I’ve been thinking about Jesus and the various personalities of people he dealt with. There were people who were probably “pagan” with strong personalities but who had strong belief that Jesus could heal. There were seekers from the woman with abnormal menstruation (so she was unclean) to the “rich, young ruler”.
Look at his closest followers. There was the strong but impetuous Simon. The wealthy and spiritual John and his brother James. “Doubting” Thomas. Mixed up Judas. Yes, he even seemed to deal sympathetically with Judas as he betrayed him.
There was one personality type that Jesus pointedly, and repeatedly, argued against. And we still see way too much of that personality type today. Even as today’s iteration of the type espouses Jesus as their leader (I think that’s called irony). It’s the type that I have the most difficulty with in my personal interactions.
That type is those who are self-righteous. “We know the truth and the way to live. We’ll tell you how. We’ll tell you all the stuff you do wrong. We’ll tell you how to avoid condemnation.” It’s an “us against them” attitude toward others. Willow Creek Community Church Teaching Pastor Darrin Whitehead calls them obstacles to leading people to Jesus. That is, people who need Jesus are so put off by the Pharisees among us that they stay away from help.
I actually was so amazed at this personality type and how these people could hold opinions in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary that I devoted several years to studying personality, brain physiology and mind/body interaction. The result was that I learned what every good salesperson intuitively knows–you can’t change the minds of this type of person through ordinary means. Look at Jesus. He probably only converted a few Pharisees. They can only be taught love and Jesus when they have a life-changing event of meeting the living Jesus.
But, that may be all of us. What are you doing to build a relationship with Jesus rather than a body of opinions about him?
Faith Venture 
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