The Six Extroverted Personality Temperaments

Romans 12:4-5 "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."

1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it."

1 Peter 4:10 "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Introduction:

The past couple of posts have been driven with the desire to equip God's people and church with the ability to increase understanding of one another. In the scriptures above, God has different people of different temperaments in the local church. According to Dr. Tim Lahaye's book: "Spirit-controlled Temperament", the four personality temperaments (choleric, sanguine, melancholy & phlegmatic) can yield up to twelve different combinations. Furthermore, each person has all four types, with one, two or sometimes three being the dominate ones in different measure. When we consider how each person is wired and has different levels of each temperament style, the blends and combinations can certainly exceed the ideal 12 blends. 

The Lord is so creative and innovative. If we can appreciate how each of these temperaments interact with one another, and the beauty that can result from such interaction, how can we not praise God for how such a design exists in the local church and in our families? It was with thoughts such as these that we ended yesterday's post. Today we want to consider six of the twelve different temperament blends that are spelled out in Dr. Tim Lahaye's book: "Spirit-Controlled Temperament". Before we get to them, let me briefly review the four temperaments by showing how they relate to people being extroverted and introverted.

Extroverts and Introverts
I'm sure the reader has heard of these terms "extrovert" and "introvert". An extrovert is an outgoing person who wears their emotions on their sleave and divulges their thoughts to people. Introverts are those who prefer to stay in the back ground and keep to themselves. When it comes to this issue of temperaments, two of them are extroverted (choleric and sanguine) and two are more introverted (melancholy and phlegmatic). Keeping these distinctions in mind may aid in understanding the following combinations and blends of temperaments we find ourselves or other people having and living out every day. 

The Six Extroverted Personality Temperaments (based off of Dr. Tim Lahaye's Book: Spirit-Controlled Temperaments)
The blends of the four personality temperments (choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholy) are stated in terms of one dominate and one secondary temperament. Thus for example, if a person has a dominate choleric personality temperament with a melancholy temperament being a secondary influence, we would term that temperament combination: ChlorMel (Choloric dominate and Melancholy temperment being second). Let the reader note below the following extroverted temperament blends, as spelled out by Dr. Tim Lahaye:

1). The SanChlor = a mixture of two extrovertish temperaments. The SanChlorwill have a happy charisma combined with organizational skills. Lahaye mentions Simon Peter as a possible SanChlor, being that he had a combined charisma and natural ability to jump ahead and be the leader.

2). The SanMel = SanMels are highly emotional people who fluctuate drastically. Dr. Lahaye notes: "They can laugh hysterically one minute and burst into tears the next. It is almost impossible for themm to hear a sad tale, observe the tragic plight of another person, or listen to music without weeping profusely. They genuinely feel the grief of others." Dr. Lahaye then points out that King David could had possibly been a SanMel.

3). SanPhleg = Dr. Lahaye notes: "The easiest person to like is the SanPhleg. The overpoweringand often obnoxious tendencies of a Sanguine are offset by the gracious, easygoing Phlegmatic. SanPhlegs are happy-go-lucky people whose carefree spirit  and good humor make them lightheartened entertainers. Helping people is their regular business, along with various forms of sales." Dr. Lahaye conceives of the New Testament associate of the Apostle Paul, Apollos, as being a SanPhleg personality temperament.

4). The ChlorSan = As can be seen by the name, this temperment has a dominating chloric temperament with a blended secondary sanguine temperament. According to Dr. Lahaye, this is the second strongest extroverted temperament style. Lahaye notes: "ChlorSans are almost completely given over to activity. Most of their efforts are productive and purposeful, but watch out for their reactions; they can become volatile in a moment! They are natural promoters and can sell almost anything. And they have enough charisma to attract and get along well with others." According to Dr. Lahaye, the New Testament author James fits under this category, being that he wrote with a bold style and yet was very influential in the early church.

