Jesus Is Lord Ministries

Temperament Theory:
The Supine

I have been asked, “What temperament was Jesus”? I don’t know; I haven’t had the opportunity to run a T.A.P. on Him yet. It is through the Temperament Analysis Profile (T.A.P.) that a person’s temperament is revealed. Without it, we are just sort of guessing. Actually in Jesus, I see the strengths of all the temperaments:  Melancholy, Sanguine, Choleric, Phlegmatic and Supine.

The Supine temperament is new to the list. The other four have been known about for 2400 years. However, as the National Christian Counselors Association was doing its 7 years of research with about 5,000 people, the evidence of the fifth temperament was found. It has been know that some people did not ‘fit’ into any of the four temperaments, but until the N.C.C.A.’s research, there wasn’t enough evidence for a fifth.

To define the Supine temperament in a couple of words, “the servant’s heart”. Thus the name ‘Supine’, which means “with the face upwards”; like a servant looking up to his/her master. This can clearly be seen in Jesus.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Jesus came to serve and throughout His life He served. I don’t see Him doing anything that wasn’t directed in serving humanity. No matter what our temperament, we can learn to have ‘a servant’s heart’. Jesus said, “the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” (Luke 22:26).

Each temperament has strengths and weaknesses in each area: Inclusion (social and intellectual orientation), Control (how much control we want over ourselves and others), and Affection (deep personal relationships). Few people are the same temperament in all three areas [a T.A.P. is necessary to accurately identify one’s temperament]. Let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Supine in these three areas.

Inclusion Strengths: a great capacity for service, liking people, and the desire to serve others. They possess an inborn gentle spirit.

Inclusion Weaknesses: indirect behavior that expects others to read their mind, high fear of rejection, and harboring anger viewed as ‘hurt feelings’.

Control Strengths: dependability, ability to enforce ‘the policies’ set by others and to serve those they follow with absolute loyalty.

Control Weaknesses: aggressive disorders, open dependence, defensive against lost of position, weak willpower, a tendency to feel powerless and at the mercy of others.

Affection Strengths: the ability to respond to love and to open up emotionally when they feel emotionally ‘safe.’ If treated properly, they are capable of absolute and total commitment to deep personal relationships.

Affection Weaknesses: the inability to initiate love and affection. The require constant reassurance that they are loved, needed and appreciated.

While this is just skimming the surface of the Supine temperament, you can see the importance of learning to live in the strengths of one’s temperament instead of living in the weaknesses. The Supine temperament is a beautiful temperament; it ‘naturally’ has ‘the servant’s heart’. How important this is to the Body of Christ and to society in general. Like any other temperament, the Supine can be open to abuse until he or she learns to live in the strengths of the temperament under the control of Christ.

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