ISTP-John, The Beloved Disciple of Christ/ Inspired Author of the Gospel.

ISTP – Case Study, John, author of the Gospel.

The ISTPs are given the code name “Virtuoso” which is akin in meaning to their code name “The Crafts Person”. This is because they have an innate natural talent to create using their five senses. They have amazing problem-solving skills that are applied in a manner that is cool and practical. They are individualistic in thinking and action and have a keen air of independence about them. Modern-day ISTPs that you might be aware of, include but are not limited to Kobe Bryant, Scarlett Johansson, Megan Fox, Tom Cruise, Michael Jordan, and Nick Jonas.
Today’s article will feature John, the disciple of Christ, brother to James (the other disciple). He was described as the one that Jesus loved the most loved of the 12. This article breaks down the personality of the man that captured the heart of Christ, that way we can understand for ourselves why Jesus thought so highly of him.

ISTP BREAKDOWN.

I-Introverted.
S-Sensing.
T-Thinking.
P-Percieving.

1.] INTROVERTED.

ISTPs recharge the best while on their own. They are quiet people that like to think of various possibilities of how one thing can work in several ways. They are great thinkers and do most of their best thinking when they are on their own. People are good for them, but they can be distractions when they are thinking of their work. They won’t treat you so softly if you are a distraction.

2.] SENSING.

They are very good with their senses. Their tactile and visual abilities make it easy for them to recognize problems with a system and quick ways to get them fixed up. They have great observational skills and use their senses to take in information about the world around them so they can perceive possibilities from this information.

3.] THINKING.

ISTPs can be described as logical and pragmatic. This is due to their Dominant Internal Thinking, which is basically an analysis done devoid of feelings and is mostly from an Internal consensus in the head. It is independent thinking done from the accumulation of information received from the environment, without the final decision coming about as a result of external persuasion.

4.] PERCEIVING.

ISTPs are naturally spontaneous. They enjoy solving immediate and direct problems that have presented themselves in the here and now. They dislike prolonged projects and have a natural disdain for ticking things off a list. They survive and thrive in the daily unknowns and impromptu.

POSITIVE ISTP TRAITS.

1.] Spontaneous yet rooted.

Unlike most introverts, generally, the INs (Introverted Intuitive), who live in their imagination most of the time, ISTPs are grounded in reality and see things as they are, not as what they would imagine them to look like. They are observant of reality and solve problems discovered in reality. They tackle issues with their own two hands and rarely waste time in abstract discussions.
John was a hands-on man. He was a brash man in his youth but as he grew older, he became a mighty capable man that dealt with the world and his circumstances as he experienced them. He was barely in any abstract discussion and all his books in the Bible were about the practical, real-life happenings of Jesus.

2.] Resilient risk takers.

ISTPs fear just like everyone else. They are however hardheaded even to their feelings that they will do what they have to do despite how they might be feeling about it. They know that action is the only way to get results out here and will do exactly that, act after thinking. How they feel about the situation will only project more of a driving force behind the action, but it is not the main factor in deciding whether to act or not.
John was a resilient risk-taker. Especially at the end of his life. He took the risk and became a “Pillar” of the Jerusalem church alongside Peter, something that threatened his life. He was later exiled to the Island of Patmos where he received the visions of the book of Revelation. On this island, he faced the harshest of treatments, yet he still held on to the hope of meeting Christ after all these were said and done. He never once complained and took harsh treatment as an even greater reason to stay in the ways of Christ. He had accepted the risk when he partook in this quest of ministry and was alright with what he had to endure.

3.] Positive.

Hope when everyone else is hopeless is a trait many describe the ISTP with. When things are bleak, people look to the ISTPs for inspiration to fight on. They do not listen to their feelings during such times and think of possible, plausible ways of solving the problem concretely.
John was a positive man. A man of great hope and faith. This was well tested on the island of Patmos, where he was persecuted for being a Christian Evangelist. It was on this island that he managed to write the book of Revelations with the aid of the Holy Spirit. While on this island he persevered through insults, debasement, dirt, hunger, and thirst. Many would have broken wills a few days in, but he stayed on that path until the end of his life thanks to faith, hope, and a positive mindset.

4.] Great problem solvers.

As the famous quote from world-renowned ISTP, Jet Lee goes ” Use whatever you can, wherever you get it from to solve the problem at hand.” Meaning, be resourceful. ISTPs are naturally resourceful. They notice immediate gaps in systems or things and work efficiently towards resolving the issue concerned. They can complete long-term projects even though they naturally like change and do not like one thing dragging on for too long.
John was a great problem solver whose ability to solve problems increased after he learned the concept of love and humility from Jesus. The only ingredient he had lacked in the youth that Jesus trained in him. Before becoming a disciple, John was a fisherman, a job that required practical skill. When Jesus called him, John was fixing the nets in preparation for fishing. He was a skilled sailor and was self-sufficient while in the waters. Self-sufficient individuals are generally great problem solvers.

