Signature

So, remember yesterday, when I said I'd be back today to talk about 'signature sins'? Here, as promised, I have typed out THREE pages of text from the book, "The Me I Want to Be". Which? By the way? TAKES ME FOREVER, because I kinda suck at typing. And, because I am listening to Northview's podcasts while doing this, and I end up typing the words I'm hearing with my ears, not the words I'm reading with my eyes. 

Anyway, from what I understand, Mangis is proposing that our sins are predictable based on our gifts. People with the gift of leadership, for example, are going to have 'signature' sins that people with the gift of servanthood will likely not be troubled with. 

"We do not get tempted by that which repulses us. Temptation rarelybegins by trying to get us to do something that is 180 degrees in the opposite direction of our values. It starts close to home with the passions and desires that God wired into us and tries to oull them a few degrees off course. Our sin takes a consistent and predictable course. The pattern of your sin is related to the pattern of your gifts. For example, extroverts who can inspire and encourage can also be prone to gossip. People who love to learn will be tempted to feel superior and talk down to others. Those who are spontaneous, and have a great appetite for life will struggle with impulse control. Good listeners may become passive enablers. Optimists wander toward denial."

So, read the list below. 

Can you see yourself? Do you agree?

Can you see your kids? Your spouse? Your boss? Your friends?

What do you think?

What's interesting, is that, I can totally see some people very clearly in this list. BUT I CAN'T SEE MYSELF. We talked about this over the weekend, and I could see Clint, Jesse, Sandra, Val and John in this list. But not myself. 

And I was afraid to ask them if they saw me. 

What a vulnerable question to ask... because in addition to ask someone what they see your GIFTS as being, you're also asking them to identify your SINS. 

Anyway, I was in a 'circle of trust' (HAHAHAHA) - with a few of the people on earth who probably know me best, and they too, couldn't identify me. 

So - read away:

 Personality Types: Their Strengths and Weaknesses

(Summarized from Michael Mangis’ book – Signature Sins: Taming Our Wayward Hearts)

1.Reformers have a deep love of perfection. They naturally have a high standard of excellence and their greatest fear is to be flawed. They make good surgeons and great golfers. At best they are crusaders, watch dogs, and prophets. They wrestle with perfectionism and self-righteousness. They will be tempted to judge others whose standards are not so high.

• Strengths 

•  Lives with an internal standard of what is good, noble, and beautiful
•  Calls others to live better lives

• Weaknesses

• Can be arrogant when unredeemed
• Has high standards that can lead to a secret, inner sense of inadequacy

2.Servers love to be needed. They are natural caregivers who will fluff up your pillow even if it doesn’t need fluffing. They remember birthdays and are the first ones up to do the dishes. Often servers work in positions where they support someone else, and they will feel most comfortable in a social gathering when they have something to do. While they are drawn to help, their helping can sometimes come out of their own neediness. Underneath their servanthood sometimes lurks low self-esteem that demands to be fed but can never be filled up. Sometimes servers marry addicts because that forms a kind of symbiotic relationship.

• Strengths

• Lives out love in action
• Has a natural other-centeredness that makes people feel cared for

• Weaknesses

• Can use “giving” to manipulate others
• Sometimes mistakes servanthood with fear or low esteem

3.Achievers love to conquer challenges and perform before others. At their best, they are motivated to grow, stretch, and learn. They can inspire and move people to action, and they often like to be in front of crowds. Giving a talk, which is the most common fear in America, often energizes them.  If they don’t have a chance to develop and shine, they will lose motivation. Achievers want to make an impact on the world around them. Their temptation is that they can live for their image, idolizing their own performance. Unredeemed, they will be prone to measure their success in terms of applause and recognition. An unredeemed achiever can turn what looks like serving God into serving himself.

• Strengths

• Has a strong desire to grow
• Has the ability to accomplish things and add value in the lives of the world around them

• Weaknesses

•  Has the temptation to be preoccupied with one’s own success
•  Sometimes uses other people to receive applause or approval

4.Artists love beauty and carry inside strong desire to be unique. They love to express their individuality in bold ways and enjoy living on the margins. In different eras they were beatniks, hippies, or punk rockers. They often have a very strong sense of what kind of look they want to effect or what life they want to create that they cannot express in words but that emerges in art or action.  While they bring color and flair to a world that might otherwise be drab, their sensitivity can enslave them to emotional swings, and their desire to be special can become preoccupying. Their temptation is connected to the need to be different. In their need to be special and stand out, they may look down on ‘ordinary people’. They want to be bohemian – unless they live in Bohemia.

