"Preach the word; be ready in and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2. As of late the Lord has been speaking to me about the value of being prepared so we can live from Gods perspective and not from a circumstantial perspective.
From a young age we are taught many subjects in school, from history to math, and I hadn’t really thought about why these were so important until now. Many, if not all students ask themselves at some point, "when will I ever use this?," I'm here to tell you all you learned in your days of schooling was to prepare you for your life ahead, so that you would be prepared in and out of season for the tasks set before you. While we are learning, whether it be a trade or what we see as simple book knowledge, we don't often grasp the value of the information at hand. But think about if a mechanic had no idea what he was doing when he opened the hood of your car. Now anybody with enough time and deductive reasoning can figure out how to solve a problem, but wouldn't you much rather have a skilled person working on your car so it takes the least amount of time? Tradesman go to school and sit as apprentices under skilled men of whatever specific field and sometimes they learn things that just seam pointless, but it prepares them so that in and out of season they will be ready for whatever may come their way. Take the military for example, every soldier is trained in hand to hand combat but rarely will they ever have a chance or even need to use the skills that they've learned in this arena, but when that rare situation occurs those soldiers are very glad they were prepared for such an encounter.
All of this being prepared can be viewed the same in the Kingdom of God. Some of us read the bible very reactively; when an event happens in our life or we are burning about a specific subject we want to read about that and only that. But as Paul tells Timothy, we must be prepared in and out of season. We ought to be reading the word all of the time so when a specific situation arises we don't have to scrounge around searching out where there is something in the word to encourage us in our time of need. A perfect example: in the western world we teach about persecution and that it will come and to know Jesus is with those who are persecuted. In our western society it is not very common for people to be persecuted for their faith, but when this does come those that have been taught about how God views it will not react to the circumstances because they know how God views this and that will lead them into the correct action.
Being prepared is why it is so important to study. You don't want a doctor who skipped one of their classes simply because they didn't see how it was useful to be diagnosing you. It is the same with the Bible, it is not smart to skip over parts or books you think are irrelevant. The word of God is relevant to all of us and it is relevant to every event in our life, so to be prepared is of great value. My challenge to you is to better know the word of God so when troubles and trials arise you are already equipped with God's perspective on your situation.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Rest
As the second part of this three part series I've felt the Lord give me the topic of rest. God has been teaching me and bringing me back to the basics of what rest really is. In the western mindset we view rest as something you do that is relaxing and takes your mind off your 'job,' it lets you focus on yourself and not have to worry about the other stresses in your life. This view point puts a lot of emphasis on the beloved weekend, viewing days off as the prize or goal of your work week. But it always seems we start to do some type of work instead of the rest we had so longed for. I think man was never intended to fully do nothing. Take vacation for example, how many times do you hear the phrase "I need a vacation"? Only to return from the longed for vacation and need another vacation. We take time off to fulfill our western perspective of rest and then we don't rest. We work in the yard on a day off or on vacation we go hiking, etc... I think we need to redesign our view of rest.
On the seventh day of creation God rested, but we know God never stops doing anything, because He holds all things together, Colossians 1:17. Therefore God never fully rests, but He still calls it rest in Genesis. It's time we start to re-define what rest truly is. I believe rest is a state of being and not time to focus on yourself or relax.
How do we get to this state of being is probably the question you are asking right now. There are very few things Jesus gave formulas for in the Bible but one of them was on how to not worry. Matthew 6:33 tells us that if we seek first the kingdom and His righteousness then all of the previously mentioned things in the scripture passage will be added unto us. I take this to mean that if I seek a relationship with the Holy Spirit and I seek to do God’s will and not my own, then I will be at rest in God because I will not have to worry about anything. Many of us hear the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God." But how many of us actually take time to be still before God in our spirit and know that He is God? Knowing He is God is not stating that Jesus is the almighty living God, it means you acknowledge Him as the sovereign ruler of your life, that He has it all under control and that He knows what to do in every circumstance. When you know these things you KNOW that He is God and you have nothing to worry about.
