Have you ever wondered the reason you were born in this world? What is your purpose? What persona do we act out in this stage of life that we find ourselves in? How does your God envisioned you? Have you ever figured out how to describe your uniqueness? And more importantly, have you accepted who you are and where you are going?
Sitting at Starbucks down the street from church and I have a few moments before church to talk about the phrase, “warrior-monk.” There are several reasons why I thought about this. A few years ago, I named an old blogspot, caffeinated desert warrior-monk and began blogging my experiences openly about my church and java-life experiences. And here I am at Temple thinking about the name of the city and how my personality lends itself to a warrior-monk like persona.
Let me explain. At present, I find myself on the Army stage living as an Army Chaplain. And this world that I find myself thrust in have two roles. On the one hand, I have a higher calling, to be a faith leader in my gifting as missionary (Being sent to accomplish various Kingdom taskings). And hence, the reason why I am a Chaplain is because this fulfills my inner urges as missionary. Now, mind you, it is not your typical missionary calling. It is living outside the typical church setting and more or less living out the story of Joseph, Daniel or Cornelius shared in the sacred story. But, back to the role expectation of the Army Chaplain. On the other hand, I have a patriotic duty, to be an Army officer using my gifts for the good of the Army community (namely, the United States government). And so, I live in the world of both warrior-monk.
“Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations–that’s what I had in mind for you.”–Jeremiah the prophet (1.5).
But there is another reason why I like the term “warrior-monk.” And that is this term best captures my personality portrait. I am an INFP. And so, my personality lends to itself to the dreamer. Hence, the Joseph story comes into play. But there is more to my personality. Of which, my closest friends have noticed that there are two sides of me. And that is, my personality bent is either I am on a mission-driven (about a particular Kingdom-tasking) or in monastic-living mode (resting, studying and praying up to get ready for the upcoming mission). Thus, either I am on a mission fighting for some cause (the warriorness) or I am chilling at a remote location resting (the monkness).
INFPs generally have the following traits:
- Strong value systems
- warmly interested in people
- service-oriented
- loyal and devoted to people and causes
- future-oriented
- growth-oriented (always desire to personal grow)
- creative and inspirational
- flexible and laid-back, unless a ruling principle is violated
- sensitive and complex
- original and individualistic- “out of the mainstream”
- value deep and authentic relationships
The last reason of using the warrior-monk persona is my upcoming move to Temple. The name of the city, “Temple” is happenstance. But, I can’t help but think of the word “temple” fits into my monk persona. One reason why I desire to move to Temple is the city is located about 30-minutes away from Fort Hood. And this will allow me to truly get away from the fast, intense pace of Army Chaplaincy ministry. And it will also allow me to break out of the Army’s community expectation of me being an officer and chaplain. In other words, I can be normal and relax and sit back resting in my monk role (monkeying around, pardon the pun). There are much needed times for me to rest, pray and read getting rejuvenated for mission again.
And so, I think I’ll end this with a poem to encourage you to discover who you are and my prayer is that you will appreciate your unique persona placed in the body of Christ. As we contemplate, let’s read this poem entitled, “The Body of Christ,” by Resty Rivera as our breathe prayer today:
What part am I, Lord; Where do I fit in; What is my place; How am I to begin?
I am a yielded vessel, O Lord; Trying to find my place; Among the Body of Christ; O Lord, I seek Your face.
Am I a hand, Lord; Or am I an eye; What part am I, Lord; Where does my gift lie?
I am ready, O Lord; To be used here and there; I am ready to do my job; To be used anywhere.
Choose any part of me, Lord; But I want to give you my best; I yield myself to you; And I will let You do the rest.
