Rev 360 3-11-83
A. The Crisis Personality in General.
1. The key to the crisis personality is abnormal pressure and unusual circumstances. Abnormal circumstances generally come from historical disaster.
2. The crisis personality, either through thought, speech, action, or a combination thereof, leads and dominates in disaster.
3. There are three ways in which a crisis personality can meet disaster: through thought, speech, and/or action. Therefore, the crisis personality, through these three systems, dominates in disaster, so that people involved in the disaster are delivered, encouraged, changed, or in some other way profited from the disaster.
4. The profit is not always victory, but some form of blessing at that time or at a later time.
5. A crisis personality may be a good or a bad person; he may be pleasant or obnoxious, attractive or unattractive; but he is always controversial. The crisis personality emerges as the man of the hour in the greatest historical disaster, e.g., Winston Churchill.
6. He has the ability to think under pressure, which is the true definition of courage. The crisis personality may be even a great public speaker whose message in historical disaster turns the tide, e.g., Booker T. Washington, Patrick Henry, or Martin Luther, whose message of salvation by faith instead of works, nailed on the church door at Wittenberg in 1517, started the Reformation.
7. Often, but not always, the crisis personality does not appear to adjust too well to normal times and normal circumstances, like the hero who cannot adjust to the routine of garrison duty or civilian life, e.g., Chesty Puller, Lou Diamond.
8. Generally speaking, the crisis personality possesses great honor, integrity, and realizes the peak of his expression under disaster circumstances. Once the crisis is passed, the crisis personality is all too often forgotten, Eccl 9:14,15.
9. A veteran of the Marlborough wars once wrote the following.
God and the soldier we
adore
In time of
danger, not before.
The
danger passed, and all things sighted;
God is forgotten, and the soldier slighted.
10. In time of disaster, people follow the leadership of the crisis personality. But once the disaster is over, the same people are often embarrassed by their bad decisions which first created the disaster. Therefore, they blot out the embarrassment of their own failure, and simultaneously, they blot out the hero.
B. Particulars about the Crisis Personality.
1. The believer with momentum inside the divine dynasphere is designed to be a crisis personality. He is prepared to be by continued momentum.
2. The believer as a crisis personality must have a personal sense of destiny, which comes from gate 4 of the divine dynasphere.
3. The believer as a crisis personality must have control of his life in normal times so that he will have control of his life under pressure. This includes all the gates of the divine dynasphere.
4. The believer as a crisis personality must make good decisions from a position of strength. If he does so under normal circumstances, he will do the same in time of pressure and disaster.
5. The believer as a crisis personality must possess right priorities. These right priorities must come from his perception of doctrine. The function of honor, integrity, virtue under pressure, and orientation to the plan of God produce this. Right priorities are not developed in the crisis. Right priorities must be developed before the crisis! This means persistence and consistency in the perception and application of Bible doctrine.
6. Therefore, the believer as a crisis personality is spiritually prepared for disaster. Nothing greater exists than this.
7. Sometimes, the pattern of the crisis personality is low profile during normal times, but it emerges from obscurity to stand in the gap during the crisis. This is true of some of the greatest crisis personalities in history. Only the crisis brought out their tremendous ability to lead, to solve, and to handle the situation.
8. The crisis results from a maximum number of bad decisions on the part of someone. Therefore, the crisis is created by the failure of the general public. All crises are the result of a number of bad decisions by the general public.
9. God uses that crisis to introduce His man of the hour, e.g., David in Israel. So the crisis personality combines the use of divine power with acquired spiritual resources.
10. The divine power is always there; but you, through your own positive volition must acquire the spiritual resources. No one can do it for you. God uses prepared men. God’s prepared men emerge in time of crisis; e.g., Isaiah in the Assyrian crisis, Paul in the Nero crisis, and Moses and Elijah in the time of Satan’s desperation.