Shifting into summer ministry allows a change in pace and leadership development for many youth ministries. This season houses one of my favorite spaces in youth ministry: equipping students to lead. Many trainings go into helping students lead on missions trips, as camp counselors, or community outreach events - but I want to warn you about the IDOLATRY OF PERSONALITY TESTS!
Confession - the title is click-bate and I LOVE personality tests! I remember taking my first personality test and finding out crazy things about my personality. My first test told me I was an otter/golden-retriever. We talked through strengths and weaknesses. The test was amazing how it described me. It was like they had been following me around and the results were on the paper! I went on to discover I was a ESTP in the Meyers-briggs, the enneagram came out and I found out I was a 7 wing 8 - this stuff is crazy cool!! I LOVE IT!
Caution: personality tests are for honest personal evaluation - not a prescription for leading.
Because of the availability of personality tests AND the pursuit of happiness that our students, many students have discovered personality tests on their own. Unfortunately, they are using these test as a prescriptive indicator instead of an honest evaluation. If this is the case, a personality test is no better than a horoscope.
"It's because I'm a [insert zodiac symbol]" is replaced with, "It's because I'm a [insert personality trait]."
How to correctly use personality tests:
- Use them in community
Acommon mistake in personality testing is breaking the 10th commandment... we covet other people's personalities. I WANT to be funny, be a good finisher, be a perfectionist, etc., but the truth is no-one around me sees these traits. Personality tests need to be taken in community for an HONEST assessment of where a person stands.
**Note** - when I meet someone who HATES personality tests, it sometimes indicates a poorly run test in their past mixed with person's dishonest assessment of themself. Many times they mask this dishonesty with theological reason against a test, but it is actually pride and fear of admitting personal weakness.
- Focus on self awareness
Our sin nature masks our capacity to honestly evaluate ourselves. Once a person realizes their strengths and weaknesses, celebrate their strengths. Their newly discovered personality trait might give greater clarity of purpose, but it cannot become an excuse. Extroverts STILL NEED to learn to listen and observe. Reserved personalities still need to learn to take initiative.
- Remind test takers that God likes to use us where we are uncomfortable.
Don't allow personality tests to distract students from God's call toward personal comfort. A boss might ask for a personality test and give a job but God doesn't. The Bible is full of ill-equipped people walking in God's direction to achieve incredible results. Personality tests can let you KNOW when God is calling you out of your comfort zone so that you can depend on him greater.
The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." As followers of Jesus, we are not called to walk ONLY in our strength. If we did, we could take all the glory. Instead, God's call in our lives often takes us beyond our expertise into spaces of FAITH.
The world is using personality tests to steer society toward personal comfort. As pastors and leaders we need to reclaim these tools to propel students toward God's call. God's call is often messy. His plans are typically difficult to discern. We have incredible tools that allow honest conversations about how God has made us as we follow him in faith.