Why is this important? Because if we are not seeking His kingdom and acknowledging Him as God, we will worry about our provision and start to seek out how we can solve our own problems and not what God’s will is for our life. Worrying is also a sin, in Matthew 6:25 Jesus says "do not be worried about your life..." When Jesus tells you not to do something that is a command. When you do the opposite of a command it is disobedience, which is sin. Self-centeredness is also a sin, Jesus never intended for us to be focused on ourselves; we know He is going to provide for us and therefore all of our concern should be for others, being self-centered is literally centering on yourself and our true center should be God and not ourselves. Even self-confidence is a sin, so many people will say they have high self confidence but if we are taking confidence in ourselves instead of God it is a sin because, again, we are looking inward and not toward God.
We need to live in a place of rest and not look at it as a place that is waiting for us at the end of each week. I challenge you to look at your life and see how you can change your perspective on rest so you are living for the kingdom and not for yourself. If you are still and know that He is God you will be able to have complete confidence in God and know that He is going to fully satisfy those needs and completely provide for you. If you would like to chat about this subject or simply have any questions please email me at Cbergus@gmail.com.
On the seventh day of creation God rested, but we know God never stops doing anything, because He holds all things together, Colossians 1:17. Therefore God never fully rests, but He still calls it rest in Genesis. It's time we start to re-define what rest truly is. I believe rest is a state of being and not time to focus on yourself or relax.
How do we get to this state of being is probably the question you are asking right now. There are very few things Jesus gave formulas for in the Bible but one of them was on how to not worry. Matthew 6:33 tells us that if we seek first the kingdom and His righteousness then all of the previously mentioned things in the scripture passage will be added unto us. I take this to mean that if I seek a relationship with the Holy Spirit and I seek to do God’s will and not my own, then I will be at rest in God because I will not have to worry about anything. Many of us hear the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God." But how many of us actually take time to be still before God in our spirit and know that He is God? Knowing He is God is not stating that Jesus is the almighty living God, it means you acknowledge Him as the sovereign ruler of your life, that He has it all under control and that He knows what to do in every circumstance. When you know these things you KNOW that He is God and you have nothing to worry about.
Why is this important? Because if we are not seeking His kingdom and acknowledging Him as God, we will worry about our provision and start to seek out how we can solve our own problems and not what God’s will is for our life. Worrying is also a sin, in Matthew 6:25 Jesus says "do not be worried about your life..." When Jesus tells you not to do something that is a command. When you do the opposite of a command it is disobedience, which is sin. Self-centeredness is also a sin, Jesus never intended for us to be focused on ourselves; we know He is going to provide for us and therefore all of our concern should be for others, being self-centered is literally centering on yourself and our true center should be God and not ourselves. Even self-confidence is a sin, so many people will say they have high self confidence but if we are taking confidence in ourselves instead of God it is a sin because, again, we are looking inward and not toward God.
We need to live in a place of rest and not look at it as a place that is waiting for us at the end of each week. I challenge you to look at your life and see how you can change your perspective on rest so you are living for the kingdom and not for yourself. If you are still and know that He is God you will be able to have complete confidence in God and know that He is going to fully satisfy those needs and completely provide for you. If you would like to chat about this subject or simply have any questions please email me at Cbergus@gmail.com.
Unity
I have had a few things burning in my heart lately that I feel need to be expressed in some medium. It will be a three part series of what the Lord has been speaking to me about in recent weeks and months and has been transforming me. My prayer is that in you reading this it will spark something inside of you that will start the same transformation in your heart and will lead you to a deeper relationship with your Savoir.
