I took the Hogwarts’ sorting quiz for the first time in third grade and was sorted into Ravenclaw. In middle school, I decided to take the test again. My results, however, were not what I expected. That bright yellow screen shattered everything I had ever known about myself. I, a proud Ravenclaw, had been sorted into Hufflepuff. It sounds silly, but this small occurrence managed to shake my identity. I personally have no problem with Hufflepuff, but I had made Ravenclaw such an integral part of my identity that this unexpected result caused me to question little things about myself.
Was I really as smart as I thought? What if I was a people person? What if I wasn’t really who I thought I was?
Whether it be an Enneagram type, a Hogwarts house, a Myers-Briggs type or a Buzzfeed “Which Type Of Bread Are You?” quiz, most people have completed some semblance of a personality test. I, for one, am a type five, Ravenclaw, INTP vegan biscuit.
As much as I enjoy taking these personality tests, I’ve found that I tend to give them too much say in my identity. When I received my result of INTP, I assumed that I must try to enjoy science, lest I not be fully myself. I saw being an Enneagram type five as an excuse to withdraw myself from others since, according to the description, that’s just what type fives do. I get so tempted to conform to whatever these tests, with their limited knowledge of who I am, say about me instead of listening to the voice of the One who knows me best.
The Myers-Briggs test allows you to be one of 16 types. If everyone conforms to these, we’ll end up in a world of 7.8 billion people trying to be the same 16 things. 487,500,000 people would be no different from each other. I value my individuality too much to want 487,499,999 people out there to be exactly like me.
God doesn’t call us to this life of conformity either. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is...”
Personality types, especially introverted ones such as my own, can so often be used as an excuse for neglecting to look toward the interests of others. This goes explicitly against the concept of being transformed in Christ. When we are truly transformed, no matter our personality, we will faithfully obey even God’s most difficult commands. I am in no way saying that there is any problem with introversion, as long as it is not used as an excuse for neglecting to love others, a mandate repeated countless times in the Bible.
After wrestling with these tests and their say in my identity, I can confidently say that God’s will for my life is not for me to be an INTP, a type five, a Ravenclaw or any other personality type out there. God calls us to be individuals who bring change to this world, not conformists who change ourselves to be of this world.
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