That Time I Gave Up Personality Profiles for Lent
That Time I Gave Up Personality Profiles for Lent
{ What’s the Strangest Thing You’ve Ever Given Up for Lent? }
I’m a recovering personality-profile junkie.
I say that somewhat in jest, but I was in high school the first time I heard about the four basic temperaments according to the Greeks: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Soon afterwards, I learned about the sixteen Myers-Briggs personality types, and I devoured several books on the subject. Then I discovered more typological systems: DiSC, Enneagram, Strengths Finder, and others.
I’ve taken the assessments. I’ve read the profiles. And I can speak fluently in personality shorthand. I’m an INTX*, a high C, and a 5w4. To some, that may sound like a strange sort of Pig Latin. To others, it’s a quick way to recognize certain personality patterns.
As a young person, I enjoyed this process of self-discovery as these systems offered a language that helped to articulate why some of my experiences felt unique to me. For instance, of the sixteen Myers-Briggs personality types, I learned that INTPs and INTJs are among the rarest personalities found in the general population. This helped me understand why I sometimes felt so different from those around me.
But as I grew older, and especially as these various typologies exploded in familiarity through mediums like social media, I began to grow somewhat cautious of them. While I appreciated some of the initial insights they offered, I also saw their shortcomings. For example, I may be a true-blue introvert, but that doesn’t mean I can’t walk into a room with confidence and comfortably engage with strangers next to me. But if a person clings too tightly to their personality profile as their sole identity, then being an introvert could become an easy excuse for refraining from meeting new people in new situations.
In other words, it’s important that we not take these personality labels so seriously that we limit ourselves according to the scripted profiles. We are more than a number or a series of capital letters. Even if folks know my Enneagram number or DiSC profile, that doesn’t mean they actually know me. Humans are dynamic beings with lived experiences that greatly shape who we become.
It’s important that we not take these personality labels so seriously that we limit ourselves according to the scripted profiles. We are more than a number or a series of capital letters.
My other concern with the widespread popularity of these personality profiling systems is the way these typologies keep us focused on ourselves. We love to take the assessment and then skip ahead to the section that tells us more about ourselves. I was no different. But this quasi-obsession with personality profiles can lead us to become a bit too self-focused. I didn’t want that, so one year when Lent came around, I decided to give up personality profiles for Lent.
That may sound silly. It’s not the typical sort of thing a person abstains from during the Lenten season between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. But I sensed God drawing me away from the worldly tools and measures that could lead to an intensifying self-focus. In its stead, I focused on the life of Jesus and the path he took to the cross.
Quite a few years have now passed since that time I gave up personality profiles for Lent, but I have noticed in the intervening years that my desire to read personality profiles has continued to lessen. I hardly ever read anything about it anymore. I’d much rather investigate what God has to say in the pages of his Word.
Besides, no book other than The Book can tell us who we really are.
So, as we prepare to enter the Holy Week and look ahead to Easter, I want to encourage you, whether you gave up something for Lent this year or not: Consider some of the ways the world tries to keep us focused on ourselves, whether it’s through a personality assessment or something else.
No book other than The Book can tell us who we really are.
Then set aside some time this week to read in Scripture the final days of Jesus’s earthly life and how his death led to a miraculous resurrection and his amazing gift of redemption for all who believe. For it is only because of Christ’s sacrifice that we can truly know our real identity as beloved sons and daughters of the Living God.
Shalom.
In the comments, I’d love to hear your experiences with personality profiles. Do you love them? Loathe them? Or are you ambivalent to them?
Have you ever given up something for Lent that was probably considered unusual?
Suggested Reading for Holy Week:
*According to the Myers-Briggs, I am 100% INT, but I split the difference on the P/J scale, which is considered an INTX. In a work environment, I operate more as an INTJ and I’m more productive. But when I’m alone with free time on my hands, I inhabit the INTP type and prefer to explore ideas more creatively.
Thank you for choosing to receive my writings about faith and family and the quiet life. I offer this newsletter for free — and hope you’ll consider supporting my writing in other ways.
» Share this newsletter with friends and other potential readers.
» Order a copy of my book Sanctuary: Cultivating a Quiet Heart in a Noisy and Demanding World.
*No part of this newsletter was made with Artificial Intelligence (AI) or ghostwriters. All the words, including any accidental typos, are my own, except where I have quoted others with appropriate citations and links.
I’ve had a journey similar to yours (although I stepped back outside of Lent). It was the self-focus, and the realization that ultimately that focus leads to self-centered choices and behavior, that led me to skepticism. I’d also noticed I used these artificial identities to define me rather than God, which sealed the deal. I still see INFP tendencies in myself, but after stepping back, those pop psych quizzes are a tool, nothing else, and certainly not the final word.
I used to work for a psychological testing company so I took the Myers-Briggs several times. My results revealed me as a moderately high introvert, but a borderline NFP. Other tests I've taken land me in the middle or close to the center of the designated categories as well. I like to think that it's hard to put my temperament or personality into a box. And I don't think God sees us that way either. For Lent I've had the practice of doing one small thing each day that brings me closer to God.