5). The ChlorMel = Dr. Lahaye notes regarding this personality temperament blend: "The optimism and practicality of a Chloeric overcomes the moodiness of the Melancholy, making the ChlorMel both goal-oriented and detailed. Such an individual usually does well in school, possess a quick, analytical mind, yet is decisive. The Chlor Mel develops into a capable leader, the kind you can always count on to do an extraordinary job."  According to Dr. Lahaye, the Apostle Paul may very well had been a ChlorMel. 

6). ChlorPhleg = According to Dr. Lahaye, this temperament blend is the most subdued of the extrovertish temperaments. He writes: "a ahhpy blend of the quick, active, and hot with the calm, cool and unexcited. ChlorPhlegs are not as apt to rush into things as quickly as the extroverts we've previously discussed in this chapter; they are more deliberate and subdued. Though they may not impress you that way at first, they are extremely capable in the long run." According to Dr. Lahaye, Titus, the young pastor to whom Paul wrote in the Epistle of Titus, may very well has been a Chlor Phleg.

The hope today has been in introducing the reader to this helpful area of understanding people's personalities and the further categories we can use in identifying key personality traits. We considered today six extroverted temperament blends. Tomorrow we will look at the introverted tempermant blends that are dominated by the melancholy and phlegmatic temperaments.

Seeing how God uses different blends of personality temperaments in families and churches

Romans 12:4-5 "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."

Introduction and Review

The past couple of days has been devoted to understanding how God uses different personality temperaments in the overall design of His church. How different types of people that live and minister in our churches can just as easily valuable in understanding our families as well. If anything, the family is the most fundamental relational unit designed by God. Just as individuals makes up families, such families and individuals who are born-again by the Spirit of God make up our churches. In three major sections of Paul's letters (Romans 12; Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12-14) and Peter's first epistle in chapter 4, we see extended discussion on both the natural and supernatural design of God in both families and churches. 

In this particular series of posts I am interested in exploring the natural, physical and personality make-up categories that God has designed into the life of each person. Such an area of study has been around for centuries and Bible teachers have found such a study valuable in helping people understand why they do and respond like they do. A few days ago I mentioned that I am convinced that over 3/4 of the conflicts we see in churches arises as a result of not understanding each other. 

We have been using four fictional characters to unpack the four personality temperaments that we find in people: Carl Choleric; Sam Sanguine; Molly Melancholy and Fred Phlegmatic. If the read will recall, our four characters had come to a red-light in the center of an imaginary town that gave us opportunity to see how they respond in a given situation. We saw Carl Choleric being the guy who is task oriented and prone to telling others what needs to get done. When we met Sam Sanguine, he was the guy who wanted to wave hello at everyone and even though he too was excited about his trip, he more so was interested in meeting people. Molly Melancholy was very detailed and thoughtful and was willing to take turns if necessary. Then there was Fred Phlegmatic who thought it comical to watch everyone else but was content on waiting to get to his destination, knowing he would get there on time and knowing what he would do.

Well now all four of our characters have arrived at their destination and have met and are now returning to their individual homes. We won't have them go through a red-light again but rather we want to understand further this concept of personality temperament and understand that for every person, there are blends of all four of these temperament types, as well as certain temperaments working differently in different people. Later on we will see how this insight aids in understanding what happens in our families and churches, based upon the scriptures cited above. 

Carl Choleric's home - a combination of order and creativity

Carl is married to a woman who is Melancholy - the creative, mainly introverted and thoughtful personality type. Carl and his wife love each other very much and their combined temperaments balance each other very well. Their one daughter exhibits her mother's melancholy thoughtfulness, her dad's tendency to be focused on a task. However what makes their daughter interesting is that she has a dominate sanguine personality, with a smattering of phlegmatic tendency to play practical jokes. Carl and his wife are proud of their daughter. She is very likable as a sanguine but when placed in large groups tends to be quieter, due to inheriting her mother's melancholy traits. As Carl and his wife get to know their daughter more and more, they see in each of themselves smatterings of the other personality types, all combined uniquely under their dominate personality temperaments. 

