We come now, in our series on self-knowledge for godliness and ministry and our thinking about personality tests as a kind of ‘worked example’, to a weakness of personality theories closely related to the one we saw last time: overvaluing the insight.
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Archives: life
Please hurt me, I’m not a masochist
Life
I have an admission, and it’s time to make it public: I suffer from CPA (Chronic Pain Avoidance) syndrome. I hate conflict, so I try to avoid saying things that will cause it. I don’t like physical pain, so I try not to exercise too hard. My eight-year-old son gave me what he describes as a squeeze cuddle the other day, and my ribs hurt for the next 24 hours. The older I get, the more pain-averse I become. (more…)
Self-knowledge for godliness and ministry (Part 5)
Life
Jennie and I have been discussing personality theories as a worked example of pursuing self knowledge in the service of godliness and ministry. Jennie has discussed some of what they offer, and in my last post, I discussed two interlinked possible problems they can create: justifying sin in ourselves or others. Over the next two posts, we turn to two more related weaknesses—weaknesses arising from over-valuing the insight that personality tests might offer.
Self-knowledge for godliness and ministry (Part 4)
Life
Jennie and I are pursuing a series on self-knowledge in the context of godliness and ministry, and we have been looking at personality tests as a kind of ‘idiot’s guide’ example—a way to begin cultivating the kinds of non-biblical (but not anti-biblical) knowledge and thinking that will promote a good understanding of ourselves. Last time around, Jennie looked at some of the strengths of such tests—the kind of issues they can flag for us, and hence the kind of resources they can offer.
However, it is one of the perennial features of sinners like us that there is no gift that God gives, however powerfully good or however prosaic, that we cannot pervert and turn into fuel for further sin. And personality theories, like more serious psychology in general, often generate certain characteristic abuses of what is offered. These are the weaknesses of personality theories, and without a serious engagement with the problems inherent to personality theory, one cannot use the tool properly; one has to understand the limitations and problems, as well as what it can do, to have any chance of using it in the service of the glory of God.
So over my next couple of posts, here are a bunch of weaknesses to do with personality theories—again, not an exhaustive list, but a list designed to prompt the kind of thinking that makes us self-aware about the limitations to the self-awareness that such tests can offer.
A Twilight romance
Life
Today die-hard fans are rejoicing over the release of New Moon, the second movie in the Twilight series based on the bestselling quartet of books by American author Stephenie Meyer. For those who have been living in a vacuum and therefore don’t know what I’m talking about, the Twilight series is about the relationship between Isabella ‘Bella’ Swan, a child of divorce who goes to live with her father in Forks, Washington, and Edward Cullen, a telepathic 104-year-old vampire who feeds off animals instead of humans and who finds Bella strangely irresistible. The books, with their themes of romance, budding sexuality and forbidden love, are hugely popular—not just with teenage girls (who comprise Meyer’s core audience), but with women of all ages. Furthermore, their status in pop culture has paved the way for a host of other vampire-related literature and entertainment (e.g. True Blood, Vampire Academy, The Vampire Diaries), not to mention an increasing interest in paranormal romance. (For those interested, I’ve blogged elsewhere about Stephenie Meyer, Mormonism, love and Twilight.) (more…)
Admitting our sins
Life, Sola Panel
I’d like to admit something to you. My admission isn’t particularly juicy or scandalous, but it’s an admission, nonetheless. The admission is this: I’m not honest enough with people when it comes to my sins. I don’t admit my sins to others often enough. The reason I don’t do it is pride, fear of what people will think, and general obliviousness to my own sin. (more…)
You don’t know my pain (a particularly lousy argument)
Life
I’ve been on the rampage about lousy arguments—arguments that get used and abused without any reflection on the validity of the argument. A friend at church on Sunday reminded me about another particularly heinous example that is employed all too regularly: the ‘you don’t know my pain’ defence. (more…)
When it’s time to go: The what, why and how of leaving church
Life
Thinking of leaving your church? Simon Flinders takes a look at what church is, why you’d leave (and why you wouldn’t) and how to leave well. (more…)
Greasy inclines (an almost lousy argument)
Life
“If you come across a bird’s nest …”
Life
A few people have asked me about the magpie (which actually turned out to be a currawong) and its eggs since I wrote about them a couple of months ago. The good news was that the currawong’s boldness was vindicated and the nest survived. (more…)
The Syrophoenician woman
Life, Sola Panel
One of Jesus’ most jarring statements occurs in the story of the Syrophoenician woman, Mark 7:24-27:
And from there [Jesus] arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
This saying of Jesus, spoken as it is to a poor, vulnerable woman with a suffering, oppressed little girl, sounds uncharacteristically harsh. Not only does it seem to reflect a nationalistic, even racist, attitude to God’s blessing (God’s blessing is for his children, not for Syrophoenicians), it’s couched in the most derogatory terms imaginable. (When Jesus mentions “dogs”, he means dirty little mongrels, not adorable Labrador puppies.) (more…)
Delightful whispers from the Psalms
Life
Reading the Psalms after reading about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection brings its own delightful surprises. Like so much of the message the world calls foolish, the surprises don’t draw attention to themselves with all kinds of fireworks; often they come with just a whisper.
Of pots and kettles and other things that aren’t black anymore (or another lousy argument)
Life
It’s kind of funny the way the English language dates. How my pot (which is made from stainless steel) could call my kettle (which is constructed from high quality white plastic now beiged with age) black is a mystery that I’m sure my children could ponder without resolution for some time. Nevertheless, the saying persists as another one of those lousy arguments that get better with age.
It’s right up there with “Get that log out of your own eye” and “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Both of these (rather like our proverbial water boiling appliances) are excellent pieces of godly advice, but hopeless ethical arguments. Before you lynch me for speaking about the Bible like this, let me explain.
FlashForward, or guidance and the grace of God
Life
Over the last few weeks, Emma and I have enjoyed watching the new TV show FlashForward. In the first episode, the entirety of humanity blacks out simultaneously for exactly two minutes and 17 seconds. During this blackout, everyone has a ‘flash-forward’, and experiences a snapshot of their own life six months in the future.
Animism, alive and well
Life, Sola Panel
I worked with a group of southern Sudanese pastors to help them to develop a discipleship training program for their churches. Remembering my own experience, I suggested that the starting point be a study explaining the nature of grace. “Yes”, they agreed, “after we have taught about witchcraft”. It seemed extraordinary that ‘Discipleship 101’ in Sudan should begin with a study on witchcraft. But as I talked with my Sudanese friends, I came to appreciate that to understand grace, we must first realize that God is sovereign over all creation and that our world is not controlled through curses and spells. True grace cannot be understood properly by those trapped in an animistic worldview.1
What the Sudanese church is learning, we are unlearning. We walk around towns and claim them for God; we seek deliverance from family curses; we release Christians from spirits of anger; we refuse to live in places where bad things have happened. Many Australian Christians share the belief of our non-Christian neighbours that evil clings to places and has to be cleansed or it will threaten the future occupants. (more…)