Many Members, Yet But One Body

By Curt Wildy

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body [were] an eye, where [were] the hearing? If the whole [were] hearing, where [were] the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where [were] the body? 20 But now [are they] many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those [members] of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely [parts] have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that [part] which lacked: 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

I usually try to refrain from bringing earthly wisdom and reasoning into these matters, especially in the realm of  psychology, but I believe that the following points may be beneficial. Throughout various times, lands, and cultures, men have noticed that there are four general temperaments. There is a significant degree of variation within the four, but the general nature of these temperaments have been widely recognised. Although I have no intention of trying to prove this to anyone due to the time it would take, after nearly two decades of looking into the matter and observing people, I am convinced of it.

The four temperaments have been given differing, but related, names throughout the ages; for the purposes of this post, I will use the following: Guardians, Artisans, Idealists, and Rationals. I believe that one group of men, the Guardians, can be characterised as being more authority, duty, and tradition-oriented. Christians amongst this temperament can, to varying degrees, appear legalistic and even Pharisaic in their positions. They will focus on what men ought to do and ought not to do; what they should be watching, wearing, drinking, doing, and what they should not be watching, wearing, drinking, and doing. Sabbaths, proper dress, covenantal and other religious duties are all common topics amongst them. Guardians make up about 40 to 45 percent of the U.S. Population.

Others, the Artisans, are more oriented towards the temporal, concrete, and sensual (i.e. that pertaining to the senses). Christians of this type can, to varying degrees, come across as worldly in comparison to other Christians. They are generally not the most legalistic and abstract in their preaching to say the least. They will often emphasise such doctrines as Christian liberty and freedom from the law, perhaps going into their current situation and experiences rather than focusing on experimentalism in the Warburton or Huntington sense. You may hear talk of dancing, smoking, chewing, drinking, fighting, etc. coming from their pulpits. You probably will not find too many of them worrying about apparel, head coverings, overall appearance, or abstaining from certain food or drink.   Artisans make up about 30 to 35 percent of the U.S. Population.

The Idealists are the abstract and introspective types; they are prone to great depths and variance of emotional experience. Christians of this type gravitate towards experimental preaching and tend to be more imaginative and metaphoric in their thoughts and discourse. Many have frequent pangs of conscience and a highly developed system of personal ethics. These Christians will often speak of  types and figures and of feelings of great joy and deep despair.  Dry doctrine and dead traditionalism (especially in areas contrary to their beliefs and values) will be the bane of this temperament type. However, their focus on their feelings, trials, and tribulations may make them appear sentimental or even melodramatic  in the eyes of other Christians. Idealists make up 15 to 20 percent of the U.S. population.

Finally, there are the Rationals. They favour reason, logical discourse, and the facts… and only the facts. These Christians will have a hard time associating with the legalistic aspects of the Guardian temperament (especially if they find their legalistic positions to be illogical or otherwise unsupported). Likewise, they often find the experiential depths of the Idealists to be unfathomable. Sermons of their type will often involve lots of scriptural references and word studies, sometimes in a drier “if a then b” / “b equals c” type fashion. When taken too far, they will debate using logical and philosophical terms like suppositions, syllogisms, premises, logical fallacies, and the like. Rationals  make up 5 to 10 percent of the U.S. population.

With Artisans making up about 30 to 35 percent of the population, surely the experimental depths of the Idealists and the rigidity of the Guardians must be somewhat bewildering to them. With Idealists making up only 15 to 20 percent of the population, is it any wonder that such Christians feel themselves to be but a small and misunderstood number. How perplexed must the Rationals be, being only 5 to 10 percent of the population, when others are unwilling to enter into the depths of research with similar zeal and appreciation. With Guardians making up 40 to 45 percent of the population (nearly half), is it surprising that so many of them view the erudite ways of the rationals to be heady; the emotional ways of the Idealists to be operatic; and the sensual ways of the Artisans to be somewhat hedonistic?   

As you can imagine, some people will be strongly aligned with their temperament. Others will appear to be split between two. Some will exhibit certain tendencies that contradict their overall temperament. This can be explained by multiple factors such as the effectual working of God on their hearts; prolonged learning or indoctrination; required adaptation to life’s demands; and natural maturity given that as people grow older, they tend to naturally strengthen the qualities of the other temperaments that they lack. This is why many older people, especially if exposed to a broad social mix, will have more of a balance than younger people or those older people who have isolated themselves amongst people like them.  

All Christians will value the experimental realities of the Christian walk to one degree or another, given that they will all encounter the fiery trials, temptations, fears, doubts, uncertainties, comforts, elation, and awe experienced by regenerate saints. Many Christian Artisans, despite their leanings toward liberty, will still hold tightly to those traditions that are of value to them. Many Idealists will appreciate strong logical arguments from scripture, especially if the arguments affirm their experimental and value-based points of view. Rational Christians will appreciate a true experimental account of the workings of God, while disdaining that which sounds contrived or affected. Guardians will willingly and happily listen to sermons on Christian liberty, so long as their standards of tradition and regional sanctification are not contradicted.   

Note also that you will find people of all, or most, temperaments in any particular Christian assembly. However, over time, Christians of one temperament may flock together and form their own separate assembly, which can lead to denominational quirks and special emphases over time. On the negative end of the scale, you might find some groupings becoming quite legalistic in nature; others becoming quite Antinomian; still others becoming quite heady and formalistic; with the final group becoming quite emotional, temperamental, and overly focused on things religiously dramatic. When a church has neither a problem with legalism nor one with antinomianism, it is a mature church. When one has neither an over-emphasis on emotion and experiences nor an under-emphasis on such, it is a mature church. When duty, liberty, emotion, and understanding are in balance, you have a church that is the envy of most others.

In light of such things, should the Rational brother be looked down upon if he doesn’t have quite the depth of emotion and experience as his Idealist brethren? Should the Rationalist brother condemn or belittle his Idealist brethren if they appear to be a bit too unstable, tried, or tempted? If the Guardian brother is easily tripped up by soccer games, a glass of wine, recreation on a Sunday, etc., should the Artisan brother, with a better understanding of his liberty, judge him as being a Pharisee? Or should the Guardian brother judge his Artisan sister to be lewd and profane over her current choice of clothing, head coverings (or lack thereof), or for her enjoyment of Irish River Dancing?

If we were to get into the four personality sub-sets belonging to each of the four temperaments, you would see even further sources of division. Christians need to work to overcome personality quirks, temperamental differences, party (i.e. denominational) distinctions, etc. and strive to come together as one body in honour of the Lord Jesus Christ and in opposition to His will-worshipping enemies. As God wills and enables, we should strive to tear down the walls that divide. We all know that true Pharisees masquerade as brethren. We also know that true Antinomians do so as well. We know that many mere mental-assentists trouble the true saints (quite often on the Internet as they hunt them down in search of vain and vile debate). Yet we also know that many proud and haughty emotionalists greatly tarnish and pervert true experimental preaching. God will deal with the wicked; He will also give strength and faith to the godly. Let us strive to praise the Lord in Spirit and in Truth, putting aside all petty distinctions and distractions. 

To God be the glory.