The Journey

Invitation to a Journey ~ A Road Map to Spiritual Formation
M. Robert Mulholland & Ruth Haley Barton
plus
Notes and writings on Spiritual Formation from the
Institute for Spiritual Formation, Biola University

Lesson 11—Part II—The Vehicle: Personality and Piety
Spiritual Formation and Psychology go hand in hand, neither replacing the other, but both acting as means of grace to form us in the image of Christ for the sake of others.
                       
Chapter 5:  Creation Gifts

Opening Prayer

1.  We are all One Body in Christ
I Corinthians 12:12-14
Unique and Corporate
Individuals in a Caravan
What is Interdependence?
The holistic spirituality of the individual is essential for the the spiritual health of the community and vice versa.
Cells in a physical body

2.  Carl Jung and his model of Human Behavior
Double Knowledge of God and Self—John Calvin, Teresa of Avila
Necessary to truly be formed in the image of Christ
Myers-Briggs test
Understanding how we are created, how others are created
Helps with empathy within the community

3.  Personality Types
An endless variety within the constructs of the 4 type categories
Introvert vs. Extrovert--How do you recharge?
Intuition (N) vs. Sensing (S)—How do you relate to the world around you?
Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)—How do you make decisions?
Judgment (J) vs. Perception (P)—How do you relate to the flow of life?


4.  Not Either/Or, but Both/And
We all have degrees of these types.
“Handedness”—Left, Right, Ambidextrous
Not right or wrong, true or false, good or bad

5.  Other Factors in our Personality
Birth Order
Family history
Sociocultural upbringing
Stages of development

6.  Flexibility
I might be right handed but wouldn’t want to live without my left hand—we need both
We need to be able to function in whatever end of the spectrum is most appropriate at the time
Some introverts are called on to function as extroverts at times. The difference is in how they recharge.
Some Judging types are called on to act from Perception for a period of time.  The incident can help them stretch.
There is  no normal, unusual, wrong or evil in personality type.  They are creation gifts.

Practice:
Take some time to pray through Barton’s exercise at the end of Chapter 5.  Explore your personality types.  Consider how you fit in the Body of Christ.
How dies it relate to spiritual maturity?







You can share our lessons with others who can’t be here in person by referring them to http://christian-transformationblog.blogspot.com

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