• Home
  • About
  • First Step Counseling

Domine Miserere

~ Lord, have mercy…

Domine Miserere

Tag Archives: Enneagram

The Enneagram: Sacred or Sacrilege?

08 Thursday Oct 2020

Posted by Janean Tinsley in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christian, Enneagram, Richard Rohr

I hate being wrong. Admit it, you do, too. Being wrong just feels like an injury somehow. And the worst part of being wrong is having to admit being wrong. Ugh! As hard as it is, I can admit it. I was wrong.

Many of you are familiar with the enneagram. I have even written about it in my blogs. I have used it for clients in counseling as they struggled to find their identity. I have read many books about it and have listened to a number of podcasts on the subject. I really believed in the process. And then God opened my eyes this week to just how wrong I have been about this spiritually dangerous idea.

Before I get into they “why”, let me explain how I came to be an enneagram proponent. Four years ago, I began my ordination residency program in the United Methodist Church. As residents, we were required to read a number of different books. One was Richard Rohr’s Enneagram: A Christian Perspective. I had never heard of the enneagram at that time so I didn’t think too much of it until I started reading it. In all transparency, I remember thinking how something didn’t feel right about the enneagram. But I chalked that up to the fact that I despise labels. I thought it was just another label for people to place upon themselves that would take the place of their true identity in Christ. But the more I read, the more intrigued I became. In the residency program, we used our enneagram number to develop our relationships and understand who we were. Between that and the Myers-Briggs personality test we also had to undergo, I was nothing more than four letters and a number.

At that time, it didn’t occur to me that the church could be pushing something that was dangerous. At least not in this case. The history that Rohr gave was innocent. It’s just a personality test. And besides, it was Richard Rohr (I later came to understand that Rohr does not believe in basic Christian principles, therefore, he cannot give a Christian perspective). As time went on, more and more people began talking about the enneagram – people that I know are deeply devoted to God. I became completely at ease with it and even recommended it. About three weeks ago, while conversing with another apologist, the seeds of doubt were once again planted within my soul. This person was adamantly condemning the enneagram. She was so forceful and so convincing that the conversation left me convicted to research it in depth. Lord, have mercy, I just didn’t know!

The history of the enneagram is not based on Christian principles at all. It actually comes from the occult despite what Rohr and others have to say. Pioneered by mystic George Gurdjieff, he claimed the original enneagram was given to him by secret groups. His belief was that human beings are unable to see a true reality without “an awakening of consciousness.” (Montenegro, 2011)

Gurdjieff also taught that everyone has an essence, which is the “material of which the universe is made. Essence is divine– the particle of god in our subconscious called Conscience.” (Mitch Pacwa, online) This doctrine of essence, which has continued as a primary part of the enneagram, is clearly pantheism (the belief that everything is god). Remember, as Christians we believe we are creations of God, not divine beings equal to God.

Gurdjieff’s students took the enneagram and ran with it. Oscar Ichazo altered the enneagram a bit claiming that he had “received instructions from a higher entity called Metatron” and was guided by an interior master. The enneagram was embraced by the occult and new age movements because it’s original teachers believed and taught that this was a gnostic path to one’s own self.

In the early 1990s, Richard Rohr wrote his book about the enneagram. Ironically, when the book first came out it was called Discovering the Enneagram: An Ancient Tool for a New Spiritual Journey. Rohr actually stated in the preface of his original version that the enneagram “was not originally Christian”. But Rohr changed his title to lull unsuspecting Christians into believing that this New Age, occult practice would bring people into a deeper presence with God. Rohr’s popularity catapulted the enneagram into the progressive church and, unfortunately, unsuspecting orthodox churches as well. And although Rohr claims his book is written from a Christian perspective, he teaches doctrines that directly oppose Jesus Christ and the scriptures. “One needs to know that Rohr denies the biblical doctrines on man, sin, creation, salvation, and God. Richard Rohr also teaches a false Jesus/Christ. Rohr makes a distinction between Jesus and Christ by saying Jesus was not the ‘Universal Christ,’ who is ‘bigger’ than Jesus.” (Veinot, et al., p. 26)

You may be thinking, “I still don’t see why the enneagram is so bad.” I thought that too when I first began hearing about the dark beginnings of the practice. You must understand the true nature of its purpose – to have a spiritual awakening of oneself. And not just in the broad sense of the word. The purpose is to see oneself and Self (with a capital S). In other words, the enneagram attempts to open your mind to the idea that you are divine. You are holy. You are the center of your world. The creators of the enneagram believed that most people are “asleep” and need to be “awakened” to a greater sense of self which enables them to find the real person in the midst of the various egos they have.