As you can probably guess from the title of this post the first part will be on unity and the power it has for us as believers and the necessity it is as a whole community of Christians wherever you are. Unity is of the utmost importance. if you are running a three legged race and one of the people you are partnered with suddenly starts to walk out of rhythm and tries to start doing their own thing it will throw the whole group out of sync. Just like it takes practice to get in sync with those you are tied to, it takes practice and perseverance to be unified with one another. Jesus knew unity would be one of the most important aspects of the whole body if it expects to function, so important, that in John 17 after he prays for the disciples, his first prayer for 'all believers' is "... that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." That is VERY intense unity if you ask me. Jesus was one with the Father, knowing his every move and only doing what he saw the Father doing, Jesus wants the WHOLE body to be like that!
Now picture the whole body of Christ in a three legged race, running for the prize in each their own way. They are stumbling over each other and yelling at each other, telling one another their way is right and to follow them. In this way we actually end up with a lot of people who are offended at each other and it results in complete disunity. How do we unify ourselves with one another if everybody is following their own will? Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians chapter 4:3, to keep the unity of the body we must be at peace with one another. I don't know about you, but honestly this hasn't happened very well throughout church history. There are constant church splits, arguing over doctrine or theology which almost always ends in one group of people splitting from the other. Which is where we get denominations from, the root of denomination is divided nation, that is NOT unity. From the looks of it, we have not done a good job of listening to the teaching of Paul from Ephesians 4:3 or done a good job uniting ourselves as Jesus prayed.
Unity is important as you can see from above. We can't be the body Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 if we are in disunity. Paul gave us a picture in that passage that one part of a physical body can't function as a different part of a body, i.e. a foot can’t be a hand and a hand can't be a foot. But imagine if we all knew who we were as part of the body of Christ and acted like what we were called to. Instead, each person wants to do their own will and not combine with the other parts to complete one task; example: a foot knows it is a foot but wants to do the job of a hand. A person may know who they are called to be but not want to move in the calling they've been given. The body must know who it is AND function in untiy. Solomon gives us a great picture of what unity looks like as human beings with the visual of a chord in Ecclesiastes 4:10-12. The law of multiplication is amazing, one of the many reasons God continues to amaze me on a daily basis. If you have one chord it can hold its own weight, but if you have two chords they can hold four times the weight, three can hold nine times the weight. Imagine the work we would get done as a full functioning unified body, going for the same goal and doing it in unison.
I hope this has inspired you to seek unity among those you are around. I wish I could include all of the verses that are written about being unified with one another. It truly shows the importance of treating each other with the same kindness and love that you show to God. If you have any more questions or would like to simply talk about how you can become more unified with those around you feel free to email me atCbergus@gmail.com. My heart is to see the body walk in true unity with one another, caring and loving each other just like Jesus and the Father did on earth and continue to do in heaven.
As you can probably guess from the title of this post the first part will be on unity and the power it has for us as believers and the necessity it is as a whole community of Christians wherever you are. Unity is of the utmost importance. if you are running a three legged race and one of the people you are partnered with suddenly starts to walk out of rhythm and tries to start doing their own thing it will throw the whole group out of sync. Just like it takes practice to get in sync with those you are tied to, it takes practice and perseverance to be unified with one another. Jesus knew unity would be one of the most important aspects of the whole body if it expects to function, so important, that in John 17 after he prays for the disciples, his first prayer for 'all believers' is "... that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." That is VERY intense unity if you ask me. Jesus was one with the Father, knowing his every move and only doing what he saw the Father doing, Jesus wants the WHOLE body to be like that!
Now picture the whole body of Christ in a three legged race, running for the prize in each their own way. They are stumbling over each other and yelling at each other, telling one another their way is right and to follow them. In this way we actually end up with a lot of people who are offended at each other and it results in complete disunity. How do we unify ourselves with one another if everybody is following their own will? Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians chapter 4:3, to keep the unity of the body we must be at peace with one another. I don't know about you, but honestly this hasn't happened very well throughout church history. There are constant church splits, arguing over doctrine or theology which almost always ends in one group of people splitting from the other. Which is where we get denominations from, the root of denomination is divided nation, that is NOT unity. From the looks of it, we have not done a good job of listening to the teaching of Paul from Ephesians 4:3 or done a good job uniting ourselves as Jesus prayed.
