INFP-Case Study, Barnabas (Paul’s Loyal Companion)

INFP’s – Case study-BARNABUS (Paul’s loyal companion).

This group of individuals are known as “MEDIATORS” as they are generally encouragers of unified fronts despite common differences. They make sure that people’s feelings are validated and heard. They are compassionate and hate discord, yet surprisingly it is through discord that their mediating ability thrives the most.

Modern-day INFPs that you may know include Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana, William Shakespeare, Sia, Bob Marley, Mary Kate Olsen, and Johnny Depp. The Biblical character, Barnabas, Paul’s good friend also happened to be an INFP. This article is based on him and his works for Christ, making him one of the most influential Christians of his time. This article also shows proof that we can use our innate personality traits and gifts to work for the Lord. So, let’s get to it.

INFP BREAKDOWN.

1.] INTROVERTED.

INFPs are naturally introverted individuals. This means that they prefer to recharge on their own after having met people throughout the day. They may love people but people exhaust them. Most times they would prefer peace. But due to their feeling function, they need to be around people to get those emotions flowing outwards once their batteries are full.

2.] INTUITIVE.

They are very good at seeing the big picture of everything. They are idealistic by nature as their sense of wonder stems from their innate ability to see the world from a sky view version of a child-like lense. Their paradigms of right and wrong are the basis of this vision and their worldview of the consequences of each action and its consequent reaction makes it easy to predict the future possibilities of a single act. They are like the spectators of a chess match that can see what the players are not.

3.] FEELING.

INFPs are creatures of feelings. They are empathetic and this creates a better intuition of a person’s state of mind.

Their feeling trait is so tuned that they can easily tell something about you even without you saying anything. Their empathy and ability to make others feel heard make them great leaders as they somehow manage to maneuver feelings through any conversation from a point of negativity, smoothly into positivity.

4] PERCEIVING.

They live in the here and now. They are very good at adapting to new situations as they simply operate by receiving information and working with what is there. As you can guess, this makes for terrible long-term planning but it does make for a great career in damage control and entrepreneurship. They explore several options before coming down to a conclusion, depending on the information that they are currently receiving. Often confused with being unreliable but it’s just in their nature to keep options open.

The traits of the INFJPs include the following.

POSITIVE INFP TRAITS.

1.) Loyal and Devoted.

INFPs idealize friendships and relationships and they believe that these institutions should be long-term if not for life. Therefore, they will give off themselves completely without prejudice or question. Barnabas was the same way. He was loyal to Paul/Saul even after they parted ways from a disagreement about having John Mark as a helper and not once did, he ever speak ill of him. He was ready to forgive John Mark after his betrayal at the beginning of his mission where he ran back to Jerusalem for fear of the risk that ministry brought on his life. Barnabas, being as understanding as he was decided to part ways with Saul for being too stubborn about the issue. He decided to continue his ministry with John Mark because he had already proven his loyalty to him, and he knew his heart. He gave up clout with Saul for loyalty to John Mark and to the work that they were doing together. His devotion to the work of God was the driving force for all of these acts of faith he had.

2.) Big Picture Thinking.

INFPs have a bird’s eye view of everything that is within their area of experience. They understand how actions result in reactions and are very good at predicting the likelihood of what will happen when one does something. Take Barnabas for example, he understood that John Mark’s actions of running away before the going got tough was because of his fear. But he knew that John Mark was a true disciple of God from previous acts and decided to give him a second chance in the ministry. He knew he had to be the name and face of the ministry because John Mark wasn’t as brave though his heart was very willing for the job. He defended John Mark to Paul/Saul when he was invited for a second missionary run with him. He could tell that if Paul/Saul would have agreed to John Mark’s coming, John Mark would be constantly under scrutiny by Paul/Saul and that would have jeopardized the mission, judging from how he understood Paul/Saul. Paul/Saul was good at forgiving but he never did anything half-heartedly and expected the same from true followers of Christ. He couldn’t trust John Mark after proving his lukewarm nature and cowardice. Knowing this of Paul/Saul, therefore, agreed to work separately from him so that the mission could be fulfilled.

3.) Curious.

INFPS are long-term learners. They always like to get more information from any source that they believe to be viable. Books, the internet, and people are their regular go-to’s. They are artistic and like to study the art of living and life itself. Barnabas was also a curious man. It wasn’t documented that he was much of a reader but it was documented that he had high emotional intelligence. He knew how to handle people and handled the most difficult of men with the knowledge that he had acquired from the information and practice he obtained from his evangelism. He had Paul/Saul under him as an apprentice and had John Mark the same way. He always had something new to teach them since he was always learning himself.

4.) Relationship Oriented.

