Preaching to the Whole Church

8/3/2019 Preaching to the Whole Church

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Christian Scholars'Conference,OklahomaChristianUniversity, July 18-20,2002

PREACIIING TO TIIT'qlggl,E CHURCH: USING TIIT'FOURCOMMI]IVCATION STYLES IDENTIFIED IN CARL JUNG'S

THEORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES

by Flavil R. Yeakley, r., Ph.D.,HardingUniversity, Searcy,Arkansas

Thereare mportant mplications or homiletics n some ecent esearchwiththe Myers-BriggsTypeIndicator.t TheMBTI is the mostpopularpersonalitynventory n thehistoryof psychology.Unlikeclinical tests hat dentiff mental llnesses,he MBTI simply ndicates healthydifferences n the waynormalpeopleprefer o use heir perceptionand heir udgment. IsabelMyers and her mother,KatherineBriggs, developedhis inventory n order o identiff thepreferences f peopleon four dichotomiesdiscussedy Carl Jung n hisbookPsyc ologicalTypes2

Extraversion or Introversion. ?referencesegarding he direction of energy.Extraversion: Directingenerry mainlytoward he outerworld of peopleand objects.hrtroversion: Directingenergymainly toward he rurerworld of experiences nd deas.

Sensingor Intuition. Preferencesegardingperception.Sensing:Focusingmainly onwhatcanbeperceived y the five senses.Intuition: Focusingprimarily onpattems, elationships, nd mplications.

Thinking or Feeling. Preferencesegardingudgment.Thfuking: Basingdecisionson logicalanalysiswith objectivity and detachment.Feeling: Basingdecisionsonpersonalor socialvalueswith a focuson interpersonal armony.

Judging or Perceiving. Preferencesegardingorientationoward he outer world.Judging: Achievingclosureby dealingwith theworld decisively hroughThinkingor Feeling.Perceiving: Staymg lexible by dealingwith theworld throughSensing r Intuition.

I Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and,MBTI are egistered trademarks of Consulting Psychologists Press, PaloAlto, California.2Carl G. Jvng,Psychological Types Princeton,New Jersey: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1971). Written inGerman n I92L aud translated into English n 1923 This edition of the English fanslation also contains one earlierand two later essaysofJung on his typology.


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Sensing, ntuition, Thinking,andFeelingare not only differentmental unctions hat all normal,healthy,maturepeopleuse--they are alsovery different communication tyles. Jungevenspokeof themas beingfour different"languages."The MBTI canbe used o identify which of thesecommunicationstyles s primary,secondary,ertiary,and eastpreferred.Effectivecommunication equires hat twopeopleuse he same ommunication tyle, even f one or both has o shift fromtheir mostpreferredstyleto oneoftheir lesspreferred tyles.

The mplication for homiletics n all of this is thatpreachersmustuseall four of the communicationstyles, f not in one sefinonat leastover ime, in order o preacheffectively o all of thepeople n acongregation.This is not a totally new dea. For manyyears, extbookson homileticshavestressedheneed or flexibility andbalancen the useof variouspreachingorms.3Some eachers f homiletics aveused he four learningstyles dentified n Neuro-LinguisticProgrammingvisual, actile, auditory onal,and auditorydigital) to show he mportanceof usinga varietyof sermon orms.a A few areusing heMBTI to make his samepoint about he need o avarietyof sermonorms n order o communicateeffectively with peoplewhoprefereachof the Jungiancommunication tyles.5

The MBTI canbe very useful n teachingstudents f preachingo useall of the communicationstyles. In thepast,however, herewere only rough estimates bout he distributionof the 16 ypesidentified by the MBTI. But the recentdevelopment f Form M of the MBTI useda kind of scoring hatrequiresa large andomsample. Now accuratenformation s availableabout he distribution of types,asshownn Table and n Fiswes I and2.

