Project 2

BMAL 500 T HE GOSPEL AND PERSONAL REFLECTION BY KAHLIB J. FISCHER , PHD © 2006 P ROJECT RATIONALE As the syllabus states, the purpose of this course is to help you understand organizational behavior, and one extremely important way to do so is to understand how one’s personal behavior influences organizational behavior . After all, an organization consists of a group of individuals —people made in the image of God and therefore equipped with certain gifts and personality traits that make their contributions to the organization uniquely their own. This idea of individuality is one that many religious and philosophical perspectives would dispute. For instance, secularism would tell us that we are ultimately a jumble of chemical and hormonal reactions, and so all of our behaviors can be reduced down to some self -survival mechanism. Furthermore, the idea of “free -will” in terms of making informed and rational decisions is but an illusion in a secular worldview, because again, all of our actions are pre - determined b y the interaction of atoms, chemicals, hormones, etc. on the physical level. For an atheist, the idea of having autonomy apart from the physical world is simply not an option. Likewise, Eastern mysticism, as a general rule, would tell us that ultimately, our individuality is just an illusion, and in the end, something from which we need to flee in order to achieve true unity with the cosmos. Since the energy force that resides within us is really who we are —and since that energy force is impersonal and r epresents the entire cosmos—we are no more individuals from an Eastern mystical perspective than we would be in a secular perspective. In both worldviews, we are merely “matter in motion” and nothing else. But Biblical Christianity tells us that as indiv iduals, we are both personal and eternal—we have an eternal destiny which we will experience as individuals —for better or for worse. We are spiritual beings, and as such, our existence transcends the physical world. Furthermore, our existence, though ete rnal, is also personal. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we understand who we are as unique human beings. To gloss over how individual people influence organizational behavior would lead to a shallow understanding of how organizations work and behave. Likewise, to not personally apply what you are learning in this class and other classes —to not see how the concepts relate to you as a real and spiritual human being and to assume that knowledge and truth consist merely of abstract concepts and i deas which do not really affect you on a personal and spiritual level —would be to undermine who you are as a unique individual made in God’s image . Therefore, we have employed these personality tests for the projects as a means of helping you come to t erms with ways that God has gifted and equipped you to serve His purposes in whatever organization He has you in. Once you understand more of who you are as a person, you will be better equipped to understand how you interact with other unique human being s (which is why you were assigned to read the Type Talk at Work text). God is in the business of drawing individual people together through Jesus Christ for His corporate purposes. So it is Page 1 of 3 BMAL 500 important that you understand your own behavioral tendencies and the behavioral tendencies of other individuals if you really want to understand how organizations behave and how they should behave according to God’s purpose. Therefore, we hope that you will enjoy the personal discovery that awaits you as you take thes e personality tests and complete these projects. These personality tests are by no means a full and accurate measurement of who you are as a human being; after all, you are “fearfully and wonderfully made”, and only your Creator truly knows who you are, a nd how unique you are to His purposes. However, we believe that you will find these exercises to be of very real benefit to you in your learning. One final and important concept should be introduced as you complete these projects: related to this underst anding of our personality is the understanding that in our natural spiritual state, we have a sinful nature which only God, through the work of His Son, the God- man, Jesus Christ, is able to address. It was Jesus Christ’s work on the cross, and then His r esurrection from the dead, that opened the way for us to walk in newness of life, and therefore to experience the freedom from these sinful tendencies. By being identified with Christ, acknowledging that only He can make the way for us to the Father, and only He can free us from the bondage of sin, we die to sin and live our lives for the glory of God. There is no higher calling for us as human beings other than to bring glory to God through the person of Jesus Christ, who now reigns as our High Priest. Our lives are to be lived sacrificially, in which we say “no” to our old sinful tendencies, and say “yes” to the will of God in our lives. This is a process —it does not occur over night. But as the days and years go by of learning to submit to God’s will for our lives, and realizing more and more that to do so, we must rest in God’s grace which was made available to us through the work of Jesus Christ, we grow in our understanding of sin and we grow in righteousness. This entire process is dependent upon God’s initiating grace in our lives. Just as He sent His Son to us , just as He introduced Himself to us , and lead us to repentance, so now He , through the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the Word of God, changes us from “glory to g lory” as II Corinthians 3:17- 18 says.

Part of the process of this process of growth and learning to say no to sin—is understanding how sin affects us, particularly in regard to how sin affects our personality traits. Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” On our own—even after taking numerous personality traits!!! —we would be blind to how our sinful impulses, attitudes and desires motivate us and influence us. But Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the “Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” So it is only with the aid and guidance of the Holy S pirit, who uses the Word of God to illuminate sinful tendencies in us that we are able to understand who we are as individuals and how these sinful tendencies influences us through those same personality traits that are a gift from God. Having said all of that, we hope, therefore, that you will keep the truths of the Gospel in mind as you complete these projects: 1) That God in His infinite love and wisdom, made you as a unique human being with unique personality traits to serve His specific purposes for your life; Page 2 of 3 BMAL 500 2) That your personal sin and rebellion towards God has interfered and marred your unique individuality; and that now, but for God’s grace, we all are slaves to sin and our personality traits and interactions with others in organizational and corporate contexts have been damaged and controlled by sin; 3) That God, to save us from the bondage of sin, sent His Son Jesus Christ, fully -God and fully -man, to receive God’s righteous punishment of sin on our behalf, so that we could be reconciled to Him 4) That now, because of that work, God has drawn us to repentance through Christ so that we can overcome sin ( and the sinful influences on our personality traits ) through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the Word of God; 5) That this process of gro wth and maturity, though occurring on an individual level, also occurs in a corporate context, and as such, means that God is causing us to love one another and glorify God together as unique individuals, meaning that our communication and interactions wit h one another are being redeemed for God’s glorious and eternal purposes; 6) That ultimately, when our time on this world is over, and when God has decreed the end of the ages, we will all worship the Lord together , as unique individuals who have been saved by the wonderful work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the good news that Scripture offer us. This is the central idea of Scripture that should inform your completion of these exercises. We have hopefully made the case to you that you canno t fully understand organizational behavior until you understand the behaviors of individuals , and that to understand individual behavior you need to understand the role that personality traits play in individual behavior. We have also made the case that y ou will not really understand any of this unless you learn it and apply it personally , not just abstractly. Finally, above all else, we hope to have made the case that ultimately, true fulfillment as an individual, who interacts with others corporately , cannot be achieved until the very real problem of sin is acknowledged and addressed through the work of Jesus Christ. You cannot really know and understand yourself until you know who you are in Christ, and how God made you to be without the damaging affec ts of sin upon your unique personality. You cannot fully understand organizational behavior until you understand how unique individuals made in God’s image were made to interact with one another, and how sin, but for God’s grace, can taint that process of interaction. The questions which you must answer in these projects will reinforce the themes set forth here. Page 3 of 3