The man bun, the mullet, the shag, the bob, and the pixie…
Heritage blue, avocado green, emerald green, khaki beige, and slate gray…
Aerobics, Jazzercise, Zumba, Circuit Training, and Yoga…
Life group, discipleship now, Training Union, book study, and Intergenerational Sunday School. . .
When I first heard of Enneagram, I thought, “here we go again!”
Meyers Briggs, Strengths Finder, Temperament Theory, Enneagram…
Can you tell I’m not a fan of fads? In fact, I bristle at the thought of being susceptible to a movement that has the potential of typecasting me. Chalk it up to my upbringing of “never, ever lie” and consequential accountability being emphasized that didn’t leave room for blaming my aberrant behavior on personality type.
In all my meanderings through stages of life, I have championed the ideal of vulnerable integrity: telling the truth, keeping promises, taking responsibility for my mistakes and successes. Therefore, I decided to read up on this new phenomenon of Enneagram, watched videos about the nine personality types, and listened to podcasts promising the psychological and spiritual growth therein.
Do you know what got me past risking being the victim of the next spiritual growth fad? On a quiet Friday evening, while reading in our respective recliners, Tim and I shared a few moments of hilarity. I read to him an anecdotal excerpt from what I had surmised was my Enneagram personality type, type one. The questions were: “Do you alphabetize your spices? Do you lay your clothes out the night before? Do you enjoy filling out your calendar weeks in advance with color-coded entries?” Tim started chuckling which just egged me on to read more descriptions. He responded with, “What type do you think I am?” The more we read, the more we reacted with shared raucous laughter. So that’s why we decided to commit to the year-long Wednesday night Enneagram study at our church.
I highly recommend the Enneagram as a tool that could fit into a vacant slot in your tool belt for understanding yourself and your loved ones, and yes, for kick-starting some needed spiritual growth!
Who are you?
God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them. . .