Not Even Your Enneagram Should Define You

If you’ve been paying any attention in the past few years, you’ve probably at least heard of the Enneagram. I don’t want to spend this entire post explaining the intricacies and finer points of the Enneagram, but I’ll give a simple definition here. (Note: the last couple links are great sources that better explain what the Enneagram is, in case you’re a little lost!)

The Enneagram, with a history going centuries back, represents nine different personality types, nine different ways of looking at the world, and nine different ways people think, react, and form relationships.

And I think that’s great.

I think the Enneagram is a great tool, and I hope its recent popularity causes people to learn more about themselves and how to grow from that. Because that’s the ultimate point of the Enneagram, not to define us but to show us why we are the way we are, and what we can do about that.

But I’m writing this because I think we all need a little reminder that we are more than a number and a list of attributes.

Even if it is not our intention, because we are sinful and eager to rebel, it is so easy to stop seeing the Enneagram as a way to expand and mature, and instead allow it to constrict us and tell us what we can and can’t be.

I’ve caught myself doing this, finding myself in the midst of a hard day and thinking, “Well there’s nothing I can do about this, I’m just a four being a four…”

At the end of the day, the Enneagram is still just an imperfect bunch of thoughts and ideas by imperfect people.

Acts 17:25 reminds us that God doesn’t need any help from us. God does not need the Enneagram to define you, because He has already done so in creating you and caring for you enough to send His innocent son to the cross for you.

And when we get in the habit of letting these thoughts and ideas define us and control our view of ourselves, we are losing sight of God, our true creator and our true source of identity.

One of my close friends is a dominant-type seven, and she often feels put off by the stigma of sevens as constantly bubbly and upbeat and never, ever, sad people when that is not necessarily her personality (because who is actually THAT happy all of the time?).

I’ve seen this pattern online and on social media, and it’s the reason I felt inclined to write this post about the Enneagram. It’s easy to write actions or people off with comments like, “She’s just being an 8” or “You’re such a 2!” These comments, even if they have positive intentions, still put vibrant, alive, unique creations of God into boxes.

This is not accurate. This is not how you should see yourself.

Psalm 139 is a well-known and often quoted passage, but I can’t help but include its most famous verses. This is your true identity which can be found in The Lord alone:

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:13-14, ESV

This is what I want you to see today – you are so much more than a number and a list of personalities. These verses declare that you are intimately known by God, and if you read the rest of the chapter, it enforces the intricate and gentle care with which the Lord loves you. Maybe what you need today is to repeat these words until you believe them:

“The Lord knows me and knows why I am the way I am, and even more than that he loves me the way I am.”

Yes, you may be a dominant-type whatever, but that doesn’t mean that is all you are. You are human, you make mistakes, you have emotions, fears, thoughts, good days, bad days, and you have all the things given to you by God that make you uniquely you.

This means Ones can be messy and accept imperfection, Twos can be selfish and care for themselves too, Threes can rest and be genuine, Fours can be joyful and belong, Fives can be vibrant and NOT ONLY BORING NERDY MEN who watch documentaries (this is the worst stereotype I’m sorry), Sixes can be fearless and self-assured, Sevens can be withdrawn and content, Eights can be vulnerable and nurturing, and Nines can be assertive and powerful.

There is still good in the Enneagram and in learning more about your dominant type, and I don’t want to in any way discourage you from exploring that, but I want to lovingly turn your gaze and focus back to your Creator.

Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

This is what defines you – that the rest of the things, yes, even the Enneagram, will fail you, but God never will.