The Enneagram is a tool that can help us understand our values and motives. While personality tests categorize people's inclinations and personality traits, the Enneagram attempts to explain why people are the way they are. What values are motivating our behavior?
For example, the Myers-Briggs test categorizes people as either introverts or extroverts. The Enneagram looks at why people are introverted or extroverted. Does an extrovert try to win friends and influences because their identity depends on what others think of them? Does an introvert like to withdraw from society in the hope that someone comes and discovers how unique and special they are? Does an extrovert stay connected with others for assurance that they're making good choices? Does an introvert find people's alternative ways of doing things too different to work with them for very long?
These are motivations of insecure people who aren't trusting in the Lord to meet their needs. But what about the person who is deeply rooted in the Lord? Well, that person participates in extrovert or introvert activities for different reasons, not because they have to, but because God has made them able.
People secure in the Lord withdraw from crowds to study the word or have private conversations with the Lord because they delight in God's company. They enter into intimate conversations with others to pray for them and to receive prayer because they love people and are encouraged by them. They join together in large groups to worship or learn or enjoy life because they see groups as God's gift too.
In fact, when we are trusting the Lord for all our needs, we might find that being an introvert or extrovert is no longer how we identify ourselves. Rather, when people ask us about our personality, we find we can't stop talking about our relationship with the Lord.
Likewise, when we are trusting in the Lord, we find that our Enneagram number no longer defines us, but rather it is the springboard for being all things to all people.
Same or Different
I think people who are secure in the Lord are very hard to pigeon-hole or categorize because they are always doing unexpected things. They are flexible and surprising and full of God's freedom and power. Aren't the saints of God the most unique and glorious people on earth!
On the other hand, people who aren't trusting in the Lord tend to look quite similar. They repeat the same behaviors over and over again. They follow the same patterns. The Enneagram identifies nine primary motivations that people have to sin in only nine basic ways. These are the seven deadly sins, plus two others.
The truth of the matter is there are far fewer ways to sin than there are to follow God. It might not seem like that to the one who thinks Christianity is a straight and narrow path, but when the Holy Spirit opens someone's understanding, that person soon learns how enslaved and confined they were before meeting Christ. Christ gives us unique and powerful freedoms!
Why Study This?
Perhaps you're wondering why anyone would want to study the Enneagram if it focuses on the way people sin. Shouldn't we focus on the virtues not the vices? Well, the Enneagram doesn't just focus on our depravity, it also points to God's ways.
But one reason it's important to talk about sin is because we are experts at hiding from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says that we are to demolish arguments and every pretense that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive. And in order to take our own thoughts captive, we have to know the battlefield where the resistance is taking place. We have to know where we can give the Lord more of ourselves.
So the Enneagram separates the battlefields aka people into nine types. Here they are with their primary motivations. The first motive is the life of the flesh motive and the behavior that this leads to; the second one is the secure motive in Christ.
One: the Reformer
I want to be a perfect person right now . . . so I make myself do the right things.
Because I trust God's power and timing to make me good through his processes, I'm guilt-free to join him in his work.
Two: the Helper
I want someone to care for and appreciate me . . . so I sense others needs and help them, hoping they'll do the same for me.
Because I trust God will taken care of all my needs, I can accept help without shame and I can care for others with no strings attached.
Three: the Achiever/Performer
I want others to see my value and accept me . . . so I accomplish objectives with excellence.
Because God has given me unmerited approval through Christ's blood, I can honestly give God the glory in all my triumphs and failures.
Four: the Individualist
I want to be understood and special . . . so I express myself uniquely and never stop plumbing life's depths.
Because I believe God sees me and has made me unique, I am content regardless of whether anyone recognizes me as innovative or extraordinary.
Five: the Observer
I want to have enough to participate in this world . . . so I dissect and gather and research.
Because I trust that God's wisdom secures me in this world, I can give and engage with others.
Six: the Loyalist
I want to make sure I am safe in the future . . . so I find trustworthy sources and make plans.