Sam Sanguine's Home - Warm and Safe

When Sam arrives home, he greets his wife and son with a "hey everyone, daddy's home". His wife, a Phlegmatic, has been working steadily to make sure that their family has a nice meal and fun game after dinner. Sam's wife tends to be quieter, but when she says something, it is usually worthwhile listening to. Their son is like his mom - a Phlegmatic, but more so like his dad - a sanguine. He talks about his day with excitement but then reports how he is wanting to make sure his schedule doesn't get interrupted by surprises. The dominate sanguine and phlegmatic personality temperaments make this home a combination warm and safe place to be.

Molly's Home - Intellectual and purposeful

When Molly arrives home she waves at her husband who has been making some stir fry in the kitchen for the family. Molly instantly looks through the mail, since that was the first thing on her list of to-do's. Molly's husband is a combination choleric and phlegmatic, with the phlegmatic being the dominant personality temperament. Molly loves her husband due to the fact he is ever loyal and never leaves her side. When it comes to making decisions, her husband's choleric side tends to keep things focused. Molly, being a melancholy, reminds her husband to be sure to remember the appointments they have planned for the week. Their teenage daughter drives up as supper is about done being cooked. As Molly and her husband's daughter walks in, she strolls by calm and collective. As a sanguine she hugs her parents and begins to tell them about her day. Their daughter is a basketball player who also likes her new math class. However, her secondary phlegmatic temperament kicks in and she settles down quickly into getting the table set, just as she always does at dinner.  As the family eats their meal, each relays their day and soon each will be settling into their chairs to read a book and then end the evening watching their favorite t.v show or playing a board game.

Frank's home - Steady adventure

Frank Phlegmatic arrives home and is greeted with excited wife and son holding up plane tickets. Fred is the type of guys who likes to ease into his evening, but he can tell by the Sanguine personalities of his wife and son, that the evening is going to be a discussion about adventure. Frank's birthday is coming up, and his wife and son break the news that they are wanting to take Frank on a ski-trip. As they sit down to dinner, Frank is enjoying his food while his family goes on and on. After they finish, they ask excitedly: "well, what'ya think?" Frank slowly sipped his coffee and smiled and said: "That sounds good to me." At first Frank's wife and son stared at Frank in disbelief, not understanding how he could not be excited. However, Frank suddenly bursted out laughing, as only  Phlegmatic can do. Then Frank's wife and son realized they had been kidded around with by Frank, with Frank immediately saying - well, lets do it. I'm grateful you both would think of that for me. 

Closing thoughts

In the fictional accounts above, how many readers found the account more interesting to read than the red-light scenario of a couple of posts back? The hope of this writer is that today's post proved more interesting. To see how God has not only created people with temperament styles, but with different blends, makes for greater expressions of creativity, excitement, adventure and building of relationships. Each of the above homes were certainly different, and yet because they all understood one another, it proved to be a harmonious home-life for Carl, Sam, Molly and Fred. 

In the scriptures above, God not only has different people of different temperaments in families, but in the local church. According to Dr. Tim Lahaye's book: "Spirit-controlled Temperament", the four personality temperaments can yield up to twelve different combinations. Furthermore, each person has all four types, with one, two or sometimes three being the dominate ones in different measure. When we consider how each person is wired and has different levels of each temperament style, the blends and combinations can certainly exceed the ideal 12 blends. 

In the Romans 12 passage, as well as the other scriptures that speak about the Body of Christ and the differing gifts, the emphasis is as much on the diversity of God's people as there is their unity. The Lord is so creative and innovative. If we can appreciate how each of these temperaments interact with one another, and the beauty that can result from such interaction, how can we not praise God for how such a design exists in the local church and in our families?

More tomorrow....