Unity is important as you can see from above. We can't be the body Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 if we are in disunity. Paul gave us a picture in that passage that one part of a physical body can't function as a different part of a body, i.e. a foot can’t be a hand and a hand can't be a foot. But imagine if we all knew who we were as part of the body of Christ and acted like what we were called to. Instead, each person wants to do their own will and not combine with the other parts to complete one task; example: a foot knows it is a foot but wants to do the job of a hand. A person may know who they are called to be but not want to move in the calling they've been given. The body must know who it is AND function in untiy. Solomon gives us a great picture of what unity looks like as human beings with the visual of a chord in Ecclesiastes 4:10-12. The law of multiplication is amazing, one of the many reasons God continues to amaze me on a daily basis. If you have one chord it can hold its own weight, but if you have two chords they can hold four times the weight, three can hold nine times the weight. Imagine the work we would get done as a full functioning unified body, going for the same goal and doing it in unison.
I hope this has inspired you to seek unity among those you are around. I wish I could include all of the verses that are written about being unified with one another. It truly shows the importance of treating each other with the same kindness and love that you show to God. If you have any more questions or would like to simply talk about how you can become more unified with those around you feel free to email me atCbergus@gmail.com. My heart is to see the body walk in true unity with one another, caring and loving each other just like Jesus and the Father did on earth and continue to do in heaven.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Transition
he counseling school that I was taking has officially finished and I am excited and saddened at the same time. On one hand I am glad to be done with school and free to do more around campus, but at the same time I am going to miss school. Until I started this class I hadn't realized how much I actually had missed school in general and the work that comes with it. While I was in high school I really didn't enjoy it, mostly because of all of the homework that we had. I had envisioned college would be different simply because I would get to choose the classes I would be taking and thus be able to choose what I enjoy. My assumptions turned out to be true. I enjoyed the work we did for the counseling school a lot more than I would any other type of school work, because I wanted to do it. The lectures were something I looked forward to on a daily basis and not something I was dreading each and everyday like I remember doing in my high school days.
Although these past three months have been such a growing time for me I am stoked to start the next season of my life here in Hawaii. For the next two months or so I am planning to work with the campus development department here on base. I have been working with them for the past three months as my work duty (2 hours a day worth of work for student, essentially a job), during that time we did an assortment of construction jobs from framing walls to pouring slabs of cement. During the next two months of work I will be doing whatever is necessary to see the completion of the buildings that are currently under construction on the mission base here. As soon as all of electrical and plumbing is finished we will be dry-walling the whole new two story dormitory, which will probably take around one full month of work.
During this time the members of the Awaken DTS staff will be continuing to meet and prepare for the DTS this summer. We meet a few times a week to bond and build relationship with each other. We are a very dedicated group of people and we expect a lot out of this summer. Among the group there is a deep hunger to see the Kingdom of Heaven invade earth and at the same time relaxing in knowing it’s the Lord who will bring it as we wait on Him. We are all learning about resting in the Lord, gaining new understanding of what it truly means to "be still and know that I am God" and that all we do HAS to be based out of a love for God and a love for others. Without the foundation of those two things all of our efforts will fail. The Lord is doing amazing things among us and we are ready for even more! Pray for us as we long for a deeper understanding of the love and restful relationship with our creator.
Although these past three months have been such a growing time for me I am stoked to start the next season of my life here in Hawaii. For the next two months or so I am planning to work with the campus development department here on base. I have been working with them for the past three months as my work duty (2 hours a day worth of work for student, essentially a job), during that time we did an assortment of construction jobs from framing walls to pouring slabs of cement. During the next two months of work I will be doing whatever is necessary to see the completion of the buildings that are currently under construction on the mission base here. As soon as all of electrical and plumbing is finished we will be dry-walling the whole new two story dormitory, which will probably take around one full month of work.