' For example,see: John A. Broadus,On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons,New Revised Editionby JesseBurton Weatherspoon (New York Harper & Brothers, 1944), a classic text that stresses he importance ofadapting to different audiences,different biblical texts, and diflerent purposesby using different sennon forms. Seealso: Fred B. Craddoch Preaching (Nashville: Abingdon Press,1985),pp. 170-188,where Craddock shows hevalue of different sermon orms; Donald L. Hamilton, Homiletical Handbook Qlashville: Broadman Press, 1992),where Hamilton devotes eight chaptersto diflerent methods and 10 chapters to appropriate ways of dealing withdifferent kinds of texts; and, J. Randall Nichols, Building the Word: The Dynamics of Communication andPreaching (SanFrancisco: Harper & Row Publishers,1980),pp. 58-87, where Nichols suggests everaldifferent"preaching languages" in order to adapt to different audiences.oJ. Robert Hanson, Harvey F. Silver, and Richard W. Strong, Student Stylesand Stralegies (Silver Strong

& Associates, 1986); Richard W. Srong, Harvey F. Silver, and Robert Hanson,QuestioningStylesand Strategies(Silver Strong & Associates,1995); Harvey F. Silver, J. Robert Hanson, uchard W. Strong,and PatriciaB.Schwartz, TeachingStylesand Stralegies(Silver Strong & Associates,1996); Harvey F. Silver and J. RobertHanson,Learning Stylesand Strategies Silver Strong& Associates,1996); Hawey F. Silver, Matthew J. Perini,and Richard W. Strong, So Each May Learn: Integrating Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligezces (Associationfor Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000); and,_, Teaching What Matters Most: Standards andStrategiesor Raising StudentAchievemenl(Association or Supervisionand Curriculum Development,2001).'Alice M. Fairhurst,and Lisa L. Fairhurst,Effective Teaching,Effective Learning: Making the PersonalityConnection n Your Clqssroom@alo Alto, Catifornia: Davies-Black, 1995).


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Table 1 shows he distribution of MBTI types or malesand emales n the national epresentativesampleused n the development f thenewForm M. The argebold letters n eachcell representheMBTI types(E:Extraversion, :Introversion, S:Sensing,N:Lrtuition, T:Thinking, F:Feeling,J:Judging,P:Perceiving). The ower caseunderlined etters epresentheprimary,secondary,erliary,and eastpreferredcommunioation tyles g:Sensing,q:Intuition, !:Thinking, ftFeeling).

Table LDistribution of Typesand CommunicationStylePreferencesin a NationalRepresentative ample

ISTJtsfrrrnale female16.4% 6.90/o

INFJfrrtsISFJfstn

TSFPsfntISTPstnffemale

2.4%

ESTPstfrrfemale3.0%

ESF'Psftnfemalerc.r%

ESFJfsntmale female75% 16.9%males,r1,478,

INFPnfstmale female4.Io/o 4.6%

ENT'Pnftsmale female64% 9.7%

ENFJfirstmale femaler .6% 3.3%females,:1,53

INTJtnfsmale female3.3% 0.8%

INTPntsfmale female4.8% r .8%

ENTPntfsmale female4.0% 2.4%

ENTJllsfmale female2.7% 09 %

male8 . 1%

male7.6%

female19.4%

female99%

malel.3o/o femaler.6%

male8.5%

male5.6% male6.9%

ESTJlsdmale femaleI1.2% 6.30/o


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Figure 1Summaryof the MBTI Dichotomies