Carl, Sam, Molly & Fred: How God uses different personality temperaments in His church

1 Cor 12:4-7 "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

Introduction and review
When Paul writes what he did up in 1 Corinthians 12, his concern was to show how the Triune God has so designed the church to be a reflection of Himself as a redeemed community unified in Jesus Christ that expresses such devotion in diverse ways. Spiritual gifts are the primary focus of the texts and are supernaturally given graces given out by the Holy Spirit at salvation. When we speak of personality temperaments, these are natural inborn traits that everyone has and which tend to fall into four general categories of description (choleric, sanguine, melancholy and phlegmatic). The goal today is to further our understanding on this subject and to see what happened to our four friends who were stopped at the stop light. 

Carl, Sam, Molly and Fred proceed forward
Fred Phlegmatic and Molly Melancholy were both the type of people who preferred others to go first, since they by this point had all kinds of things going through their minds. Sam Sanguine and Carl Choleric were revving their engines. Sam was excited to get to where he was heading. He just hoped that despite forgetting the itinerary, he would be able to influence others to help her along the way. Carl Choleric began honking his horn and it was time to get down the road. Carl then realized that he recognized the other three drivers, and that they all were going to the same destination. So to save face he decided to direct the other three to go first. Sam Sanguine jumped at the opportunity and went first. When Carl tried to wave on Molly Melancholy and Fred Phelgmatic, each of them just stared at each other, hoping the other could move. They pointed to Carl to go ahead and so with a quick thumbs up Carl gunned it and sped off. Molly Melancholy decided that it might be best for Fred Phlegmatic to go, since it is etiquette to let the person to your right go first.  Once Fred left, Molly then proceeded but first needed to stop and a cup of coffee, since the destination to where she was heading did not serve good coffee.

The church that God has designed is composed of different types of temperaments

The above little story was designed to get you and I to think about the different types of personalities God has made to occupy our world and our churches. When I think of the local church from a Biblical standpoint, it is like the little town. There are governing standards (God's Word, the Bible); the Mayor or we could say the King of Kings (Jesus Christ), the Sherriff (The Holy Spirit), deputies (Pastors, Elders, Deacons) and the town's people with businesses and homes that make the town life, breath and work by their differing gifts (all Christians, including the pastors, Elders and Deacons). 

The above fictitious characters are so-named from the four personality types that have been identified throughout history. Tim Lahaye in his book; "Spirit-controlled Temperament", page 2, defines temperament as: "that combination of inborn traits that subconsciously affects all of your behavior." Others, including Lahaye, have described temperament as answering the question: "why you do what you do". 

Lahaye goes onto define two other words closely related to "temperament" - namely "character" and "personality". Character is in Lahaye's words: "the real you when no one is looking". According to Lahaye, character combines your temperament, training, moral values, beliefs and habit patterns. In thinking on Lahaye's distinction of character, if "temperament" represent the raw material from whence people are made from the traits inherited from their parents, character represents the chisels, the hammers and tools taken in by that person in the shaping and molding of that person. Certainly God in His Sovereignty affects people unto salvation, bringing about progressive change in the character of the Christian and thus an alteration in the temperament. 

The second related word: "personality", is defined by Lahaye as the outward expression of one's character. We could say that personality is the paint and final touches that over time reflect to others who we are or who we want them to thin we are. Again in the life of the Christian, the Holy Spirit's work of inward transformation of the character should over times align the personality on the outside with what's going on inside.

In the above little story, not only did Carl, Sam, Fred and Molly represent the four main temperaments (respectively Choleric, Sanguine, Phelgmatic and Melancholy), but undoubtedly everyone living and working in the town had combinations of these temperaments which made the town a truly remarkable place to live. 

The more we identify God's design and yield to His will, the less conflict and more appreciation we will have for fellow Christians

God has so designed the church to be composed of those whom He set His affection upon that are not cookie-cutter people, but different. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, in-as-much as the text is all about the unity of the Body of Christ, three times in as many verses we read the word: "variety". I am convinced that over three-quarters of the disputes that arise in the church stem from misunderstanding one another. 

