Human diversity is a beautiful thing. The Lord created all humans differently; we vary in our tastes, desires, and beliefs. If everyone looked, acted, and thought the same, earth would be a very boring place.
The Enneagram brings some order to the jumble of personalities all humans have. The Enneagram is an ancient system and tool made up of nine personality types that help humans know who they are, and a system that Christians specifically can use to grow closer to God.
The accuracy of how the Enneagram explains how humans are wired, both positively and negatively, is uncanny. Lots of people disapprove of the Enneagram because it is a typing system, but I believe the Enneagram is a brilliant and life-changing tool that all believers and non-believers should study.
People argue that the Enneagram cannot type humans because we are too complex and complicated to be summed up in one personality type. Some question its importance and suggest that instead of investing time in the Enneagram, people should simply observe themselves to figure out who they are.
Everyone is made differently, so how can a lump of random adjectives such as “alert, insightful, curious, independent, innovative, and inventive” (Type 5) possibly describe an entire person? Why not use other tools?
These questions are completely valid, but the Enneagram does more than throw out words that are often connected with each other and claim to describe people’s innermost beings. The Enneagram is not merely a personality test; it identifies the way different people are motivated. It goes deeper than surface-level character traits; it categorizes all 7.7 billion of us into nine types with different motivators, trigger points, and techniques in handling the challenges of life.
The Enneagram is different from other personality tests because it points out the weaknesses in people and offers suggestions on how to work on them. Personally, I am a Type 4 on the Enneagram (The Romantic). I discovered that in very stressful situations, I can become self-pitying, isolated, and ashamed of myself. By studying my number, I can identify the toxic actions I take in stressful situations, so that when these situations occur, I can recognize the actions and ultimately handle them in a healthier way.
If I never discovered the Enneagram and never used the information it gave me to improve myself and recognize my weaknesses, I would be a mess. However, I rest in the fact that the Lord is faithful, and that if I never became invested in the Enneagram, He would have helped me improve myself through some other way.
As humans, we like to believe that we are intricately complex. We like to think we are too complicated to be understood completely, and this may be true for some people, but humans are not as hard to figure out as we may think. One question people often challenge the Enneagram with is “Do I really need the Enneagram to know myself?”
The answer to this is no. People do not need the Enneagram, or any other typing test, to know who they are. The vast majority of people have discovered their likes, dislikes, core beliefs, and values without knowing about the Enneagram’s existence. This tool is not essential for people to know themselves, and it is silly to argue otherwise.
However, this tool is immensely helpful. Humans are complicated, complex, and infinitely invariable, but I believe that the nine types do capture every single personality and motivator any human could have. There is a spot for everyone on the Enneagram because it perfectly incorporates every way humans go about life. The numbers are completely balanced, so that if one were to be added or taken away, it would mess up the entire system. There is a method to the symbol’s madness and every number somehow connects to another number, further symbolizing how everyone in the kingdom of God needs one another, and we are all connected through Him.
All humans can be grouped in any of the nine types. This does not mean they meet all of the number’s stereotypes, such as “All 4s are emotional basketcases.” People who are 4s tend to be very in touch with their emotions, and in an unhealthy state can be self-absorbed, moody, and overly emotional and dramatic. In a healthy state, one in which God created them to dwell, 4s can be creative, sensitive, and empathetic.
Like snowflakes, no two 4s are exactly alike in the way they think, act, and communicate. I am a 4 and have friends who are also 4s, and we could not be more different. Because we were all made in God’s image, 4s’ primary point of connection is that we were given some variation of His creativity.
No one claims that the Enneagram is perfect, but it is a useful tool in understanding oneself, and thus understanding God. People who have looked into the Enneagram and into their number know what they lack. Every number’s flaws are plastered on the pages, and it is difficult, painful, and humbling to learn about them and ultimately to try to work on them.
Because of the Fall, men and women have been infected by the sin epidemic. We all have hearts that are cracked and broken that only the Lord can restore. The Enneagram points us in the direction to be more like Him and to know our truest selves so that we can become who the Lord has intended us to be. In the words of Susan Howatch, “We are not here to simply exist. We are here in order to become.” The Enneagram lends a helping hand for all of us to become who God intentionally designed for us to be through knowing ourselves completely, especially the less desirable parts of ourselves. Though this tool receives criticism, it is a wonderful and helpful tool that helps people know themselves and who they are in God.