ExtraversionIntroversionSensingIntuitionThinkingFeelingJudgingPerceiving

SensingIntuitionThinkingFeeling

Males:45.9%54.1%7r.7%28.3%56.5%435%52.0%48.0%

Males:28.6%t9.4%33.6%18.5o/o

Females:s2.5%47.s%74.9%25.r%24.5%75.5%s6.2%433%

Figure 2Summaryof Primary CommunicationStyles

Females:253%18.s%15.0%4r.2%

Total Population:49.2%50.8%73.3%26.7%40.s%s9.5%54.t%45.9%

TotalPopulation:27.0%19.0%24.3%29.9%

Thepercentageshown n Table 1 and n Figures and2 arenot exact. There s a marginof erroraroundeachof thesepercentages. hepercentages,owever,are close o whatwould be found nrepeated amples f thewholepopulation.When anked rom themost requent o the east requent,preferencesor the four communication tylesare: l st) Feeling 29 9o/o;2nd) Sensing27 0o/oi3rd)Thinking,24.3o/o; nd,4th) Intuition,19.0%.

UsinsAll Foqr CommunicationStyles n Preachine

Effective preachers seall four of thecommunication tyles. This is not as difficult as t mayappear' Thebestpreachers avealwayshad he flexibility neededo usea varietyof sermonorms-theyjust havenot had his Jungiananguageo explainwhatthey weredoing. Onepreacherasked, How can


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be expectedo preachn theseotherstylessincemy preferences for Thinking?" Theanswer s that allnorrnal,healthy,matureadultsuseall four of the communication tyleswhen he situation equireshemto do so. Somepreachers re esseffective han hey couldbe becausehey refuse o do this kind of styleshifting. Goodpreachers avealwaysknown hat differentpeoplepreferdifferent kindsof sermons.

Preaching n the Lansuasesof Sensinsand Intuition

PeoplewhopreferSensing s heirprimary communication tyle want sermonshat havepracticalapplications-specific things hat theycan dotoday. They ike concreteanguage, ivid images. Sincethey are sequentialearners,heypreferserrnonswith introductionshat clearlypreview he mainpointsof the messagendplentyof "signpost"anguageinternal eview, ransition,and ntemalpreview). Theyare umed off by sennonshat skip aroundand hat arehard o follow. Theyare also umed off bysennonshat are oo abstract,oo theoretical-sermonsoor example,on "TheMeaningof HumanExistenceand Our Place n the Universe." They ike conclusionshat clearly review he mainpointsofthe sermon.

Peoplewhoprefer ntuition like sermonshatgivethem nsightandnew waysof lookingat things.They wantpreacherso articulatea vision for the congregation.They ike to dreamaboutpossibilities orthe future. They need o getorientedby seeinghe big picture-the forest,not ust thetrees. They areturned off by too muchdetail. Theydonotneed he same ind of sequential tructure hat Sensing ypesdo,but t doesnot bother hem f the"signpost"anguages nottoo obvious.

The challengeor preacherss to communicate ffectivelywith bothgroupsof people. Preacherswho useonly the anguage f Sensingum off thosewhoprefer ntuition. Thosewhouse ntuition astheir only language,ail to communicate ffectivelywith thosewhopreferSensing.Preachers eed omoveup anddown the adderof abstraction.They shouldbegin with a clear,specific,andconcretestatement f aproblem. Theyshould hen moveup the adderof abstractiono show he big picture-thecategorieso which this problembelongs.After that, heyshouldmovedown he ladderof abstractionoshow hespecificpartsof theproblemand he practical hings hatcanbedone o solve heproblem.Sinceover70percentof peoplepreferSensing,hat commwrication tyleshouldbe usedmore hanIntuition, butpreachers eed o useboth in order o reach hewholechurch. Manypreachers aveapreferenceor Intuition, but if they use hatcommunication tyle oo much, heywill attractpeoplewiththatpreference nd hosewith a Sensing referencewill leave.


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Preachins.in he Lansuasesof Thinkins and Feelins

PeoplewhopreferThinkingas heirprimarycommunication tyle ike sermonshat teach hemsomething.One of their favoritecomplementso thepreachers "You really mademe think today."They ike objective ogicalreasoning.Theyexpectsennonso be critical andanalytical. If they tell apreacheroYou really stepped n my toes oday," hey regard hat ashighpraise.They are urnedoff bysennons hat are"all style and no substance."They want solid biblical content n thepreaching.Whencalled on to makea decision, heyprefer o stepoutof the situationandmakea udgment hat is asimpersonal spossible.They ike sennonshat call on hem o makesuchobjective ecisions.