Years ago I recall listening to a message series on the spiritual gifts. The pastor commented that the Holy Spirit's distribution of the gifts take into account the personality of the person. This insight has definite scriptural support. Within 1 Corinthians 12 for example, we read of how much of each person's individuality and uniqueness is factored into the Spirit's Sovereign decision in determining which people will receive what gifts. For example, 1 Corinthians 12:11  "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills." Another text, 1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it."

The types of people that occupy our churches and the gifts God has distributed to each person is so vital to understand. When you consider the different church to which Paul wrote, they all were - well - different? Why? Each one had different mixes of personality temperaments and giftings. These mixtures are what I term "the church's spiritual finger print". Just as our finger prints are God-given, each church is different due to grasping how God has and is molding each one to achieve the Great Commission and Great Commandment. 

More tomorrow....

The Stop-Light and Four Personality Temperaments

1 Cor 12:4-7 "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

Introduction:
Today's post aims to begin exploring the concept of how God uses different personality temperaments to achieve His purposes. Before we make any further comments on the text above, I want to introduce you to four people and a little story about them that illustrates what is meant by the idea of personality temperament. 

Meet Carl, Sam, Molly and Fred

There was once a small town that had at its center a stop light. The roads leading into and out of this town went to places and came from places of influence and possibility. For anything and anyone coming into and out of the town, there had to be a common understanding and agreed upon authority telling those going through the light when to go and when to stop. Thankfully the town charter had adopted the words of the State and Government that established such principles so that anyone coming into the town could proceed or stop at the light in order and go in peace.

The Mayor of the small town exercised the authority and the Sheriff and Deputies made sure all things were in order. Little businesses and homes peppered the country side and thoroughfares of that small municipality. 

One day four completely different people were coming toward the stop light at the same time. The first was Carl Choleric (pronounced Ko-lair-ick). Carl was the type of man that had no time for stop lights and was eager to get to his destination on time. Carl was a take-charge type of guy who was a good person to have if you need something done but who otherwise preferred to have it done yesterday. Carl's hope was that the light would stay green, however if it turned yellow, he would floor-it and hope to make it through before the dreaded "red-light" came up.

The second person was Sam Sanguine. Sam was a friendly outgoing fellow who though having a destination, yet had forgotten his itinerary at home. Sam Sanguine was not worried because for him, meeting people along the way and being a friendly outgoing person was just as important (or perhaps moreso) than getting the job done. Sam was a motivator who could get the ball rolling and convince others to follow him. However Sam also had the bad habit of not finishing things and moving onto something else. As Sam was approaching the stop light, his hope was that the light would be a quick one, however if he got to talking to the other people in the other cars waiting at the light, that was o.k too!

The third person was Molly Melancholy. Molly enjoyed thinking and doing creative things. She had her gps, maps and itinerary all laid out in alphabetical order. Molly had lists and lists of lists of what she was going to do before, during and after arriving at her destination. When Molly saw the stop light up ahead, she had researched how long the light would take to change from red to green. Molly at times could get moody if things didn't go her way, however she had three or four plans ready to go in case the light took longer than expected.

Then the fourth person heading towards the light at the center of town was Fred Phlegmatic. Fred was easy going and in no particular hurry. Fred was the kind of guy who could mutter things under his breath but would keep to himself unless prompted by someone to act. His destination was the same every week and he never missed one time, since his loyalty and love for regularity made him a valued person. Fred's slow and easy going ways could sometimes cause people to wonder why he took so long to do things. However, Fred was unconcerned about the red light up ahead and planned on slowing down before the light turned yellow.

The light in the center of town was a quick yellow light and so all four of our fictitious characters arrived at the same time. Sam Sanguine wanted to introduce himself, Molly Melancholy whipped out some paper to make another list and tried not to look up at the other three people but made sure she stayed focused on the light. Carl Choleric tapped his fingers and rolled his eyes at Molly and at Sam's excessive waving and friendliness. Poor Carl just wanted to get to "point B". Fred Phlegmatic was calm and surveyed each of the other three drivers and smiled, thinking of funny little jokes to pass the time. He figured the light would turn eventually and in the meantime, already had planned what he was going to do once he arrived at his destination.

