Listen to this episode of Soul Talks:
The Enneagram is a tool that can help us see our dysfunction, sin, and unhealthy coping mechanisms. God wants to show us the truth about ourselves and look at the parts of ourselves that is sinful so that we can repent and experience true freedom. Join Bill and Kristi as they further unpack each types’ “signature sin” and the pathway to repentance.
For more Soul Shepherding resources on the Enneagram, click below:
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Finding Your Enneagram Type
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157 — Enneagram — What You Don’t See in Your Personality
Bill and Kristi Gaultiere
Kristi
God has given you a wonderful personality, but it’s been damaged by sin, stress, and pain.
Bill
We all have unhealthy and unloving coping mechanisms built into our personalities that we need to overcome.
Kristi
Let’s talk about how Jesus wants to help you repair your personality and grow in God’s grace.
Bill
We’ll draw on the ancient wisdom of the Enneagram filtered by a Biblical understanding.
Hey Soul Talks friends! We’re back to our series on the Enneagram. And we are going to be talking about Jesus and the Enneagram.
Kristi
That’s the most important thing!
If the Enneagram doesn’t help us in our relationship with Jesus, and growing in our love for him and his likeness, it’s really not that great a tool.
Bill
We believe the Enneagram is all about God, his love for us, his relationship with us, and forming us to be more like Jesus.
So much of the input that’s gone into the development of the Enneagram over the centuries, going back to ancient times, comes from Christian thinkers.
But much of the conversation about the Enneagram today is not being put in this context, even by Christian teachers.
So it’s something that we really try to emphasize in Soul Shepherding in the work that we do with the Enneagram as we’re coaching women and men and ministry leaders of different kinds through our Soul Shepherding Institute, Sabbatical Coaching, and other ministries that we have in Soul Shepherding.
We often use the Enneagram as a powerful tool for self-awareness, a powerful tool for God-awareness.
Although it’s sometimes presented this way, it doesn’t have to be sort of a new-agey thing that’s presenting a path to self-help, that’s just all about self-reliance and becoming your better self by yourself and even kind of a divine-self as if all the resources that you need to be a good person are within you.
Well, no, we need the Lord. We need his Word. We need the Community of Christ.
The Enneagram is a tool to help us heal from our brokenness, our sin, our destructive living, and destructive patterns in relationships, in order to become more like Jesus by the power of God’s grace.
So we think that’s really important, both sides of that, because the other thing that’s often done with the Enneagram is it’s often sort of made into a very cheery, optimistic, self-help growth strategy, as though it’s all about getting better at our strengths.
There is a lot of power in understanding our Enneagram type and using that for coaching that helps us to grow and become healthier and stronger, for sure.
But that’s not where the Enneagram begins, really.
It begins with, “Hey, we’ve got some brokenness, we’ve got some stress and some dysfunction, some unhealthy coping mechanisms, destructive living and relating going on in our lives, and God wants to come in with his grace and restore us to the image of God that we were created in.”
Kristi
Yeah, well, it shows me where I continue to have a stronghold of sin, where my personality has formed around that, and where I have actually developed a false self that I’m tempted to rely on instead of relying on Christ.
Bill
Yeah, so in my experience it really takes the power out of the Enneagram if you make it all positive, rather than seeing that, no, it’s dealing with the tensions between bad and good that are in us.
Kristi
It’s helped me immensely to see God’s truth about me, to take hold of Jesus’s hand, and look at those parts of me that are sinful.
That has freed me to be able to rethink my thinking. Like he says, “Repent.” That’s what repentance is — to rethink my thinking in the light of His grace.
Bill
Yeah, so for me, as a perfectionistic One in the Enneagram, if all I’m focused on is, “Oh, I can be a reformer. I can be someone with great integrity and peace,” these are some of the virtues of a healthy One, a redeemed One, so to speak.
I can’t really get there unless I’m honest about, “Hey, I’m putting burdens on myself. I’m trying to do it all myself. I’m trying to be perfect. I’m trying to be the hero, and that’s making me resentful. And I’m getting weighed down with all this internalized anger over working so hard, trying so hard to do it right, and feeling like nobody’s helping me.”
I need to really come clean and be honest about the sin in me and confess that to the Lord and to safe people.
Then when I see that, and my eyes are opened, “Oh, yeah, I’ve done it again, I’ve slipped back into that rut of trying to be perfect. Or I’ve slipped back into that rut of getting resentful, getting angry about things, feeling sorry for myself, getting melancholy.
