I recently completed an online personality test and discovered that I have none (that is, no personality). I’m joking, sort of. Although I feel that way at times, I know it’s not true and my test results tell me I have a Protagonist Personality (ENFJ-T). These results are disappointing because it means my wife is right and I am wrong. You see, the “E” stands for extroverted and when Kelly and I participated in premarital counseling more than 25 years ago, my test results told me I was INFJ, with the “I” standing for introverted. While I still claim to be an introvert, my wife says I have changed and that is no longer the case.
Okay, Kelly, if you’re reading this, you were right. But barely. The test said I’m 51% extroverted and 49% introverted. I don’t want to bore the rest of you with too many details, but here are a few interesting tidbits from the summary of my test results:
- Protagonists radiate authenticity, concern and altruism; they easily see people’s motivations and seemingly disconnected events.
- Protagonists have a genuine interest in others, almost to a fault – when they believe in someone, they can become too involved in the other person’s problems.
- Protagonists are true team players, and they recognize that that means listening to other people’s opinions, even when they contradict their own.
- Protagonists are a bedrock of empathetic support, not bullheadedly telling people what they ought to do, but helping them to explore their options.
- Protagonists don’t need much to be happy, just to know that their partner is happy.
I must admit that I see myself in these statements. And I must also admit that I’m not surprised that Kelly was right, since she’s normally right and she often knows me better than I know myself.
But my real point here is to understand that God made me this way for a reason. And he made you a certain way for a reason. This started where most things start: in the beginning. As we read in Genesis 1:27, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Something about who I am has its origins in who God is. Whatever my personality is, and whatever yours is, it’s part of the image of God in which we were created. In addition, God gave each of us gifts and talents that are meant to be used for God’s purposes. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 that the body (the church, those of us who are Christians) is “not made up of one part but of many” (verse 14) and that “God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (verse 18).
Our ultimate purpose is to glorify God, to make much of Him and not of ourselves. That’s why we’re called to tell the world about Him and that’s why we’re told to “let [our] light shine before others, that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). We do this in different ways according to the unique ways in which God has created each of us in His image. If you carry out your God-given purpose, people will look at you and say, “He’s got personality” or “she’s got personality,” and your life will point them to the One who made you just the way you are: introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in between.
Troy Burns