Don't Bother With Enneagram

By Karen Farris, Op-ed contributor Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Everyone seems to love personality tests and evaluations. Who doesn't like having a label to describe the quirks that make up our personality?

You're not alone. From top corporations to church elder boards, leaders want to discover the intricacies of our thinking. Knowing how we think helps people work together better. Really? Well, in theory, it does.

The nine-sided Enneagram is getting some new press lately. Yet, Enneagram has roots in ancient Greece. Perhaps the mysticism surrounding Enneagram should cause Christians to question its acceptability. However in 2016, Christian publisher, InterVarsity, released The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery, and a recent spin-off Typology is getting over 300,000 downloads per month.

Supposedly, Enneagram is no ordinary personality test—you'll be discovering your orientation—such as Perfectionist, Reformer, or Challenger. There are plenty of Enneagram sub-types so that anyone can find themselves in the extensive list. As a bonus, Enneagram can help you flourish—whether in business—or even in your sex life (another spin off of Enneagram (Sex, Love and Your Personality).

Testimonies claim that spiritual transformation has occurred through Enneagram—and this mystical personality method is picking-up adherents among Christian leaders. Never mind that Enneagram is also being promoted in Buddhist communities as well. But rest assured, the right evangelical language is being used to make it marketable to the Christian audience. Books like Christopher Heuertz's The Sacred Enneagram puts a spiritual label on something that arguably could take readers towards the broad road to destruction.

Beware Christian brothers and sisters. Could this be another method to dissuade us from reading God's Word? We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Yet, we are also told in 2 Timothy 4:3-5: The time will come when people will not listen to the truth. They will look for teachers who will tell them only what they want to hear. They will not listen to the truth. Instead, they will listen to stories made up by men.

Is Enneagram harmless and helpful, or is it an abomination and another ploy to take our eyes off of Jesus?

Karen Farris served in the crisis pregnancy ministry — traveling thousands of miles and speaking to over 10,000 students about their life choices — for nearly a dozen years. She became a grant writer and helps find resources for projects that serve those in poverty, mainly children. She's been a blogger since 2010 — Friday Tidings — sharing stories of faith, life, and purpose to give hope in a hurting world.