How Do You Experience God?
Discovering Your Spiritual Temperament
As educators, we understand that we all have different learning and communication styles. Some of us are introverted, some extroverted. It should not come as a surprise that we also may have different ways that we experience God. This also means we have varying preferences when it comes to worship, praise and prayer. We then need to acknowledge that we likely have several spiritual temperaments represented in each classroom and our students do not all have the same needs when it comes to connecting with our Creator.
In the book “Sacred Pathways” Gary Thomas describes nine different spiritual temperaments which affect how we perceive and relate to God. Most of us have one or two primary means which we favor above the others but we can intentionally learn to appreciate and experience all of them. Below you will find my paraphrased descriptions of the various temperaments so you can consider what types of sacred experiences best suit you and each of your students. Keep in mind that God uses all of us according to His purpose and that He needs all of these temperaments to be manifest in His children to do the work of His kingdom. No one temperament should be considered any better or more desirable than the others. We may also find that our preferred means of experiencing God may change as our seasons in life change and as God leads us on the path that He needs us to follow. These descriptions are brief and I highly recommend reading the book to see the full depth of information on each temperament.
Naturalists
Naturalists consider the greatness, multitude, and beauty of creation. The belief in God translates to appreciation of His creation. They “see” God and his spiritual truths more clearly in a natural environment. Prayer walks outdoors and scriptures that use nature or creation themes may appeal to those with this temperament.
Sensates
Sensates respond to God through the five senses and enjoy experiencing religious art and music. They may like the scent of incense or candles, the feel of the wind, the sound of rushing water, or the touch of laying on of hands in prayer. They respond to the colorful or loud descriptions of God in scripture. They prefer truth to be embodied to be realized. Truth must be experienced and not just thought. Sensates may be drawn to symbolism, sacraments and ritual.
Traditionalists
Traditionalists find comfort and nourishment from liturgies and practices that bring form to faith. They tend to observe the Sabbath and religious holidays. They take comfort in the routine and structure of liturgical patterns. Besides meditating on scripture they may enjoy reading it aloud or praying the Psalms. They often have daily structured prayer practices and Bible reading times. They may use symbols to help remember spiritual concepts or experiences. Traditionalists often have a good understanding of sacrifice and a commitment of will that function as reminders that we are God’s servants.
Ascetics
Ascetics prefer solitude, simplicity, austerity and deep commitment. They are disciplined and take comfort in solitary spiritual preparation. While ascetics are frequently alone they do not feel lonely. They seek rejuvenation in quiet time alone with God. Ascetic Christians are often distracted by their senses and will limit the sensory stimulation that sensates crave. They are often strict in reserving a major portion of their lives for their passionate pursuit. While strict with themselves, true ascetics are gentle with others and may engage in simple acts of devotion.
Activists
Activists love God through confrontation and often stand up for righteousness in hostile places. Activists are nourished by the battles that might deplete others. Activists speak the truth in love, often in defense of others out of a deep sense of justice. The best activists find a balance between times of spiritual refreshment and intense ministry. Activists often make excellent speakers, writers and social reformers. They combine sincerity, effort, and thoughtful prayer.
Caregivers
Caregivers love God through loving others. They find joy in the service of meeting others’ needs and are concerned with social mercy. They often feel renewed by caregiving and see the one they are caring for as a conduit of God’s love back to the caregiver. They may pair caregiving with evangelism as well as functioning as a witness by their example. Caregivers by their actions speak prophetically to a selfish culture in a fallen world.
Enthusiasts
Enthusiasts love God through mystery and celebration. They enjoy jubilant forms of worship and appreciate the supernatural elements of faith. They prefer seeing fresh evidence of God’s work rather than reliving traditions through ritual. Enthusiasts experience the expectancy of God’s presence in their prayer and worship. They can then cultivate expectancy of God acting in their daily life. They praise God in groups and are highly relational. They express worship through creativity whether writing a poem or planting a garden.
Contemplatives
Contemplatives love God through adoration, intimacy with the Father, and obedience that flows from passionate love of God. They find rest in God’s presence and freely offer their sacrifice of time to be nourished by the embrace of the Father. Contemplatives engage in secret acts of devotion to others done solely out of love of God.
Intellectuals
Intellectuals love God with the mind. Adoration is unleashed by learning something new about God or how He relates to His children. Concepts, insights and comprehension are used to inform the mind to then engage the heart. Intellectuals are teachers of the faith who enjoy the disciplines of theological training and study.
Conclusion
We as Christian educators need to be able to incorporate activities that engage all of these temperaments if we want to instill a love of God in each of our students and help them to incorporate prayer and other spiritual disciplines effectively. If, for example we only use the same two or three disciplines all the time, we will undoubtedly have some students that feel disconnected to not only God but our classroom community. I encourage all Christian educators to vary their practices as each will highly engage some of your students and all will reap the neurological benefits of having a well rounded spiritual discipline repertoire to help them grow in the faith.