What Jung called"Feeling" s not emotionalrty.For Jung,both Thinking andFeelingarerationalfunctions. The difference s thatThinking is objectiveand mpersonal,while Feeling s subjectiveandbasedonpeople-centeredalues.ThosewhopreferFeeling, ike sennons hat aremotivationalandinspirational.They ike sermonshat leave hem eelingencouraged nd ifted up with hope. They wantto hearsermonshat helpto arouse heir sense f gratitudeand ove toward God. Theyare urnedoff bysermonshat sound ike the first affirmativeaddressn adebate--andespeciallyby those hat sound ikethe ast negative ebuttal.

Thechallenge or preacherss to communicate ffectivelywith the Thinkersand heFeelersat thesame ime, while also communicating ffectivelywith thosewhopreferSensing nd ntuition. Theuniverseof discourse anbe thougtrtof as our circles hat overlap. Most language annotbe dentifiedspecifically as Sensing,lrtuition, Thinking,or Feeling. But if preachers tay n that areaof overlap, heirpreachingwill sound ike the bland eading hebland. Language ecomesmostvivid andpowerfi.rlwhenit moves nto an area hatcanbe dentifiedspecificallyas Sensing,ntuition, Thinking,or Feeling.Preachers eed o moveback and orth amonghese our stylesenougho reach he entireaudience, otlimit their preachingo one style, andavoidgoingso far in one direction hat theyturn off those n theaudiencewho have heoppositepreference.

Somebiblical textsand somesubjects all for a developmentn one communication tyle. Asennonon "TheNatureof Sin," for example,might need o bepreached rimarily in the anguage fIntuition. But to beeffective,sucha sermon houldbeginwith reasonsor somen thecongregationoshift to a lesspreferredcommunication tyle: apractical easonor thosewhopreferSensing, logicalreasonor the Thinkers,andapeople-orientedalue as he reasonor theFeelers.Preachershouldstartin otherstylesandpersuadeistenerso shift into the styleneeded or thatsermon.


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Other Implicationsof the MBTI

The wo middle ettersof thefour-letterMBTI type ndicate heprimaryand secondarycommunication tyles. The etters hatarenot usedn the second nd hird positions ndicate hetertiaryand eastpreferredcommunication tyles. But thefulIpattern of communication tylepreferencesannotbe determinedwithout using he first and he ast etters. The ast etter,J or P, indicateswhetherapersonprefers o deal with the externalworld througha Judging irnction(Thinkingor Feeling)or throughaPerceiving unction(Sensingor Intuition). Thefirst letter, E or I, tells whether he extravertedunction sthe dominantor the auxiliary in regard o typedynamics.Extravertsprefer o use heir dominant unctionfor dealingwith the extemalworld. Lrtrovertsprefer o use heir dominant i.rnction or dealingwith theinner world.

When addressing xtraverts,preachers eed o usea lot of energy,plentyof volume,animatedgestures nd acial expression.Thesenonverbalcuesmaycommunicatemore han he words hepreacherspeak.Longpauses reamajorsource f distractiono Extraverts.Theymay see ongpausesas a signof dishonesty-that thepreachers reusing he ongpauseso cover he truth aboutwhat theyreally think and eel. To communicate ffectivelywith Extraverts, reachers houldbe transparent ndcommunicate penly. They should alk about he externalworld of peopleand hings. Extravertsarenotalwaysgood isteners. Theydo their mentalprocessing y talking things out. Thestructureof thesermonas monologue anbeaproblem or Extraverts.Sermons, owever,canbepreachedn a spirit ofdialogue. Somepreachers ery effectivelyuse maginedconversationss apartof their sermons.Theyask hequestionshey think theaudiencewouldwant o ask and hen hey answerhem. Thatapproachsnot a distraction or Introvertsand t canbean aid for Extraverts.

