From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Matthew 16:21-23
Peter was an impulsive person. He was the one who jumped out of the boat to walk to water (Matthew 14:28-31). Peter’s the one who raised his sword to cut off Malcus’ ear at Gethsemane (John 18:10). Peter was the one who wanted to build a shrine at the site of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:4). Jesus said that Peter was a rock (Matthew 16:18). Really, Peter was more of a flake. Then just a few verses later, Peter the rock was a stumbling block.
In this passage, Peter boldly proclaimed that he would never allow the religious leaders to take Jesus and kill Him. Peter wouldn’t stand for it. Everything in Peter wanted to take a bold stand for Christ, but he ended up denying Jesus three times in the courtyard (Matthew 26:69-75).
Something happened to Peter on the Day of Pentecost. In Acts 2, we see that when the people from various nations wanted an explanation for the miracle that they had just witnessed, Peter jumped up and began to preach. He didn’t worry about creating an outline or handing out sermon notes. Peter just opened his mouth and went for it. Three thousand people were saved that day. It was the right bold move on the right day.
I call this personality “The Promoter.” He is the life of the party. She has an idea a minute. He’s never met a stranger. She has great ambition, but has trouble following through.
The Promoter gets accused of being flakey, because when they are expected to act on the first idea, they are already thinking about the next idea. Promoters bring great energy into a situation. They excel at brainstorms. But, they have trouble following through.
If you have a Promoter in your life, don’t bore them. Tell them stories. Don’t just bark out orders. If you want something done, they will need a deadline. If they still have trouble producing, they might need some help.
While we need to have understanding of each other, a personality type is not an excuse for bad behavior. “Well, Promoters are more social, so they socialize a lot and don’t get their work done.” We all need accountability. We are all responsible to fulfill the things that we’ve committed to. Maybe we need to take a Promoter’s commitments with a grain of salt.
Every person, regardless of their personality, has plenty of room to grow. As we surrender our whole selves to God, He will strengthen our strengths and challenge us in our growth areas.
Are you a Promoter? Who are the Promoters that you know? What new insight do you have into these folks now?
If you would like to take a short personality test to see the balance of your core personalities, go to: http://www.brookwoodchurch.org/discussionguide and download the guide for "Opposites Attack."
If you would like to discover more about core personalities, I would encourage you to look at a new BrookwoodU class called P.L.A.C.E.This class will help you discover your personality, skills, spiritual gifts and fit for ministry. To sign up: http://www.brookwoodchurch.org/brookwoodu
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