INFPs love people. What makes them more different than the other MBTI types that are people-oriented is that they love people to give them something. All they need from them is the good feeling of validation they get when they do something nice for them. Most of the others like people to give and take in return. But rarely ever is something immaterial. Barnabas maintained a good relationship all through with Paul/Saul even after they parted ways. He had established a great relationship with John Mark to a point of giving him the courage to write the book of Mark that he would have otherwise not written due to fear of persecution. He sold his land and gave all the proceeds to the Apostles for the continuation of ministry even during the prophesied famine.

He genuinely cared for others as he would have himself, establishing an example of how a relationship under Christ should look like.

5.) Independent Workers

They do not mind working alone, in fact, most of their best work is done alone. INFPs are devoted to working just as much as they are devoted to people. They believe in giving a hundred percent of themselves to get a hundred percent of value. Barnabas was the same way. He may have been a minister of people but his main job was creating strong leaders for the church of Christ. His second ministry with John Mark created a fast following in the Church for Christ. He modeled Paul/Saul into being the strong Christian leader that he was. He also encouraged Mark to write what is now half of the New Testament and gave him the courage to bare his name on it. His work may have involved people to get the job done but he did work independently on them still. With all that determination he was blessed with by the Holy Spirit, he put it to good use to keep the ball rolling, with or without assistance from anyone.

NEGATIVE INFP TRAITS.

1.) Overly Idealistic.

INFPs can be overly Idealistic when it comes to their expectations of people and the relationships that they form with people. They expect to get the same kind of devotion and loyalty that they give to others, but truth is, this is not how the world works. They often get severely disappointed when they don’t get the same treatment they give and betrayals from others can cut deep into their souls due to their natural capacity to give more to others than they take. Luckily for Barnabas, by the time he was documented in the Bible, he was already old and experienced. He had already understood people’s nature by then and served only the living God. It is not documented but it can be implied from his behavior that he didn’t have close relationships with anyone but God seeing as how he devoted so much of himself to the ministry. He must have only expected a lot from God and the promises that He made for him to give everything including all of his resources to God’s ministry. Why else would he be so nonchalant about intentionally getting himself into literal poverty when he knew that God would provide for him every day of his life?

2.) Don’t take criticism well.

INFPs can be very personal with criticism. They do not take it very well when someone disapproves of them because they believe that whatever they do or say genuinely comes from a place of goodwill. It doesn’t matter the aftermath for them, sometimes they just do things with the mentality of “It’s the thought that counts.” But in reality, certain things they do carry negative consequences which they will not be too happy to hear and might even disregard your company because of it. I feel as though the disagreement between Paul/Saul and Barnabas on the count of John Mark was one such scenario where Barnabas could see the heart of John Mark in matters to do with Christ while Saul was annoyed by the fact that John Mark ran at the first sign of threat. Barnabas saw the potential while Saul saw the mistake. Barnabas must have taken it a bit personally to decide that both of them cannot walk in the same lands even if they both were on the same journey.

3.) Easily Depressed.

INFPs are introverted by nature and unfortunately for them, they can grow a disdain for everything out of the blue. It is a common characteristic of all introverts especially when they have had just about too much social stimulation in a prolonged period. Because they give soo much of themselves entirely, the constant disappointment of people here and there, the donor fatigue they may experience over time, the emotional burden of empathy that comes over time, all these things will result in a few mornings of “I’m sad” or “I hate everything.”, even if they do not know why they feel that way. Usually, a few good hours of sleep or a good movie or a workout does the trick and once there is enough serotonin running in their brains, they get back to feeling all wonder-eyed about the world. Unfortunately, Barnabas was never shown to bear this vice in the Bible but then again, the Bible’s focus is on God, not Barnabas. Certain things about him were deliberately not included in the Bible as they won’t profit us in our match to heaven.

4.) Tough To Get to Know Closely.

INFPs may be eager to help others but they are also very conservative, especially with the most information about themselves that they find personal. They will be great superficial friends if you want them to be and are excellent at small talk. But when it gets to deep matters, only the closest at heart are lucky enough to get to see those deep sides of them. They are very particular with who gets in their circle and are protective of their space just as much as they are protective of their loved ones. Seeing as Barnabas was a wise man, it can be deduced that to maintain respect among people, there are many things that he kept silent about Himself that only God knew.

5.) Inattentive To Details.

Due to their perception and intuitive nature, INFPs are very hard to distract by major things but easy to distract by the minute details that are always passing them more times than they can count especially when they are things that they do not care about personally. Sometimes they are too clouded by the thoughts of their inner world that they would barely see what is going on right in front of them. Because of their abstract nature and the ability to comprehend it, the concrete world at times might not be attractive enough to keep observing, and having to pay attention to detail will require deliberate effort; such is unlike the Sensors who see everything.

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]