When a local church uses a permissive teaching method, what impact does it have on reaching people in relation to their personality temperaments?

What difference does it make when local churches use permissive teaching methods for sharing their faith?  Does it really matter what teaching method a church uses?   What are the expected results if you place a pastor in a church environment where he or she must teach in a permissive style?  How does a congregation respond to a permissive environment?  Likewise, do all people respond the same or are there variations dependent upon a person’s personality temperament or combination thereof?

What exactly is a permissive method for teaching people?  The permissive method is basically described as characteristically or tolerant of something, such as social behavior.  Another way of looking at it would be “all love” and “no discipline.”  In other words, unconditionally accept of a person’s behavior or lifestyle at the expense of having little or no accountability standards.

So when it comes to a church setting, based on the permissive method of teaching, we hear many examples of people referring to churches and/or people “watering down” the message of Christianity.  Maybe you have heard the reference, “Quench not the Spirit” (I Thessalonians 5:19 KJV) as a justification for not using discipline.  Some of us are probably familiar with work situations where a supervisor wants to be friends with everyone, rather than confront one of his or her employees over a behavior that is breaking down the morale of the team.  Likewise, many parents fall into the same trap of wanting to be friends with their children…while forgetting to teach them how to take responsibility for their own actions.  A permissive approach is appropriate for some situations, such as a person coming from an abusive situation, but not necessarily all situations.  Especially, since there are many instances where a person may respond differently to a situation based off his or her personality temperament(s).

Below you will find four different examples explaining how a pastor or a church member, in regard to his or her personality temperament (e.g., choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic), would potentially respond to being placed in a church that emphasizes a permissive teaching method.  This breakdown helps explain why certain individuals may be drawn into or prefer to avoid a permissive teaching environment. 

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Choleric temperament – rational based thinking:  Bad tempered or extremely irritable.
Pros:  Great leaders; high standards.     
Cons:  Controlling; condescending to others.

What happens when you place a person – with a choleric temperament – into a pastoral position of a local church that emphasizes permissiveness?  For starters, you are still setting yourself up for a potential heartbreak, since the pastor will be frustrated by the confusion and/or he or she will likely end up leaving the leadership position.  Basically, a person with a choleric temperament tends to have conscientious objections about being placed into a potentially chaotic system without any structure of what is right or wrong – thus, undermining his or her ability to effectively lead people. 

What should you expect when you have church members (or potential church members) placed underneath a pastor with a choleric temperament in a permissive-style church.  You may end up with a church full of like-minded members who appreciate the loving environment.  On the other extreme, you will probably have a lot of people leave due to the perception that the pastor has a lack of vision for the church.

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Melancholic temperament – emotional-based thinking:  Sensitive; gloomy state of mind
Pros:  Great musicians and artists; perfectionists     
Cons:  Manipulative; like everything in a box

What should you expect when you place a person – with a melancholic temperament – into a pastoral position of church with a permissive environment?  In this case, much like the authoritarian structure scenario, you are either setting yourself up for a good match or a church that has a lot of frustrated people leaving.  On the positive side, this person will provide a lot of sensitivity to the congregation.  On the drawback, this same person has a high potential for putting all of the church’s doctrine into a box, according to his or her doctrinal preferences…thus manipulating others.

What happens when church members (or potential church members) are placed underneath a pastor with a melancholic temperament in a permissive-style church?  Many people will love having a pastor who can show his or her emotional side.  Unfortunately, a lot of people will eventually leave the church when the pastor loses his or her temper and/or tries manipulating people.

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Sanguine temperament – impulsive participatory responses:  Cheerful; optimistic
Pros:  Great salespeople; charismatic personality    
Cons:  Too pushy; lack of self-discipline

What should you expect when you place a person – with a sanguine temperament – into the same pastoral position involving a permissive environment?  As for a sanguine, the outcome is similar to that of the authoritarian scenario, either you have people who are drawn into the church by the pastor’s charisma or pushed away by the very same characteristic.  On the encouraging note, this person tends to be charismatic and remains focused on spreading the message of the church.  On the opposing side, these same traits can also become annoying, since the person may not be able to determine if people are drawn into the church by his or her charisma rather than spiritual matters…due to his or her lack of self-discipline.

Again, what happens when you place church members (or potential church members) underneath a pastor with a sanguine temperament in a permissive-style church?  Fortunately, a lot of people may be drawn to the church by the charismatic personality of the pastor.  Then again, if the pastor depends too much on his or her charisma rather than God, people leave when they want deeper instruction.

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Phlegmatic temperament – reluctant participatory response:  Not easily excited to action; sluggish
Pros:  Great behind-the-scenes workers; easy-going     
Cons:  Non-confrontational; reluctant

Finally, what happens when you place a person – with a phlegmatic temperament – into the same pastoral position involving a permissive environment?  In this case, you potentially have a relaxed church environment, since the pastor will not confront issues.  On the positive side, you still have similar results to the authoritarian scenario, in that the person will easily agree to help pastor the church but will probably avoid teaching people to come out of their comfort zones – because of his or her preferences for being non-confrontational.

What is the expected result when you place church members (or potential church members) underneath a pastor with a phlegmatic temperament in a permissive-style church?  As for a positive, most members will like the loving atmosphere and probably not even pay attention to the permissive structure of the church.  Unfortunately, when problems arise among the members, people will likely leave the church when the pastor will not confront the issues.  

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In summary, how does the permissive teaching method impact the way we share our faith with others?  Just like the similarities of the authoritarian teaching method scenario, should the church avoid having pastors and/or members with certain personality temperaments due to some of their potentially negative traits?  In the Old Testament, Ezekiel prophesized about the watchman who was responsible for protecting his fellow countrymen from the sword against the land – “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword come and takes the life of one of them…I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.” (Ezekiel 33:6 NIV)  So how does all of this apply to a permissive teaching environment, which focuses on unconditionally accepting a person’s behavior or lifestyle at the expense of having little or no accountability standards?