I was beyond pleased to see an article about the Enneagram appear in Christianity Today recently. It gives me hope that the Body of Christ is more fully embracing this excellent tool as an aid to self-knowing, God-knowing and transformation. That’s not currently the case in my own church, and I know I am not alone, so I’ve pulled a section from the book I’m writing to talk about what the Enneagram is NOT in the hopes of providing clarity – and, if necessary, talking points for your church’s leadership.
First, let’s consider the troublesome symbol. It looks ever-so-vaguely like a penta
gram, but it is NOT. Penta is Greek for “five,” and ennea is Greek for “nine.” The word “gram” means “drawing.” So, enneagram just means “nine drawing.” It’s a picture of nine points, all of them connected by lines. Each of these lines means something; they are not arbitrary or optional. Each point represents one of the nine personality types. That’s it.
Second, the Enneagram is not a religion. People of many faiths, and no faith, learn and benefit from the Enneagram. It’s like anything else in life: you bring you worldview to whatever you encounter. So, there are books and classes on the Enneagram from a Buddhist perspective or a New Age or Christian perspective. But it is not a faith-based system. It’s just a thing that is true, like the sky being blue or the Earth rotating on its axis or me hating beets. All truth is God’s truth; if a thing is true, it is because God made it to be so. The human mind was fashioned in such a way that it falls into one of nine ways of being and of experiencing the world. I hope you will trust me when I say that as you delve into this model, you will quickly see how amazingly accurate and specific and true it is.
Third, the Enneagram is not a replacement for the Holy Spirit. It’s not as if you will learn a model of human behavior that gives you such clarity that you no longer need the guidance and counsel of the Spirit. No such model exists; we were never intended to be without the Spirit in our lives.
This brings me to the fourth point: the Enneagram is not THE answer. It is an incredible tool for knowing the self and knowing God, but it is not the only tool or resource. As my husband describes it, the Enneagram is the rocket engine you add to your tricycle of self-awareness. You can pedal your tricycle on its own and will eventually arrive at your destination, but the rocket engine will get you there a lot faster.
Fifth, the Enneagram is not your typical personality test. It is not a feel-good list of strengths. It can be and is used in corporate settings to help individuals become better leaders and help teams work more effectively. However, it is not a list of static descriptors that determine who you will be for the rest of your life.
Sixth, the Enneagram is not an opportunity to put yourself or others in a box. Just because you know someone’s personality type doesn’t mean you automatically know everything about them. It doesn’t give you license to ascribe positive or negative attributes to people based solely on their type. It’s easy, in the beginning, to turn your knowledge of this model into a weapon that hurts people. Cron & Stabile call this “number-thumping.”
One final note: some people think that the Enneagram involves astrology. Nope. I don’t know a thing about astrology, and I’ve been studying and teaching the Enneagram for a decade plus. You can add any ancillary accessory to the Enneagram, just like you can paint your car purple. The car is not inherently purple; that’s something you added. So, some people may want to add on to the Enneagram, but that’s totally unnecessary, because the system works just great without it. I saw a link online once to someone using the Enneagram with Vedic astrology (whatever THAT is), but again, that’s about someone bringing his or her worldview to whatever they encounter.
I hope this was helpful. Have you heard any of the above myths, or different ones? Have you experienced opposition to the Enneagram? If so, please share!
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