Introvertsareusuallygood isteners.They"go inside" o do their mentalprocessing.But they arenot likely to respondasquickly as Extraverts.Preachersend o establisheyecontactwith peoplewhoshowby their body languagehat theyare istening. Theymay, herefore,end o avoideye contactwithIntrovertssince heyare not as expressive ndmay seemo be uninterested.But preachers houldnotassumehat Introvertsareuninterested.Theymay ust be takingtime to processhe nformation. Whenaddressingntroverts,preachers eed o allow time to build arelationshipof trust. An appropriateevelof self-disclosureelps.

Whenaddressing eoplewhoprefera Judgingorientation,preachers hould ememberhatthesepeopleprefera very clearorganization.Theyshouldpreview the message nd henstickto theoutline.


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If the sermons going o be onger hanusual, heyshould ell theaudiencen advance.Theyshouldpresenta timetableand ollow it. Judging ypesaredistracted y preacherswho change ubjectswithoutadvancewarning. Theyare urnedoff by preacherswho raisequestionshat theydo not answer.Theywantclosure. By the endof thesennon,heywant o know exactlywhere hepreacher tands.

Peoplewhoprefera Perceivingorientation esistclosure.Theyprefersermonshat show hem heargumentsor and against ariouspositionsand hat encouragehe istenerso decide or themselves. t isdiffrcult to comrrrunicateffectivelywith JudgingandPerceivingypesat thesame ime,but that s thechallenge reachersace. Thebestapproachs for preacherso rememberhat they havebothJudgingand Perceivingypes n the congregation nd hereforestrive or balance.

Preachings ust oneareaof church ife where he MBTI canbe usefirl. When do diagnosticchurchgrowthstudies, almostalwaysgivethe MBTI to all of the eadersand o a representativeampleof the members.Eachcongregation as ts ownuniquepersonalityand his is an effectiveway oflearningabout he corporate ersonalityof thecongregation.n addition o implications or preaching, nunderstanding f a congregation's ersonalityhasmany mportant mplications. Leadership tyles,teaching/learning tyles,worshipstyles,and differentmethodsof outreach-all of theseare areaswhere thelps o understandhepersonalityof thecongregation.Conflict within congregationss usuallyapersonalitydifferencemore han atheologicaldifference.Understandinghepersonalitiesnvolvedcanbe an mportantcontribution o conflict management.

Conclusion

Preachershouldunderstand nduse he communication tylespreferredby thepeople n theircongregations.That requiresa balancen using he anguages f Sensing,ntuition, Thinking,andFeeling. Whenpreachers o mostof theirpreachingn thecommunication tyle hattheyprefer, heytend o attractmemberswho are similarto thepreachern type--but losememberswho aredifferent.6Researchhat I did 20yearsago ound hatadultmernberswhoaffiliate with acongregation uring hetenureof apreacher, itherby transferof membership r by conversion,end o be similarto thepreacherin communication tylepreferences.Preachers hopreferThinking tend o altractanover-representation

6FlavilR. Yeakley, r., "Communication tylePreferencesndAdjustmentssan Approacho StudyingEffectsofSimilarityinPsychologicalType,"ournalofPsychologicalTypi1982), ,19-2g-. eealso: ,"knplicationsof CommunicatioaStyleResearchor Psychologicaiype iheory,: iournal ofpsychologicatType,(1982) ,6 ,2 - r3 .


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of mernberswho alsopreferThinking, but they end o havean under-representationf new mernberswhopreferFeeling. Churcheshus end o becomemore andmore nbred.When first discoveredhis, Iwas very critical of preacherswho built their congregations round heir ownpersonalities.Later, asstarteddoing churchgrowthstudies, found hat he congregationwas already ike that before hey hiredthatpreacher.Thinkertype churches ireThinker typepreacherswho atlractThinker ype members.Theresult s a congregationhathasone mportantgift, but not the others.

