26 Mar, 2021 Enneagram: Helpful Tool, Or A Distraction From God?
by Gina McAndrew
The Enneagram.
Is the Enneagram a Fruitful Personality Check
or a Demonic Distraction for Believers?
I had an interesting conversation recently with an acquaintance who is a professing believer. She couldn’t stop gushing about how she had come to realize that her husband’s “enneagram number” wasn’t compatible with hers. Incidentally, they were going to get divorced. She just couldn’t live with his type.
Honestly, this caused me to wonder, “What exactly is going on with numbers and personality types?” So, I did some digging.
In fact, see if you recognize any of these scenarios:
Scenario 1: A high-level manager restructures her entire division based on personality types. As a result she decided that only those with an enneagram 3 or 4 were worthy to serve in managerial positions. Consequently, everyone else was let go or demoted.
Scenario 2: A teacher uses enneagram in her classroom and now only puts “compatible” students together in pods. The classroom has become a dystopian environment where kids are taught to only fraternize with their own, and have disdain for other types. (Sound like something out of Divergent?)
Scenario 3: A mom decides after much analysis of her husband and children that she is not a good fit for the family and walks out, leaving her family in disarray. She’s quite likely had a permanent negative impact on all of the members.
Scenario 4: A church has an “all-person” analysis done of its members’ enneagram type INSTEAD of a spiritual gifts assessment, believing it to be a more accurate description of where everyone fits together as a body. Subsequently, over time, laymen (and pastoral staff) stop consulting 1 Corinthians 12 and dissension creeps into the church.
Do these scenarios seem far-fetched?
To start, I would like to assure you they are not. In fact, the recent craze of the enneagram has infiltrated the workplace, schools, families, and churches. Furthermore, there are books, websites, social media pages, and seminars dedicated to advancing this cult-like personality assessment. We have to use logic to find out what is lying behind the enneagram and where it comes from.
To tell the truth, you don’t have to search too far to find the true history behind the enneagram. Many have walked this path before us. Take Doreen Virtue for example. She shares her struggle down the enneagram path, what she found out along the way, and now does ministry teaching people all about the deception. Her Youtube channel is a great resource.
I highly encourage you to listen to the entire video, despite the length. In a nutshell, the enneagram implies that the Bible is not sufficient for personality analysis and for showing us how we should live, being based on Satanic roots. Frankly, an enneagram is right there in the ring with Tarot cards and Zodiac signs.
We have been warned in scripture.
Deuteronomy 13: 1-3 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign of wonder, and the sign of wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them’, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.’”
Wow! That’s a pretty heavy admonition. Moreover, you’ll hear from the ladies in this video, the enneagram forces us to look inward. Instead, we should be focusing on the fruit of the spirit, which causes us to look outward. The Bible forbids consulting spiritists and mediums, so how can we justify consulting the “enneagram”? Leviticus 20:6, for example, states “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.” Yikes! Do a search in your Bible; there’s more!
Keep in step with the Spirit.
After all, that’s what we are called to do as outlined in Galatians 5:16-26. We don’t need books or analysts to tell us how we should be behaving and getting along with others. Does this mean that ALL personality tests are bad? Actually, no, not at all. However, a good Christian counselor can use solid tools to best determine how to minister to a hurting brother or sister in Christ. But as the video points out, God doesn’t redeem tools-just people.
Lastly, teach your kiddos critical thinking skills so that they are not easily blinded by the world. In fact, as the ancient Bereans persevered, we must be vigilant in what we believe:
“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
Acts 17:11
Gina McAndrew is the Founder and CEO of The Mark Project, an organization that equips believers with the tools they need to fulfill the Great Commission through art.
She is also the Founder and Director of Potter’s Clay Applied Arts, a program that equips students to glorify God through the arts. Gina has a BFA in Studio Art, an MS in Industrial Communications, and an MBA, all from Lindenwood University.
She has been teaching art and written communications to students of all ages for 15 years, focusing on the practical applications of these subjects. As a former upper-level manager and homeschool mom of four children, Gina continuously seeks to implement new and innovative ideas at both companies.
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