During this time the members of the Awaken DTS staff will be continuing to meet and prepare for the DTS this summer. We meet a few times a week to bond and build relationship with each other. We are a very dedicated group of people and we expect a lot out of this summer. Among the group there is a deep hunger to see the Kingdom of Heaven invade earth and at the same time relaxing in knowing it’s the Lord who will bring it as we wait on Him. We are all learning about resting in the Lord, gaining new understanding of what it truly means to "be still and know that I am God" and that all we do HAS to be based out of a love for God and a love for others. Without the foundation of those two things all of our efforts will fail. The Lord is doing amazing things among us and we are ready for even more! Pray for us as we long for a deeper understanding of the love and restful relationship with our creator.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Cathedral vs. Temple Thinking
When Ashley presented the topic of cathedral vs. temple thinking last week I realized I had debated over it a little in the past, but when she gave it to the class I was pretty set in temple thinking. The difference between the two types of thinking is still based out of Greek and Hebraic mindsets, cathedral- Greek and temple- Hebraic. Simply explained, the cathedral thinking is we must get out of this world so we can dwell with God and when we die we are going to heaven. Essentially it is an escapism mindset that doesn't care about the earth because we are leaving it anyway. The temple thinking is we are here on earth and this is where God wants to dwell with us and when we die we aren't going anywhere. At the end of the age when Jesus comes back he will create a new earth and we will dwell there with him. Let me go into more detail.
Cathedral thinking was developed by the Greeks and the church adopted it through Greek philosophers who got saved and then started to influence the Christian church. This mindset believes the earth is only a place we are passing through and the treasure lies at the end of your life when you die and go to a giant mansion in Heaven. They display with the physical cathedrals in our cities here on earth, huge roofs, beautiful interior. They were meant to give you an out of this world experience when you entered them. Many churches today are still under this influence, they don't see the earth as a place we should take care of simply because we are going to leave it and God will destroy it.
On the opposite is the temple mindset which is what the Hebraic mindset is oriented towards, it is a biblically based mindset. When God created man He desired to dwell with man here on earth, man was never intended to die. If man was never intended to die, then the earth was never intended to pass away. But after man sinned, death entered the earth and thus the process of destruction started. As you go on through scripture you will see many times how God wants to dwell with man on earth, he lead the Israelites through the desert as a cloud by day and fire by night, He dwelt in the temple that was built for Him in Jerusalem. Of course He is never restrained to any specific roll man places on Him; He just wants to be here with us. Under the new covenant we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and He dwells in every believer, showing again that God wants to be here with us and not waiting for us to die so we can be with Him. At the end of the age Jesus is coming back and He will create a new earth on which the New Jerusalem will be built and we will live there for eternity.
I don't know about you, but I think the Hebraic mindset sounds like a lot more fun and it is way easier to believe because of the fact it is biblically based. Just as last time, if you would like to hear more about this topic you can email me at Cbergus@gmail.com.
Cathedral thinking was developed by the Greeks and the church adopted it through Greek philosophers who got saved and then started to influence the Christian church. This mindset believes the earth is only a place we are passing through and the treasure lies at the end of your life when you die and go to a giant mansion in Heaven. They display with the physical cathedrals in our cities here on earth, huge roofs, beautiful interior. They were meant to give you an out of this world experience when you entered them. Many churches today are still under this influence, they don't see the earth as a place we should take care of simply because we are going to leave it and God will destroy it.
On the opposite is the temple mindset which is what the Hebraic mindset is oriented towards, it is a biblically based mindset. When God created man He desired to dwell with man here on earth, man was never intended to die. If man was never intended to die, then the earth was never intended to pass away. But after man sinned, death entered the earth and thus the process of destruction started. As you go on through scripture you will see many times how God wants to dwell with man on earth, he lead the Israelites through the desert as a cloud by day and fire by night, He dwelt in the temple that was built for Him in Jerusalem. Of course He is never restrained to any specific roll man places on Him; He just wants to be here with us. Under the new covenant we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and He dwells in every believer, showing again that God wants to be here with us and not waiting for us to die so we can be with Him. At the end of the age Jesus is coming back and He will create a new earth on which the New Jerusalem will be built and we will live there for eternity.