“This ‘Fourth Way,’ as it is called, is the path of self-transformation. Seekers are encouraged to begin each morning concentrating on putting the ‘self’ into each part of their bodies. … The purpose of such exercises is to shatter the illusion that reactions and intentions are a choice of free will. The next goal is obtaining ‘objective consciousness,’ by which a person finally discovers their true self. Human effort thus enables us to ‘save’ his own soul.” (Veinot, et al., p. 62)

That should be enough to stop any true Christian from ever approaching the enneagram again. The very idea that we can save our own soul is beyond frightening. It removes Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made on our behalf for our eternal redemption. It also removes the Holy Spirit as our only counsel. And that is a grave sin because they are discrediting the very nature of our triune God. “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mark 3:29)

You may still be saying you don’t think it’s that bad. Well, let me offer you this illustration. In Genesis, we are introduced to the world in the form of a perfect man or perfect woman. They live in a perfect garden with all they could ever want. Joy surrounds them and God is pleased. Unfortunately for Adam and Eve, the serpent is not pleased at all. He seeks to destroy their relationship with one another and ultimately with God. And he does so by one simple way — he tells them, “You should be as God.” (Genesis 3:5) Y’all, herein lies this problem. When we seek any way other than through God to have fulfillment, we are breaking the first Commandment. We are denying God implicitly without doing so explicitly.

“Employing the cunning of the serpent in the garden, {the false teacher} may subtly suggest a slight alteration to ‘what God said’ that doesn’t unduly upset his or her target audience … until they have separated from God … and they don’t even realize it. But little by little, brick-by-brick, the false teacher turns the truth of God upside down.” (Veinot, et al., p. 33)

Friends, the enneagram and teachers like Richard Rohr encourage you to put yourself above all else — including God Almighty. You are encouraged to find meaning within yourself, putting yourself as the center of your sphere. And equally alarming, you are then taught that any sin in your life is merely the result of your true Self and therefore entirely out of your control. Rohr said, “Christ is another word for everything.” (Rohr, online) Christ is NOT another word for everything. We are not holy. We are sinners. And the only hope we have is found, not within our self but in God. Our salvation came the moment Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, defeated death.

So, for every person I have previously influenced regarding the use of the enneagram, I am deeply sorry. I seek your forgiveness and, through His unfailing grace, I am grateful for God’s forgiveness, as well. As a therapist, I do believe it’s important to know what makes a person tick. I do believe we have unique personality traits that drive our thoughts and actions. But I also believe that Jesus Christ is our hope. While diagrams, charts, stars, and cards might seem like an easy avenue to answers, there is a price to be paid when doing so. Thank God, for second chances and unfailing grace!

References:

Montenegro, Marcia. “The Enneagram GPS: The Gnostic Path to Self.” Christian Answers for a New Age (March 2011), posted online. http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Enneagram.html (Accessed October 3, 2020)

Mitch Pacwa, SJ. “Tell Me Who I am, O Enneagram.” CRI Journal (Fall 1991), posted online June 9, 2009. https://www.equip.org/article/tell-me-who-i-am-o-enneagram/ (Accessed October 5, 2020)

Rohr, Richard and Andreas Ebert (trans. Peter Heinegg). Discovering the Enneagram: An Ancient Tool for a New Spiritual Journey (New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing) 1992.

Veinot, Don; Joy Veinot; and Marcia Montenegro. Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret. (Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC) 2020.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sundays are hard.

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by Janean Tinsley in Acceptance, faith, forgiveness, mental health, Pain, Uncharted2020

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Enneagram, Morgan Harper Nichols

Enneagram type 2 Infographic

Design by celeste hillary design https://www.etsy.com/shop/madewholecollective/

Sundays are hard.

It occurred to me last night, as I was tossing around in bed, that I dread Sundays. I dread those 24 hours because they are really very hard. And because they are so hard, I find myself angry, sad, and lost.

It’s been eight weeks since I last stood in a pulpit. Eight weeks since I walked away with my head down and heart heavy because God said it was time to leave. Eight weeks of replaying the last 10 years of my life over and over in my head. Eight weeks of questioning my self-worth, my place in the world, and my witness. Eight weeks of beating myself up for failing the churches, failing the communities, and failing God. And each time Sunday rolls around, the self-loathing starts anew.

Sundays are hard.

Some of you are familiar with the enneagram. It’s been around for hundreds of years. It’s a map that helps you discover your personality on a deeper and more spiritual scale. I have found it to be very useful in my counseling practice. I am an enneagram 2 – the helper. (If you are interested in learning more, https://www.yourenneagramcoach.com is a good place to start).

Let me just say right off that bat that being a 2 is both wonderful and awful. Twos see the world through relationships and we define ourselves based upon those relationships. According to author and enneagram coach Beth McCord, the core fear of a two is, “Being rejected and unwanted, being thought worthless, needy, inconsequential, dispensable, or unworthy of love.” And our core desire is, “Being appreciated, loved, and wanted.”

