It's understandable that we want to understand ourselves, but there is a difference between understanding who we are at the moment and using personality tests as if they are horoscopes that predict our future. I have heard many of my colleagues tell me they are a Sanguine or a Melancholy as though that explains their lives to date and defines their calling for tomorrow. We now label generations with a set of characteristics to both tell us who we are and who we will become.
American culture has long encouraged us "to find ourselves" as though we were born with a set on inflexible skills and interests that have to be discovered in order for us to find ourselves. We look for boxes to fit ourselves into. Interestingly, God's focus is on growth rather than discovery. Jesus came to bring us freedom from who we "are" while living a sinful life so that we can become someone we never dreamed of being through life with his Spirit.
Paul tells us that the Christian life entails taking off the old man and putting on the new man (Eph 4:22-24). An assessment can give me insight on how I act and function in different situations right now. I think that's helpful. But as soon as I begin to use those assessment labels to describe myself generally, I'm in trouble. I have become a new creation in Christ, and, if I am following Christ in obedience, I'm being constantly transformed. Those labels can make me believe that I am fated to remain as I am forever. At that point, they might as well be zodiac symbols, but as a Christian I believe in growth rather than fate.
Who are we becoming in Christ? That should be our first question. How can we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our growth?: should be our second. Scripture guides us through the answer to both these questions.
There are at least two ways to see life. In one, life is like a road that has already been laid down. There is one perfect course for each of us. One job, one perfect mate out there, one set of personality traits, etc. If we can discover it, then we might be okay. The problem is that one step off that road messes up everything. The other view is that life is dynamic. We are born into situations that we couldn't choose, but what we do with life, how we respond, and who we become is a cooperative work that we are deeply involved in.
Our choices are limited without Christ, but with him many new possibilities open up. Fate loses it's place as a meaningful explanation for life. Instead, the Spirit comes alongside us and offers us a new creative collaboration.
In 1992, Neil Howe and William Strauss wrote Generations. It was the first book to describe the different generations of American history and how they impact each other. Much of our current labeling of different generations is based on their work. I highly recommend their work. They didn't write their book as a straight jacket for the future. It was their hope that an understanding of how each generation influences the next would lead us to break the cycle rather than reinforce it, but we seem to enjoy pigeonholing more than growth. Jesus is about breaking the cycle, about new birth, about growth.
We should understand the impact that our past and our environment has on our future, but we shouldn't be slaves to those forces. Your life is a road, but it hasn't been built yet. It's still being built. If you build it with God's Spirit, then you will find he has the power to create in you a life that leaves the labels behind while you continue to grow. In Christ, you don't find yourself. You become yourself.
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