Suddenly the light turned green and now the question was: who would go first? To find out, you will have to come back to our next post. Meanwhile, here is the point regarding personality temperaments and the above opening scripture as we close out today's post.

The point:
When Paul writes what he did up in 1 Corinthians 12, his concern was to show how the Triune God has so designed the church to be a reflection of Himself as a redeemed community unified in Jesus Christ that expresses such devotion in diverse ways. Spiritual gifts are the primary focus of the texts and are supernaturally given graces given out by the Holy Spirit at salvation. When we speak of personality temperaments, these are natural inborn traits that everyone has and which tend to fall into four general categories of description (choleric, sanguine, melancholy and phlegmatic). The goal is to further our discussion on this subject and to see what happens to our four friends. Blessings! More tomorrow....

P3 - God Empowered Living - 1 Timothy 2:7-8

1 Timothy 2:7-8 "For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension."

Introduction and Review:
For the past couple of days we have been interested in understanding and applying the idea of "God-empowered living". Our main point of application in this series of posts has been: God-empowered living, built upon prayer, is the primary call of the Christian. We noticed how such a life is God calling the Christian to specifically desire to:
1). Please God
2). Powerful Testimony
3). Personally Focus on Jesus Christ

Today we will conclude this blog series by considering one more area to which God-empowered living is called, namely...

Profound church-life. 1 Timothy 2:7
We have seen what happens when the power of God is unleashed through plugging into His power through prayer. God's power at work through prayer can lead to a more powerful and effective Christian life, witness and focus on Jesus Christ. What happens when individual believers come together in the setting of the local church. What occurs when a local church body is composed of believers who understand their call to live as God-empowered people for God? 

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:7-8  "For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 "Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension."

In our churches, when prayer is made the priority, much like the individual Christian life, a red-carpet of invitation is opened up to God to come and do as he pleases in the church's ministries. As the Holy Spirit begins to ignite the hearts of certain people to intercede, much like the windows in Noah's Ark, light and fresh air begin to infiltrate the vessel we call the church. What happens when it's not just the preacher or even the Deacons calling people to pray and seek God, but the move becomes an entire body activity? The whole body of Christ becomes as one man - answering the call to God-empowered living that will want to please God, have powerful testimonies, personally focus on Jesus Christ and thus have a profound church life. 

Paul's mention of his calling and preaching to the exhortation to pray in 2:8 suggests firstly that plugging into God's power through prayer will yield power in the pulpit. The apostolic authority that comes through the scriptures will be refreshed and renewed and thus the church will once again be rekindled in its focus on the Word. The fact that Paul mentions teaching reminds us of the importance of the teaching ministries of the church such as Sunday School and Small groups. Then finally, when we plug into God's power through prayer, the people of God will be illuminated to a greater understanding of life-application. 

Too often our feet hit the ground running without any thought of prayer. The true work of the local church are not so much the works themselves, rather the work of the local church is the work of God at work. How else can God work freely and unhindered in our churches lest He be invited to do so through the church body as a whole seeking Him in prayer. 

Closing thoughts:
These past few posts have attempted to flesh out further what we see in 1 Timothy 2:1-8 regarding God-empowered living. We noted in our main point of application: God-empowered living, built upon prayer, is the primary call of the Christian. We noticed how such a life is God calling the Christian to specifically:

1). Please God
2). Powerful Testimony
3). Personally Focus on Jesus Christ
4). Profound Church-life


May God use these posts for His glory!

P2 God-empowered living - 1 Timothy 2:3-6

1 Timothy 2:3-8 "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time."

Introduction and Review:
We closed out yesterday's post with this thought: Remember: God-empowered living, built upon prayer, is the primary call of the Christian. Having Biblically defined the God-empowered life, we can now notice how such a life is God calling the Christian to specifically.....

