I have heard rumblings of Christians sharing they can no longer follow the enneagram. At first, it sounded crazy or "overzealous". After all, it's just a personality test, right?
And yet, in my own research, I found can no longer take part in it. The video below explains this in greater detail, and is well worth your time. Please do your research on its roots. I write this post for the Christians in the audience.
If theology and your faith matters to you, if pursuing Christ and your new identity is more important than cultural acceptance or a "fun personality quiz", then I encourage you to flee from it and cling to what you know is true.
I would not be surprised if this comes off as extreme or an "overkill" in response. While I fail daily and by the second in pursuing Christ in trying to live out his teachings, that means I want nothing to do with who I once was.
1 Timothy 6:11-12 states,
"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
Through confession of when I sin, I am redeemed. But this confession does not give me an excuse to today entertain that which draws me away from the goal of being made new and more like Christ. Again, it's a fail forward journey, but that doesn't mean we entertain things and half-step "half-commit" our way through life. We have to commit to pursuing our new identity completely and its full potential.
If you are reading this and not a Christian, I do not judge nor condemn you. I have compassion and a bigger heart for you than you probably will ever know.
And yet, it is a part of my calling to obey the truth and acknowledge when I have fallen into a lie. For those I have shared the enneagram with or encouraged the discussions, I am sorry for not doing more research before engaging. While it may have been a "fun" discussion, it is not worth the riptide of being pulled back into our old self, when we have been made new with Christ.
Ultimately we cannot "manage our essence" into being better. We can only be perfected by the gracious work of Christ and his Holy Spirit, plain and simple.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
Grace & Peace