I have to do everything nobody else can do. Nobody else is going to work and be responsible, I have to do it, to do it right.”
I have to look at that and see in the mirror, “Oh I’m doing it again, I’ve disconnected from God’s presence and God’s grace. I need help, ‘Lord, help me.’”
And the help is not just within me, except of course the Holy Spirit’s within me. But God is big.
He’s not just within me, he’s all around me.
I need other people who are connecting with me and ministering the presence and wisdom of the Lord to me.
Kristi
Thank you, Bill.
You’re modeling for us how this can help us to identify our root sin and to understand where we fall on this map of the Enneagram.
Bill
And we’ve all got that, whatever our personality type is, we’ve got some core struggles going on there.
The wisdom of the Enneagram is that we’re understanding personality in a different way than the way a lot of personality tests present it.
Usually, personality is focused on preferences and strengths, and just sort of the characteristics of how you function.
And the idea is to get to know each other’s personalities and celebrate those differences, which is certainly helpful.
But the Enneagram wants to take us a lot deeper than that into our dysfunction, distress, and awareness of that, confession of that.
As well as learning how to receive grace and how to turn to the Lord in His mercy and His redemption, so that he can make something new out of us.
Kristi
Yeah, we all have ways that we have sin rooted in us that we’re unconscious to.
So as you hear, we’re even just confessing your root sin and you know, the way that resentment shows up in your life.
To me, I’m able to extend grace to you, and love to you, and compassion to you. And that is that is what this is about.
This gives us access for Christ’s love and grace to touch us on that level, that core level where we need it, that we’re defending against even seeing that we need it.
So as a Two, the root sin for me is pride. And I can get all unconsciously thinking that I know what other people need.
And it’s up to me to serve them, to love them well, and give them what they need, but I’m blind to the pride that’s in that.
Bill
Right, you just see it as being helpful, caring, and compassionate, which it is.
And that’s a wonderful thing about you.
But yet, underneath that, if you’re not in your Christ-redeemed self, there is a certain vanity in what you’re describing
Kristi
That’s right.
Bill
And self-consciousness.
Kristi
Yes. And every number has something like this. So the Three struggles with deceit, but they wouldn’t know that, they wouldn’t see that. And the Enneagram helps them to see where the deceit has taken root in their life.
Bill
Yeah, Threes are performers and achievers, and they’re they’re into success.
They feel like it’s not an option to fail. And their insecurity in that and hidden sense of shame in that is that they’re very focused on their image.
They feel like they need to really sparkle and excel in order to be acceptable.
Kristi
And so by understanding this and seeing themselves as a Three, it actually can be a great grace for them to open up and receive unconditional love and realize they’re loved even in their failures, and they don’t have to be performing and achieving to be lovable.
Bill
Yeah, because all that image stuff and performance stuff is hiding this inner shame, this inner sense of “I’m not enough, I’m not acceptable. I’m not lovable,” and just feeling bad.
And so they’re overcompensating and trying to be so good and so impressive in what they say and what they accomplish and the way that the way they are and whatever they’re doing in their jobs and their relationships. They’re really inspirational, impressive people.
Kristi
But the problem is if we just focus on their strengths, and how they achieve so high, and they work so hard, and they’re shining stars, and we appreciate the positives of the Three, then it really leaves the part of them that that’s so hurt and so desperate for unconditional love and grace from Christ untouched and unchanged.
Bill
Yeah, because Threes are so tuned into other people — what other people want, their feelings, what they’re doing — and particularly as it relates to the Three reaching their goal and accomplishing what is set before them.
They’re really great with teaming with people and partnering with people, but if they’re not aware of themselves and are not aware of the shame, not aware of their deceit — their deceit as in their image that they’re putting out there the ideal image — then they don’t realize that there’s like a hidden selfishness in this.
A tendency potentially to use people and get angry at people if people don’t do it their way and get on the path to reach that goal. And so they need to open up to that brokenness inside, and bring it to God’s grace and bring it to save people.
Kristi
And that’s true for every number on the Enneagram. Because each of our numbers is a false self. We each need to see that the Enneagram is a powerful tool for us to see our mask, see our false self, and drop those and bring our true self to Christ.
For the Four, their root sin is their struggles with envy. They will be unconscious about that. They don’t look like they’re envious people.
They’re people that usually have great uniqueness that they’re expressing because of this need to be special and unique, but it’s covering their feeling as if something’s missing.