I don't know about you, but I think the Hebraic mindset sounds like a lot more fun and it is way easier to believe because of the fact it is biblically based. Just as last time, if you would like to hear more about this topic you can email me at Cbergus@gmail.com.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Greek Vs. Hebraic Mindsets
This past week's teaching was brought by Ashley Little, the older sister of one of my best friends, Chris Little. She started off this week speaking on how our mindset in the American church has been heavily influenced by the Greek philosophers of old.
The most prominent way this is evident is by looking at the way we think opposed to the way of Hebraic thinking (anything related to the culture and/or language of the Hebrews). The Greek thinking pattern is a linear one, A+B=C and so on, but if A+B doesn't =C then it can't equal D, E, etc. Most of the Christian church is in this pattern of thinking; for example, Romans 8 says that we have been predestined by God, but we are told to pray in other passages. All of the apostles and Jesus model prayer as a spiritual discipline and something that moves the heart of God, the Greek thinking looks at this and says that one is wrong because they contradict each other and proceeds to get rid of the one they think is wrong, because it doesn't line up with the linear thinking pattern. Now the Hebraic way of thinking is what is called 'box' thinking, each book of the Bible is divided up as a box and each of the boxes is the inspired word of God and since "it is impossible for God to lie" (Hebrews 6:18) then each of these boxes, no matter how much they contradict the other are 100% truth.
For most of us this is hard to grasp, because as Americans, whether in or out of the church, we have all been taught with a linear thinking pattern and “the teacher is always right”. This is something else that contradicts what was originally designed for the church. The way the Jews would teach in the temple is they would read scripture out loud and then everybody would discuss it, there wasn't one person who knew it all and would be the single person teaching. That design came from Constantine, when he started to Romanize Christianity. Constantine outlawed the Jewish style of teaching and made it like the Roman senate, where one person would get up and teach all of the lay people. This has continued on today and was not the original design for the body of Christ. Our best representation of church is the house church, lead out by a single person and the 'congregation' is open for discussion on the topic that is shared.
This week has been a very challenging week for me and it has tested my thinking on many levels than I had anticipated. I had no idea how much the Greek philosophers had influenced our church and the way we look at scripture these days. I would love to chat more about this if any of you are interested, please email me at Christerbergus@gmail.com. I will be posting another blog very soon including more principles Ashley taught.
The most prominent way this is evident is by looking at the way we think opposed to the way of Hebraic thinking (anything related to the culture and/or language of the Hebrews). The Greek thinking pattern is a linear one, A+B=C and so on, but if A+B doesn't =C then it can't equal D, E, etc. Most of the Christian church is in this pattern of thinking; for example, Romans 8 says that we have been predestined by God, but we are told to pray in other passages. All of the apostles and Jesus model prayer as a spiritual discipline and something that moves the heart of God, the Greek thinking looks at this and says that one is wrong because they contradict each other and proceeds to get rid of the one they think is wrong, because it doesn't line up with the linear thinking pattern. Now the Hebraic way of thinking is what is called 'box' thinking, each book of the Bible is divided up as a box and each of the boxes is the inspired word of God and since "it is impossible for God to lie" (Hebrews 6:18) then each of these boxes, no matter how much they contradict the other are 100% truth.
For most of us this is hard to grasp, because as Americans, whether in or out of the church, we have all been taught with a linear thinking pattern and “the teacher is always right”. This is something else that contradicts what was originally designed for the church. The way the Jews would teach in the temple is they would read scripture out loud and then everybody would discuss it, there wasn't one person who knew it all and would be the single person teaching. That design came from Constantine, when he started to Romanize Christianity. Constantine outlawed the Jewish style of teaching and made it like the Roman senate, where one person would get up and teach all of the lay people. This has continued on today and was not the original design for the body of Christ. Our best representation of church is the house church, lead out by a single person and the 'congregation' is open for discussion on the topic that is shared.