Because I trust all my tomorrows are in God's perfect plan . . . I can courageously make my own spontaneous or well-planned decisions.
Seven: the Enthusiast
I want to avoid boredom and sorrow . . . so I keep things happy and never stop moving.
Because I have found real joy and comfort in God's presence, I can face today's trials without relying on tomorrow's fun.
Eight: the Challenger/Leader
I want to control what happens . . . so I question authority, take the lead, and stay tough.
Because I trust that God has control, I can risk extending compassion to others, and I can join God's work in protecting the helpless.
Nine: the Peacemaker
I want to keep my inner equilibrium . . . so I try not to want anything too badly and instead, go with the flow.
Because I've been empowered by God, I can take action and enter conflict to bring about God's perfect peace.
Type-Casting Yourself
Did any of these sound familiar? I know, you're probably already wondering which type you are, but let me make a couple of precautions about type-casting yourself. First, we can be different types at different times of our lives. Second, we can be different types when secure or insecure. Third, we can be a combination of types, usually two numbers right next to each other, like 4, 5 or 3, 2 or 9, 1.
Instead of trying to pin down your number, I recommend asking yourself what number you're acting like in any given situation. What is it you're thinking about right now?
"Oh, all this Enneagram stuff might really help someone I know." — Enneagram 2
"This is interesting, but I'd have to research it some more to know if it's legit." — Enneagram 5
"I don't believe anyone could limit me to a single number." — Enneagram 4
"I don't know if I trust this blog." — Enneagram 6 or 8
"Boring. When will this blog be over. I want to do something stimulating." — Enneagram 7
"I really think this blog should've be written for a different audience." — Enneagram 1
"When's do I get to find out what I'm good at?" — Enneagram 3
"I have no idea if any of these descriptions fits me." — Enneagram 9
If you're thinking up wise-cracks in your head, that's 7 or 8 behavior. If you're thinking how pathetic and depressing learning about all your sins will be, that's 4 behavior.
Digging Into the Heart
By the way, all these above statements are thought patterns and not heart motivations. Each Enneagram number has typical behaviors or thought patterns, and those things are the best indications for knowing what type you are. However, the behaviors don't necessarily reveal our heart motivation.
To understand our hearts, we first must ask the Lord to search and reveal to us what's going on inside. Our old selves, the part of us that Paul calls the life of the flesh, wants to hide from being discovered because it knows that to come into the light means full disclosure and surrender before God. Thus, our old selves will do all sorts of mental contortions to hide from being discovered. That's why we need super-human wisdom to see our own hearts clearly.
Secondly, we've got to trust that it's safe to come out of hiding, it's safe to be honest with ourselves and God. The reason it's safe is because we don't have to protect and coddle and hide that old self anymore. We are given a new spirit and a new self when we believe in Jesus. We know we can trust God loves us no matter what we find in the old self. We know we are no longer defined by our old sinful ways; God has given us a new heart. We know God means good for us, and we know God has the power to make real change happen.
It starts with trusting God with open hands.
A Warning
I have written about how the Enneagram relates to the Christian perspective, but this is not necessarily the way the Enneagram is used by others. I have even read Christian Enneagram books that don't call the Enneagram sins sin and don't state that trust in Christ is the solution to our sins. Many of the books say the solution is to accept and believe in yourself.
There is also much debate over whether the origins of the Enneagram were Christian or not.
I see the Enneagram as a tool created by God through intelligent humans to help us understand our hearts. Any tool in the wrong hand can be used as a cover-up for sin. But any tool in God's hands can be an instrument for spiritual victories!
See: Enneagram Lesson 2
More on the Enneagram: Who To Blame, Christian Perspective (Part 1), Spotting the 9 Sins, Digging Up the Roots, Technical Enneagram Terms, Cautions Against Enneagram Literature, Self to Lose; Self to Find (Part 1), Self to Lose; Self to Find (Part 2)
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