• Strengths

•  Loves beauty and goodness
•  Brings imagination to life, love and faith

• Weaknesses

•  Finds that the need to be different can become an end in itself
•  Can be tempted to give in to impulses and live an undisciplined life

5.Thinkers like to know – everything. At their best, they are the investigators, scientists, and inventors among us. They love to discover truths that no one else has seen and to master a body of knowledge, a skill, or a hobby on their own. They often have amazing memories for the information that they are interested in, and they are often quite introverted. If you are a thinker, you probably like your own space. While thinkers love knowledge, knowledge can ‘puff up’. Sometimes thinkers love being right more than they love the people around them. Thinkers do not like to lose an argument, and in their minds that has never happened. They don’t like to be interrupted, and they go into solitude for hours, if not days. That doesn’t mean that they are more spiritual; they just have a low need to be around people. Thinkers are not fun to argue with – unless you are one.

• Strengths

• Is a discoverer, inventor, and lover of logic
• Holds a passion for truth – even when it is costly

• Weaknesses

• Having conviction of being right can lead to arrogance
• Can be tempted to withdraw from relationships and love

6.Loyalists were born to be part of a team. They crave a cause to which they can give themselves and a community that they can believe in. At their best they can help everyone else become better. They are usually quite bright and often articulate, although they may not volunteer their thoughts. But they can grow cynical when they feel let down – which is inevitable at times. Loyalists’ suspicion of God is that He is fickle, hard, or unfair, and their signature sin is fear.

• Strengths

• Is faithful and dependable when the chips are down
• Loves to be part of a great team

• Weaknesses

• Is prone to skepticism or cynicism
• When threatened, can be pushed into isolation by fear

7. Enthusiasts are wired to be the life of the party. They can add zest and color to the lives of everyone around them, and in their perfect world they would be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. They enthusiast will often have a gift for storytelling – and they may talk about themselves a lot. If you talk with them about their problems, they may listen to you at first, but it doesn’t seem to stick with them. Enthusiasts are always saying ‘cool’, ‘awesome’, ‘wow’, ‘fabulous’, or ‘great’. They can live for years without seeing the pain or darkness in other people or themselves. They are also tempted to make life revolve around the pursuit of positive feelings –the desire for gratification – and they become miserable if they feel they are not getting enough attention.

• Strengths

• Has high capacity for joy and emotional expression
• Has enthusiasm that is contagious

• Weaknesses

• Can have a need to be the center of attention
• Has a need to avoid pain that can lead to escape or addiction

8.Commanders are created to understand power and leadership, to know how it works and to feel a natural pull toward it. If this is you, being strong is very important to you. You have a need to lead. Opposition usually energizes you, but power can become an end in itself, and you can get frustrated when you are not getting your own way. Other people may be frightened by you if they don’t agree with you. If you are a commander, you do not like to be coached, taught, corrected or led.

• Strengths

• Has a passion for justice and a desire to champion a great cause
• Has charisma to lead that inspires others

• Weaknesses

• Has a need for power that can cause others to feel used
• Sometimes relies on fear and intimidation to get one’s own way

9.Peacemakers have a natural love for serenity and tranquility; they thrive when life is calm. Peacemakers love the verse “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Peacemakers can make excellent therapists and mediators, and in their redeemed state they bring reconciliation to families, neighbourhoods, and workplaces. But peacemakers can be tempted to seek peace at any price, using their relationship skills to blend in and avoid taking initiative or assuming risks because of their undue attachment to comfort. They often suffer from ‘terminal niceness’ when courage is required instead.

• Strengths

• Has a natural ability to listen well and give wise counsel
• Has an easy-going, low-maintenance relational style

• Weaknesses

• Has a tendency to smooth things over and avoid conflict
• Is passive 

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Thoughts? Let's go out for coffee and talk.


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Things I'm thankful for:
1. My bangs are trimmed. I WILL not wait this long next time. Seriously.
2. Lists like this one: BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY FAITH. Which books would be on your list?
3. Friends who send their husbands over to help me with a blue chores. Thank you friends.
4. Yay, Charlene has a 'published' article: Read it here.
5. A perfect evening at Crescent Beach, so so SO thankful for friends.
6. My dad. He told me today, as I sat down to feed him his lunch, "You're looking good." Oh dad. Thank you. I am thankful that dads are their daughters' greatest fans.

Shalom,