in I Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am…” And do not think that it is better to be any other way. God made you perfect. Not one personality type is perfect – all are perfect created in the body of Christ.
Although, we must recognise there is always work to be done. Our ultimate goal is to be in the likeness of Christ. Thus, handing over who we are to God, then trusting He will do the best with it. However, as with everything, this requires hard work. It is not an excuse to hurt anyone or be lazy. “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (II Corinthians 12:9) We are all masterpieces because God made us, but this does not mean we won’t have imperfections. The Holy Spirit works in each personality type to attract different people and to have services of all kinds. We must glorify God in our uniqueness.
Let us pray like St Augustine, “Lord Jesus, let me know myself…”