Bill
Yeah, Fours always feel like something is missing. And we have lots of Fours that are artistic, worship pastors connecting with us at Soul Shepherding. Car Guys can be Fours.
Fours are individualists, they can be romantic, they’ve got a gift to bring to the world.
It comes from deep inside their heart and soul. They’re very sensitive, deep relators, very reflective, very into authenticity and on a journey.
So there are many things about a Four to appreciate.
But if we don’t deal with that hidden root sin, that hidden tendency to envy, to compare with other people and to feel like, “Oh, they’ve got something more special, or they’ve gone farther with this, or they’re being more appreciated,” and then feel like “Well, I want to do that.”
If we don’t see that, we don’t really understand the Four. If the Four is not opening to that hidden envy and confessing that, they’re not really going to get free and on the path of Christ’s likeness.
Kristi
And then Five.
The Five struggle, their root sin is avarice.
Bill
Yeah, greed, wanting more money, or more information, more knowledge, because they’re insecure inside. They feel like they need more resources.
So Fives have trouble getting out of their heads, getting out of their separate private space, and into relationship.
They have trouble activating and giving away what they’ve learned or what they’ve received, and sharing with other people, because they just feel like they need more.
They can struggle with hoarding.
So here again, if we only focus on how knowledgeable the Fives are, and how resourceful they are, and how calm and steady and focused they can be — which are all things to appreciate — but if we don’t understand that if you’re a Five, and you don’t understand that deep, hidden insecurity that’s wrapped around greed or hoarding or feeling like you need more, you’re not really getting to the depths of your personality.
You’re not really opening up to where you need the mercy of Christ and where you need to be transformed.
Kristi
Then for the Six, the root sin is fear. And the Sixes don’t look like they’re fearful people.
They look like they’re prepared for anything that could go wrong, that they could face what could come their way.
They’re so loyal, and they’re so good at helping us all be protected and secure. But a lot of that comes out of their own fear that they could be in denial of.
Bill
Sixes have a lot of anxiety and apprehensiveness as to what’s going to go wrong.
That’s why they become such problem solvers. There is a gift in that in the pragmatism and helpfulness and response to a great new crisis.
These traits of a Six are wonderful, but to the extent that it might be motivated out of fear, and out of trying to be in control in this way, that’s a self-help, self-atoning process, and it’s leaving God out of the equation.
For Sixes to really come into peace and to come into the fullness of their self, and to be their best self, healthy and so forth, they need to admit to just how anxious and fearful and apprehensive they are.
How much they’re trying to solve everything on their own.
They enjoy the best Sixes who have been really transformed by the Spirit of God. They’re very loyal, and they become very trusting.
They’re able to deal with their issues with authority, because Sixes will tend to be overly compliant towards authority or rebelling against that, especially the counter-phobic Six.
So opening to God’s grace in this way is the path of healing and transformation. It’s the self-awareness, the God-awareness that the Six is needing.
Kristi
Jesus is the one who can free them from those fears, to be their safety and their security.
Bill
Then we’ve got the Seven.
Kristi
Yeah.
Bill
I jumped in on you. Sevens are my favorite. That’s my growth line as a One. Those Sevens that are happy and positive and enthusiastic and having fun and going for the pleasure.
Kristi
You know, they say everybody at the surface wants to be a Seven. But that’s when you’re not paying attention to the pain of the root sin.
Bill
Which is a hedonism. They’re so into pleasure, that Sevens can struggle with addiction and compulsive behavior.
Just flitting from one thing to the next, always planning the next fun thing, but potentially, they’re not enjoying what’s right before them right now.
They can really get disconnected from the presence of God.
All the types can in a different way.
That’s the point of the root sins. That’s what sin means. Sin isn’t just like bad stuff that we do. Sin is disconnecting from God, distrusting God.
So at the center of the Enneagram is Christ bringing us the presence of God. And so we get we get disconnected from that. And for the Sevens, they do it through pleasure.
Kristi
Yeah. And so idolatry can be a real issue for them as they’re attaching their joy, their hope, and their sense of looking for life in pleasures and adventures.
Bill
It is such a shock to the Seven because they just want to be happy and make people happy.
But oftentimes, their way actually ends up making people unhappy because they’re juggling so many balls.
When they’re with you, they can be really with you, bringing fun, affirming you, getting the most out of the situation, and kind of bringing you along in that joy.