Pleasing God. 1 Timothy 2:3-4
1 Timothy 2:3-4 is one of the most important passages in the New Testament with regards to God's missionary heart. The text reads: "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." The underlined word "acceptable" could just as easily be translated "pleasing". Before we go any further into this verse, it is worth noting some things about what it means to bring pleasure to God, and how such a desire marks God-empowered living. 

Let me ask a simple question: are you and I interested in bring pleasure to God? The relationship my children and my wife and me have with one another is based upon the fundamental assumption that they have our favor. We are pleased with out children in-so-far as they are our children and we are their parents. However, can children bring pleasure or dis-pleasure to their parents? Certainly. When a child disobeys or does something to hurt another person or themselves, that causes the pleasantness of the relationship to be altered. Does that mean that the parent-child relationship is over? No, because biologically they are our children and we are their parents. However a family is so-much more than being about biological relationships. Their is relationship, communication, closeness, trust and all the factors necessary to ensure stronger bonds. 

Likewise in the Christian's relationship with the Heavenly father, we are related to Him spiritually through Jesus Christ. By the Holy Spirit we are partakers, fellowshippers in the Divine nature and have the very energies of His nature at work in us. (Philippians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:3-4). Remember: God-empowered living, built upon prayer, is the primary call of the Christian. This call for God-empowered living leads to a desire to please God and what will hopefully be..

Powerful testimony. 1 Timothy 2:3-4,8
We must not be content in being spiritual related to God and being "o.k" with getting to heaven. No. The Christian life is to be a God-empowered one that desires to bring pleasure to God. Such a life entails a relationship and fellowship with God that bears witness to others about such a reality. 

When we couple 1 Timothy 2:3-4 and 2:8, we see the clear linkage between prayer and evangelism. Mike Barnett, editor of the book: "Discovering the Mission of God", (IVP Academic, 2012 page 375), notes the importance of prayer and missions: 
"Why pray for God's missions and His missionaries? Because God always has and always will answer prayer. Whom should we pray for? The nations and missionaries. Pray for the nations to hear and understand the good news of Jesus Christ. Pray for missionaries to endure and develop Christlike character as they serve. How should we pray? For God's mission to be accomplished. Don't focus so much on plans, strategies, means and methods, but for God's will to be done - His Kingdom to come. These are the basics of praying strategically for God's mission and missionaries."

I remember years ago hearing someone say that a man is no greater in his public life than he is on His knees in prayer. When we pray for the lost, we not only pray for their salvation and pray for God to send others to the unregenerate. We must necessarily say with Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 6: "Oh Lord, send me!" When you and I get in order with God's purposes for evangelism, and couple that with prayer, God's effort in creating a testimony in and through out lives will affect people on a very personal level. In-as-much as the scripture are the means by which the Spirit of God affects conversion, it is by the means of consistent Gospel-witness both verbally and practically that such conversions are demonstrated to be true. Again: God-empowered living, built upon prayer, is the primary call of the Christian. The God-empowered life calls the Christian to please God by way of a powerful testimony. Unless God is empowering us, such truths will never be able to be lived out consistently nor in reality. Now notice the third area to which such a life call the Christian, namely....

Personal focus on Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
How is it that Christians can retain a thorough Christ-centeredness in their lives? It all begins with prayer! It is no accident that Paul would insert in a section on prayer one of the most Jesus' saturated texts in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time." The symmetry and beauty of these verses is so profound in bringing into focus the miraculous Person of the Son.

Jesus is Divinely able to keep us focused
First, the Mediatorship of Jesus, called by Bible teachers His "Session", has at its heart the purposes and power of prayer. As God, the Son is Divinely able to supply and be the focus of the God-empowered life, since He himself is God! The book of Hebrews is replete with reminders of how Jesus Christ is the Living Mediator who intercedes for us and makes such intercession possible. (Hebrews 7:25; 8:6; 9:15: 12:24). 