This week has been a very challenging week for me and it has tested my thinking on many levels than I had anticipated. I had no idea how much the Greek philosophers had influenced our church and the way we look at scripture these days. I would love to chat more about this if any of you are interested, please email me at Christerbergus@gmail.com. I will be posting another blog very soon including more principles Ashley taught.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Meyers Briggs
As you can probably guess from the title of this blog we've been studying Meyers Briggs this week. I'd never heard of the Meyers Briggs test, but as I mentioned the topic to others around me they would list letters saying, "I'm an ESFP," or something like that. It wasn't too long before they explained this was a personality test. As the week started I was very skeptical of the topic, mostly because I felt like personality tests put people in boxes that define who they are and then tell them how they should act. Usually they will tell you your strengths and weaknesses, which are very helpful, but I don't think those things should define your identity or how you treat others.
As the week got started it seemed my conclusion was correct, we were slapping a label on every person in our class, with labels such as "ESTJ" (Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging). When they would start to explain each letter and what the combinations meant and how certain combinations would act in daily life I thought I had this thing figured out. I started to assume there was a ranking system and each type was better than another, like rock paper scissors. I realized there wasn't a “best” one but they each compliment the other. Just as I thought I had this whole test thing figured out, the speaker said something that will stay with me forever, "Meyers Briggs doesn't put you in a box, but takes you out of one." What?!?! That completely went against everything I ever thought about personality tests.
Let me explain what he meant in this statement. Many people put themselves in boxes because they think others should act the same way as them, make decisions the same way, or look at things the same way. What the Meyers Briggs test is designed to do is to take people out of that box and to show you there are different personality types that look at things differently and makes decisions different, etc. Now many people think when they give the traits of your personality type you must act that way and fit into that paradigm. But our speaker also explained many people operate all over the board in the different personality types and you can fix very few people to one set of letters. We also found out almost all of the letters are split evenly in the USA, meaning half of the people are extrovert and half introvert. This week of class totally changed my view of personality tests and how they help and teach people. I'm very excited to help people come to the same revelation I did about these tests. Most of all, I'm looking forward to using this tool in all the different types of ministry I work in throughout my life. It truly helps me to know how to relate and treat those around me like they should be treated, like Jesus would treat them. If you would like to learn more or chat about this week’s topic you can email me at Christerbergus@gmail.com.
As the week got started it seemed my conclusion was correct, we were slapping a label on every person in our class, with labels such as "ESTJ" (Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging). When they would start to explain each letter and what the combinations meant and how certain combinations would act in daily life I thought I had this thing figured out. I started to assume there was a ranking system and each type was better than another, like rock paper scissors. I realized there wasn't a “best” one but they each compliment the other. Just as I thought I had this whole test thing figured out, the speaker said something that will stay with me forever, "Meyers Briggs doesn't put you in a box, but takes you out of one." What?!?! That completely went against everything I ever thought about personality tests.
Let me explain what he meant in this statement. Many people put themselves in boxes because they think others should act the same way as them, make decisions the same way, or look at things the same way. What the Meyers Briggs test is designed to do is to take people out of that box and to show you there are different personality types that look at things differently and makes decisions different, etc. Now many people think when they give the traits of your personality type you must act that way and fit into that paradigm. But our speaker also explained many people operate all over the board in the different personality types and you can fix very few people to one set of letters. We also found out almost all of the letters are split evenly in the USA, meaning half of the people are extrovert and half introvert. This week of class totally changed my view of personality tests and how they help and teach people. I'm very excited to help people come to the same revelation I did about these tests. Most of all, I'm looking forward to using this tool in all the different types of ministry I work in throughout my life. It truly helps me to know how to relate and treat those around me like they should be treated, like Jesus would treat them. If you would like to learn more or chat about this week’s topic you can email me at Christerbergus@gmail.com.
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