But then when they’re not with you, they might just totally forget about you. Then they’re into the next fun thing or fun person and you’re not a part of it, and you feel left out.
They’re always juggling so many balls so they never want to miss out on anything fun that sometimes they keep people on a string hanging.
It’s like “Oh, is she going to call me? We were supposed to get together today. What happened?” Well, she found something more fun to do.
They didn’t mean it personally. But see that’s the thing. You’ve got to get underneath the surface of your personality if you’re a Seven and realize “Okay, I can be so into my pleasure and my planning of fun that I can actually dismiss people.”
Kristi ;
Of course, they can miss Christ in it all. His love, his joy is the source.
Bill 18:36
Then we’ve got the Eights.
Eights get kind of get a bad rap because they’re powerful personalities and their root sin is in the area of anger.
It’s called lust, but it’s particularly lust for power.
Eights are intense. And Eights slap you on the back hard, talk in a loud voice, and give you a real big hug. They respect energy.
Kristi
Well, the Eights are avoiding vulnerability at all costs.
Bill
So they integrate over at the healthy Two that’s considerate and kind and compassionate, thinking about other people.
The Eights can get too into their agenda and the power and control that they want because they’re afraid to lose control.
That lust for power comes out of a deep sense of powerlessness and their audacity, over-the-top boldness, sometimes called shamelessness, in terms of how much they can plug their thing and do their thing, no matter how other people feel about it.
It comes out of a hidden inner sense of shame.
This is how the Enneagram works. It’s always helping us deal with the tensions in the opposites in our personality and wanting to show us how, by God’s grace, we can integrate those tensions.
Kristi
So when an Eight takes Jesus’ hand and is willing to be vulnerable and open up in vulnerability to the Lord, we get such beauty of redemption.
We had an Eight with us at the Soul Shepherding Institute recently. He said it was so fun to be with other men and women of God who are breaking out of anything that might hold them back from being more like Jesus.
Bill
That is energy right there.
Kristi
Yeah, because they want to make this impact.
They make this great impact when they’re willing to face their vulnerability with the Lord. And then out of this flows this incredible compassion for others who are vulnerable.
Bill
That Eight is a business leader, and he’s done a lot of integrative work at the healthy Two, and being more considerate of others.
It really gentles all that energy and power and confidence and puts it in the service of the Lord and loving people.
It’s a beautiful thing when you’ve got a redeemed Eight, that is likely to be the best leader in the room.
Anybody will follow a challenger leader Eight who is patient and kind with the people around them.
Kristi
And then there’s the Nine.
For the Nine, their root sin is sloth or lethargy.
It’s not that these people are super lazy or irresponsible.
It’s that they believe Satan’s lie for them that their presence doesn’t matter. So they withhold.
They’re so in tune with other people and what other people are feeling and understanding and all that. But it’s pretty overwhelming, trying to hold these tensions in life together all the time. And so they just kind of numb out and shut down.
Bill
You know, the Nines are the Peacemakers, and they’re really tuning in to other people and absorbing what they want, what they need, what they’re feeling.
They’re very empathic and caring that way, but it overwhelms them so they get shut down.
They’re always needing energy.
A lot of times Nines are attracted to the Eights because they want that energy. They want that strength and that power, to not get lost and to be able to bring themselves.
But it becomes a vicious circle for the Nine because they have such difficulty with self-activation. So they always want to be joining what other people are doing to sort of find the energy.
On the positive side, they’re really great with partnering, teaming, and that sort of thing and processing.
Nines, especially healthy Nines, make great spiritual directors and counselors. A lot of our Soul Shepherding listeners are Nines.
We did some podcasts on the Peacemaker types. A lot of pastors’ wives are Nines, probably some pastors’ husbands out there are Nines too. Some pastors too are that type.
They are especially oriented around processes with people and journeying with people together in God’s peace, and seeking unity and harmony and bringing people together.
But they need to pay attention to that inner fault line around the sloth, around the difficulty with self-activation, around how they get lost, because it generates problems with passive-aggressiveness, resentment, shutting down, and even depression.
Kristi
Jesus, thank you for your grace.
Your grace that you come to us and you give us the courage to open our souls to you and let you show us where we fall into sin and into habits of sin.
Where Satan comes at us with lies and accusations that are aimed right there in our areas of greatest temptation.
We look to you to shine your light into our souls, that we can take your hand and get free. I pray for each one of our listeners that you will continue this good work in and for your glory.