Jesus is humanly capable to empathize with us and by the Spirit encourage us to keep focusedSecondly, Jesus Christ as man has something in common with us and at the same time being God can connect us directly to the Father. The power of prayer truly means we are connected to that wondrous fellowship that exists between the Trinity through the ongoing Mediating ministry of the Son - Jesus Christ. 

As both God and man, Jesus is the proper focus Who can turn our duty toward Him into increasing delight
These thoughts are all to say that when the power of God is unleashed in our lives, the goal of being Christ-centered will go from a duty to a delight, being that prayer itself is only possible through Jesus Christ. By focusing on Jesus Christ in the God-empowered life, my attitude towards the things of God as been a "laundry list of have-to's" (church, witnessing, loving my neighbor, my enemies, my in-laws, reading my Bible, prayer) turns into labors of love or "want-to's". 

More tomorrow.....

P1 God-empowered living - 1 Timothy 2:1-2

1 Timothy 2:8 "Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension."

Introduction:
A couple of days ago we considered what it means to unleash God's power through prayer (link: http://pastormahlon.blogspot.com/2014/12/unleashing-power-of-god-through-prayer.html) This author felt it necessary to dig further into 1 Timothy 2:1-8 and to take this post of a couple of days ago and use it as a springboard into discovering the need for God-saturated living. 

As was mentioned in that older post, prayer could be conceived of as rolling out the red carpet for God to come into and do His work. Prayer invites God to work where He wants and how He wants. When Paul writes what he does to Timothy, his chief concern is how one ought to conduct themselves in the household of the living God - the church. (1 Timothy 3:15) We must not think of Paul's 1st Epistle to Timothy as being concerned about behavior, but rather transformed, redeemed lives living out God's purposes together by His power for the glory of Jesus Christ. As the opening verse of today's post urges, men everywhere ought to be lifting up "holy hands" without wrath and dissension. The God-empowered life will have things right in both the vertical direction (God-and-me; God-and-us) and the horizontal direction (you and me direction). 

Point of Application
The point of application for today's post will be: God-empowered living, built upon prayer, is the primary call of the Christian. In the thoughts below we will flesh out from 1 Timothy 2:3-8 what is meant by God-empowered living, and why in its connection to prayer, it stands as the primary call of the Christian. Notice that the call to be God-empowered is a call to...

Biblically defining God-empowered living. 1 Timothy 2:1-2
1 Timothy 2:2 says these words - "for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." As God's people regularly pray for those in authority, the communities in which they live and the surrounding culture, God's favor works on their behalf. Proverbs 16:7 reminds us: "When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Certainly King Jehosaphat, one of the godliest kings to ever reign in Old Testament Jerusalem, embodied this passage as seen in 2 Chronicles 17:10 "Now the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat." Or how about the early church in the New Testament in Acts 2:46-47 "Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."  

Certainly plugging into God's power is done so through prayer. Undoubtedly Christians must put prayers to the feet, intercessions to the hands and entreaties to the plans and purposes of the mind. Yet what Paul is equally affirming in these verses is that feet, hands, plans and purposes need to be practically lived out in light of prayer - i.e "putting feet to our prayers". 
The underlined words above in 1 Timothy 2:3,  "tranquil" and "quiet", speak of a soul that is at rest as a result of improvement of outside circumstances (i.e the word tranquil) and the inward conditions of the heart. (1 Peter 3:4). 

Is God-empowered living going to lead to a life of ease and comfort? Not in the sense of the so-called "American Dream". The type of life which is spoken of here is a life that rests in the fact that God is in control. God-empowered living is a call to live the type of life that is being encouraged as a result of God's power unleashed through the connection of prayer - i.e "life in all godliness and dignity." 

Remember: God-empowered living, built upon prayer, is the primary call of the Christian. This necessarily begins with the foundation of the Christian's call as being empowered by God in their life. 

More tomorrow....