5.] Loyal.

To a fault, ISTP s are loyal to their loved ones or the purpose they have chosen to pursue. To them, loyalty is a decision made intentionally out of understanding who is for them or who is against them. They do not use their feelings in making decisions which makes their decision on who or what to be loyal resolute and unwavering.
John was loyal to Christ and his commandments. He was intelligent enough to recognize Jesus as God and was smart in pledging allegiance to Him while He was alive. He was loyal to Christ even after his death when Jesus asked him to take care of his mother, John took care of Mary like she was his own mother. He was loyal to Christ’s ministry, and he preserved persecution on the island of Patmos for the sake of Christ. Loyalty is second nature to them if you prove that you deserve it.

NEGATIVE ISTP TRAITS

1.] Too private.

ISTPs have no issue being alone, in fact, under most circumstances, they would prefer it that way. It’s not that they hate people but people genuinely tire them when they start getting emotional or distract them when they talk about abstract things. They like to create and are hands down the most physically, and mechanically inclined individuals that get their hands dirty at work. Endless conversations with no base or problem to solve do not interest them in the slightest.

John was the same way. It’s probably one of the reasons why he barely broke when on the Island of Patmos. Most people’s will would have broken because of the seclusion from civilization alone but he took it in stride. In fact, he got inspired by the Holy Spirit and did his best work, the visions in the Book of Revelations give us a clue on what will happen during the end times (these times). He was always abrasive in his youth before meeting Jesus, probably as a result of not entertaining unnecessary shows of emotion from people. Something Jesus trained out of Him when He showed him what love is and how it is the foundation of the ministry.

2.] Intolerant to abstract thinking.

This is probably a result of their external intuition where they see real-life problems and solve them as opposed to possessing internal intuition where Abstract thinking would be dominant.
They cannot stand abstract conversations and do not see their necessity in real-life applications.
John was a practical man. He taught practically and explained things from the basis of understanding of anyone that lived on the ground of earth. He rarely used the abstract in his preaching and his books only carry out live actions and practical applications of what he had learned. Even Revelation was described in non-abstract terms. Probably why he was the best man to give these visions to and the inspiration to write them. Because everyone was to understand what is coming plainly and concretely.

3.] Arrogant.

ISTPs can be mistaken for being arrogant even when they aren’t trying to be. They are to do people. People of action, truth, and facts. They have no unnecessary emotional sentimentalities and are very straightforward in speech. They are direct and sometimes can be brutal with their words even when they didn’t mean it.
There have been instances in the Bible where John was intolerant to people to the extent that Jesus rebuked him. One was where he rebuked a man for trying to cast out demons from another in the name of Jesus because he was not one of the 12 disciples. [Mark 9:38-41]. Another instance was when he and his brother James were asking for fire from heaven to come to burn down the Samaritans that rejected Jesus [Luke 9:51-54]. After Jesus’ taught him the value of love, service, and humility, John grew out of this over time.

4.] Despise working under strict guidelines.

ISTPs are free birds and hate being bound by anything or anyone. They are strictly independent and love their own space and are governed by their own rules or rules that they have chosen to abide by. The same goes for projects that they have to do and are not given the free will to exercise their curious nature and problem-solving skills. Anything that limits their potential in creating new solutions will grow tiresome to the ISTPs.

Luckily, John never had such an occupation. So long as he brought in fish in required quantities, it didn’t matter how they were fished out when he was a fisherman. He had complete autonomy in that. The same goes for his Evangelism, so long as he did it his way under the laws of Christ, the job could easily get done. I wonder what could have been written about him if he was forced into the limitations of doing one thing the same way over and over again.

5.] Low-key manipulative.

ISTPs are intelligent fellows. It doesn’t kick in immediately, but at some point, in their development from childhood to adulthood, they discover that they are less emotive than other children. Soon they learn that they are in control of their emotions more than most people. Over time, they soon line how feelings cloud judgment and how it is easy to get people to do what you want them to do by influencing their feelings and persuasion. Knowing this, they slowly gain the power to effectively influence, and this is a power that will come in handy while in pursuit of their ambitions.

John luckily only had one ambition. To end up either on the right or left side of Jesus when in heaven. This created contention between the brothers John and James and the rest of the disciples. Despite this, however, the goal was worthy and didn’t require any earthly manipulation. Just love and evangelism. It would have been curious to read about him if his ambition revolved around social climbing or power over other humans. I highly suspect he could have used this hidden potential within himself to get ahead in life.

BOTTOM LINE.

Remember the Gospel.

God loves us, but He is not crazy about us.
We are wallowing in our own sin for which we have no savior.
We should always repent and believe in the sacrifice of our God, Jesus Christ who was sent by God the
father to die for our sins, so we might get to have eternal life. [JOHN 3:16]