Y’all, let me just say that there has never been a truer description of myself than that right there. As a two, I have discovered that I get incredible joy from helping others and ensuring that those around me feel loved. When I offer myself to another person in relationship whether personal or professional, I take a genuine interest in them and want to be of service to them in whatever way I can. But… twos often don’t know how to do that without some self-harm.

“Because (twos) are so empathetic and sensitive, the depth of need and suffering in our world is especially burdensome to (them). Twos feel that it is their job to alleviate the pain of hurting people around (them), which is an unending responsibility, ” McCord writes. “Deep down (twos) struggle to believe that others love (them) apart from the support (they) offer.”

This description sometimes hurts me more than I can say because it’s so true of how I feel and have felt my entire life. Alleviating the pain of hurting people has been the driving force of most of my life. My senior year of high school I was voted “most dependable” because people could ALWAYS count on me to be available for them no matter what else was going on in my life. When I accepted my calling from God to go into ordained ministry, I did so because I knew God was sending me out to help people who were hurting in the world. He gave me this gift of empathy and expects me to use it to glorify Him. And from the depth of my soul I have tried to do just that. I have wanted nothing more than to please God by serving others. Unfortunately, my sinfulness has allowed satan’s voice to speak too loud at times, saying, “You aren’t loved. You aren’t needed. You are replaceable. You are forgotten.” So you can imagine (or perhaps you can’t) the internal struggle I have felt since leaving the pulpit eight weeks ago. To put it quite bluntly, I fear that I have lost my value. And that fear manifests itself every Sunday.

You see, for twos, we have a tendency to put ourselves completely out there because we want to love and be loved so profoundly. That should be easy if you’re a Christian, right? We love because we are loved by God. Unfortunately, it’s not easy! And as a two, that can be a very narrow line to walk, teetering between trusting God and trusting only ourselves. It’s that trust in self that gets me into trouble.

Twos are amazing people with hearts the size of Texas but let’s be honest…we also have a dark side. And it’s that dark side that I have found myself in these past few weeks.

When you discover your enneagram type, you will also learn about your “wings.” These are the types you gravitate to during certain moments such as stress or pain. For me, I gravitate to an eight when I feel stressed. And it’s not the healthy eight attributes that come out. It’s the unhealthy and hurtful traits that begin to dominate my reactions.

McCord describes the unhealthy eight like this, “Their whole focus revolves around protecting themselves from those whom they believe are a threat to them. They do not trust people, and assume everyone has an agenda to hurt or control them. Therefore, they want to beat them to it by controlling and hurting others first. If they have been hurt by someone, they can be very vengeful in making sure the other person gets what they deserve.”

I have to admit that I really do not like this description at all. But whether I like it or not, it speaks loads of truth and has been a very hard process to study and accept. I really don’t want to assume that the people around me only want to be around me because they need something. I don’t want to believe that if I’m not “fixing” them or someone they love then I’m inconsequential to them. I detest the voice inside that says my only worth can come if I’m serving others, even if it’s detrimental to myself. Yet, Sundays tend to be an “enneagram eight” kind of day.

I have people in my practice who struggle with self-forgiveness and I am actually really good at helping them see the source of forgiveness. I can point people to Christ and watch them blossom as they learn His love is fully available to them without question. Yet, in these past eight weeks, I have found it difficult to receive my own advice. I know God’s hands are upon me. I know God’s Spirit is with me. I know God’s love is never-ending. And, still, I feel alone, angry, sad, and unloved, and find myself asking, “Who am I, God?”

At the end of last year, I did my annual evaluation of the year and reflected on my “one word.” That time always leads me to my new word. The word I was given was “uncharted.” I had no idea just how true that word would be for 2020. Right now, my life really does feel uncharted. I have no idea where I am going or what is next. I do know that am hoping for healing. I look forward to the day when Sundays are once again filled with joy and anticipation. I know these uncharted, lonely days are only a road bump in my faith journey. I may not know what’s next. I may not feel my worth. I may dread Sundays. But I know God is bigger than all of these things. I’m still not ready to look at myself in the mirror with eyes of forgiveness. I still am not able to stop the tears at 2 AM. I still replay the words that people have said that cut me to the core.

But God’s voice is getting louder.

For every kind soul you meet with a beautiful story to tell, may you know that you are worthy of being seen that way as well. — Morgan Harper Nichols

 

Reference:

McCord, Beth (2019). The Enneagram Type 2: The Supportive Advisor. Thomas Nelson Publishing. Kindle edition.

To purchase: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YW4KJ22/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Topics

Facebook

Facebook

Recent Posts

  • An Open Letter to the Church
  • 2020, See Ya, Bye!
  • Revelation!
  • Music For The Soul
  • The Foolishness of Preaching

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • August 2019
  • February 2019
  • May 2018
  • April 2016
  • December 2015
  • September 2015
  • May 2015
  • January 2015
  • September 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Faithful Servant Ministries

Faithful Servant Ministries

Blog Stats

  • 6,606 hits

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: