Dear ENFP
I had been in a church for 28 years. It was 2015, and we had recently lost our only elder at church. I begged the church to see that they could not last if there were not specific changes. At the time, they were preparing to put over them as shepherds an ISTJ, ESTP, and ISFP. Each one I had known nearly all my life. After I studied how wisdom and knowledge are processed in different people's personalities, it became clear to me how they handled wisdom and knowledge. Sadly, because of their convictions and the conditions in some of their marriages, I felt obligated to warn the body not to be led by them. They had demonstrated an inability, at that time, to lead my family or the rest of the body wisely. It’s illustrated, in a small part, by the song “City on a Hill.” When I was told by a couple of different influential members that I needed to either change my position or leave, we left. I told a close friend of mine who stayed and others who remained close to me that the church would only last three to five more years if nothing changed. I was wrong - they lasted five and a half years.
In another example, at one time, my children were facing a lot of emotional hurts and challenges from being near an unhealthy relationship. I told them that based on my objective imagination perspective, the unhealthy relationship would not be able to endure longer than an additional 18 months - and it actually only lasted 6 more! With this primary qualification, "Unless there was new information," I told them, "to be patient and pray for them." Even though ENFPS rarely share this information unless someone shows a deep, patient, genuine interest, people will observe our actions as capricious because we are trying to act in accordance with these inductive predictions. They may look at us like a hobbyist weatherman vigorously preparing for a hurricane on a sunny day or whistling in the midst of a horrible time, believing the calvary will be arriving soon. It may appear capricious at first glance; however, if his neighbor risked investing a lot of time to talk through why his long face or his happy tune, it would become quite obvious. Incidentally, you will find people instructing you as an ENFP how to feel, that is to say, how to evaluate what you see, and they regularly do so without diligently inquiring first. When you reach your 40s, it tapers off a bit, and you notice by people's actions they are judging you silently.
But, who would want to invest the necessary time though, unless an ENFP (like the weatherman) had first proven at the risk of their own reputation the accuracy ahead of time in other areas like when a church may have its candle stick removed, or how much longer until a divorce, or when the breakdown of a friend relationship culminates? It can be difficult to get people to listen, especially those who have not been paying close attention. On top of this, pride often prevents them from admitting that you – or anyone else – may possess unique insight that is hard for them to grasp; rather than leaning on your expertise and advice, they would genuinely prefer to stumble through the darkness alone with their pride saying self-soothing phrases like, "Who could have known?" Getting help for your life from an ENFP is like the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 having to be humiliated in the muddy Jordan, not once, but seven times. As ENFPs, we're the muddy Jordan, and God will bless people through us, but it levels their pride because of our weaknesses and lack of eloquence.
So you make a genuine effort to help people see the hidden patterns that they are missing. Then, if they persistently reject you, shake the dust off your feet and invest in others. There are people who are willing with hearts ready for you to rescue them. Most of them are at the end of their rope in life or very humble and have taken to heart that wisdom is the principal thing, and nothing that can be desired is to be compared to it. They will dip in the muddy Jordan as much as it is necessary without regard to their dignity.
The Role of an ENFP
Everyone handles wisdom and knowledge in unique ways. For the ENFP, it lies in their ability to "see" with the imagination patterns not considered by the other 8-12 personality designs. ENFPs readily identify connections that are not immediately obvious, helping people understand situations in ways that would otherwise be impossible for them to see. However, a successful ENFP must be careful with how they use their reasoning and thought processes and protect their reputation through precision and accuracy. We will explore the strengths and limitations of the ENFPs' use of inductive reasoning, as well as provide strategies for managing the expectations of those you serve.
I hope you watch the video in the link below about how induction and scientific reasoning works to gain a handle on your thinking process. How you evaluate is deductive, but how you think logically is inductive, and that is what we're focusing on here.
An ENFP's natural design is akin to a weatherman of relationships—providing predictions to help avoid risks and capitalize on opportunities based on past patterns combined with the current situation. Knowing precisely how the weather will develop can help you make preparations, but overly specific forecasts may result in disappointment if they don't occur as anticipated. Have you ever planned an outing only to have it thwarted by the meteorologist's forecast of a looming storm? Phrases such as “seasonal weather” are too vague and unhelpful, but if they had instead said, "It will probably rain tomorrow afternoon - best bring your umbrella," then their prediction would have been more useful.