In somecongregations,he eldershipunctionsas a self-perpetuating ody. When new eldersareselected,t is thepresentelderswho select hem. Someallow the memberso "nominate"new elders,butthepresenteldersdecidewhich "nominations"o accqlt. Most congregationsllow members o raise"scriptural bjections," ut t is thepresent lderswho decidewhether o sustainhoseobjections.Wheneverhepresenteldersplaya major role in the selectionof newelders, here s atendency or thepresentelders o selectnew elderswho aresimilar n psychologicalype to thepresentelders. In manycongregations,he eldership s far more nbred han hecongregation.

Congregationshat become nbred havea limited growth potential. Ftrthermore, hey fall shortofthe New Testament oalof being a whole body. A body hasmany differentparts hatperformmanydifferent functions n many different ways. A congregation eedsa diversity of gifts.7 Psychologicalinbreedings bad,whether t is caused y preachers ho useonly one communication tyle,by elderswho function as a self-perpetuatingody,or both.

Preachers nd other church eaderswhowant o learnmore aboutapplications f the MBTI incongregationalife shouldstartby learning heir own type. They should ind a qualified professionaloadministerand nterpret he MBTI. Theyshould hen start studyrng he iteratureonpsychologicalype.tThe next stepwould be to haveaqualifiedprofessional onducta studyof the congregation.All of theleaders houldbe ncludedalongwith thespouse f each eader. Thenarepresentativeampleof themernberspreferablyat least50) shouldalsobegiven he MBTL The typedistribution n thecongregationhould e compared ith the national ormsisted n Table . Thiswill show hedegreeo

'Ephesians4:15-16; omans 2:4-8; Corinthians 2:4-30; Peter4:10-ll; Corinthians:7.8A goodplace o start s a bookiet by IsabelBriggsMyers, revisedby LindaK. Kirby and KatharineD.Myers, ntroductiono Type,SixthEdition (PaloAlto, California:Consulting sychologistsress, 998.A goodsecond tep s a bookletby KatharineD. Myersand LindaK. Kkby,Introduction to TypeDynamicsandDevelopment: xploring heNextLevelof Type(PaloAlto, California:Consulting sychologistsress, 998).With this background, neshouldbe ready or IsabelBriggsMyers with PeterB. Myers,Gifts Differing (PaloAlto,California,1995).


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whichthecongregations likely to appealo only a limited groupof people. The eadership roupshouldbe comparedwith themembership.Thiswill showanypotential or leader-memberommunicationproblems.Thetype iterature ncludesseveralusefirlsourceshatcan beapplied o thestudyofcongregational evelopment.

Somepeoplehave roubleaccepting iversity. Thestudyof Jung'sypologyhelpspeoplecelebratediversity. Preachings ust oneareawhere t is important o seekhe constructive seof thesepersonalitydifferences.But preachings a goodplace o start.

nGutyL. Harbaugh,God'sGiftedPeople(Minneapolis: ugsburg, 990)-wdttenby a Lutheran astor,seminaryprofessor,and ypeexpert. W. HaroldGrant,MagdalaTholnpson,and ThomasE. ilarke, Fromimage toLikeness:A JungianPath in theGospel ourneyQ{ewYork: PaulistPiess,1983)-written from a RomanCatholicperspective y oneof the earlyMBTI researchers.ChristopherBryant,Jungandthe ChristiqnZay (Minneapolis:TheSeaburyPress,1983)-writtgn from an Anglicanperspective[io"UA"r usectionon ',prayerand DifferentTypesof People"l' GordonLawrence,PeopleTypesandTi[er {trtpes (Gainesville,Florida: Center or theApplicationofPsychologicalype

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Preaching to the Whole Church