It is essential to distinguish between predicting results and the prophets of the Bible, who are never wrong. Prophets in Scripture have always been accurate and will not make errors by even half a year like I did or be mistaken about anything at all. After all, they have direct revelation from God. Believing one can with certainty predict the future is a naïve assumption. Instead, ENFPs rely on their probability and fear of the Lord to help them form educated observations of the future. Without the fear of the Lord, our imaginations are vain. We must be conscious of how precise our advice is when assisting others so that it does not cause unrealistic expectations. While an ENFP may see a potential event with a very high probability, speaking with certainty can result in your opponents leveraging this alleged "certainty" to discredit your observations. Therefore, it is essential that caution is practiced when declaring your inductive reasoning as certain.
Understanding Inductive Reasoning
Inductive reasoning plays a major part in how an ENFP reasons out decisions or gives insights into situations. Without fear of God, though, and with inductive reasoning, we can easily believe things that might not be true. This happens when we don't have sufficient evidence. It is through recognizing these risks that one must always remember that without direct revelation from God, our thoughts are educated guesses despite how certain we "know them to be."
To illustrate this point further, let's look back at our weatherman analogy again. The more general a forecast given, the more accurate he can be, preserving his reputation from being wrong too often. But when it comes down to serving others, there comes the point where you need to risk your reputation by making a bold statement based on probability, indicating what could happen ahead of time if nothing changes. This kind of risky, loving action may not sit well with those who don't want to hear if the news is bad or for others who prefer the squalor of their current state over the possibility of good news. But the risk of prediction in itself is part of the act of love. For those who are willing to listen, we're trying to help them prepare beforehand rather than suffering the consequences later on due to their inability to see the implications of their thinking because of their design. When you understand how people handle wisdom and knowledge, interdependency is not a nice idea in the Bible - it is imperative.
Strengthening Your Inductive Reasoning
Everyone wants to know the weatherman's best guess, the doctor's best guess, the mechanic's best guess, etc., and we look for people with success from the past, but that does not guarantee their accuracy. With this analogy in mind, all 16 personalities are professionals in their designs. As an ENFP, you must understand that you are like a weatherman to those who wish to tune in. Many people may blow you off, saying, "You can't know the future!" or "you're no prophet!" or, "you think you know!"
Don't be discouraged if some of your efforts are not accepted; there is still much work to be done. Humble people require guidance and help through the decisions they make in their lives, whether it's within their church, marriages, families, friendships, etc., wherever their lives are leading. Once again, it's important to emphasize this distinction between an ENFP and a prophet. God's prophets are NEVER wrong! To conflate the blessing of an ENFP with a prophet would be a great error. What is also a great error is when God's people reject you and are unwilling to be interdependent with you (1 Corinthians 12).
If you're an ENFP and want to hone your inductive reasoning abilities, the best way is to observe how others around you work. Instead of focusing on deductive methods, accept that there are different ways of thinking - and enjoy exploring them! If you need help with deductive reasoning, you can reflect with your conscience, essentially argue with yourself, or ask for help from a respectable ENTP or INTP. They should be able to readily follow your objective imagination since they also are relying predominantly on an objective imagination; however, they are looking for the certainty of truth, which would be a great blessing to you. By way of a quick example, it is not by our sensory information (what we know through our five senses) but rather by our imagination that we see in the scriptures that God cannot lie. ENTPs and INTPs work from a framework of truth with certainty or deductive logic and so running your projections by them can help you see what is certain versus what is probable.
Another thing you can try is taking on a little risk for the sake of love and building your reputation by letting somebody know the implications of their actions, information that you have seen with your imagination:
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 2:4-5
This can be really hard after you've been rejected by people you love, so start slowly and be careful to discern how much help people want. If they say, "Mind your own business and stop meddling," DON'T! Just find someone else who can use the help. Some people want to enjoy the sunny day and ignore the coming storm. Others might not know there's a way to be interdependent and what a blessing you can be in each other's lives!
Link for Induction and Scientific Reasoning
Link for “City on a Hill” by Casting Crowns performed by Eric Ryan Moutsos
Thanks for reading!
~Jason Heavner