These aspects are, from a Christian point of view, the mind, the emotions, the will and the conscience. These are underpinned by the body and the spirit. Now comes a greater difficulty. For the Christian we are said to have an old nature and a new nature! The secular reader of personality will mostly only read the personality of the old nature!
I think there are two very important things we can derive from personality,
1, just how differently each person is wired and therefore why we wouldn't do what they do!
2, that the personality we treasure is actually what we are supposed to put off!
How differently we think!
A helper will intuitively know/ feel another's need. They do not need debate, consensus, facts and figures they know what a person needs and will sacrifice themselves to help. If fact they generally do not like debate and consensus! Nurses, doctors, teachers, Mother Teressa and so on have a tendency to be helpers.
Mediators on the other hand feel that the answer will come from understanding everyone else's point of view. Again, sacrificing their own needs, but this time what is needed isn't intuitively know, it is arrived at through debate and discussion! Teachers, politicians, committees and so on.
Clearly, these two ways of arriving at a conclusion are very different. It is easy to look at people and wonder why they do what they do when we would never do that. But people are wired so differently that they do not think the same or act the same.
Putting off the old
It seems to me that at the heart of personality lies a lie. Take the helper above, there is a lie that says, "My love makes the world go round", "It is me that is needed." This lie could have come from the misunderstanding that "Mummy and Daddy will love me if I'm helpful!"
On the other hand the mediator has the lie, "The answer lies in our collective knowledge!" and probably comes from the misunderstanding, "If I listen to everyone I should avoid punishment!"
Clearly these two are part of the fallen nature; the old nature, and we are told to put off the old nature. It is worth finding out what lies within the old nature so that we can distinguish it from the new. For example, helpers are fueled by the old nature, a fallen state perpetuated by a lie. However, to the outside world what better quality can there be than being a helper? Likewise the idea that we all sit around and discuss to find the answer is a very noble idea. It isn't helping and discussion that are "wrong" it is the fact that people who are operating within their personality are effectively slaves to their personality and Jesus has set us free. Not only is the helper free to help, but is now free not to help! He/ she is free to feed him/ herself as well, free to no longer be a victim subject to feelings of guilt.
Likewise the mediator is free to consider his/her own beliefs. The "drive" to find "the answer" through debate is not noble, although on the surface it is! The drive is pain avoidance! As Christians we are called to "be Holy," that means to come out and be separate. We are to find what we believe and stand for and then engage with the world. We will not find the answer through debate with the world! Debate with the world is in order to give them the answer!
Can our old natures be redeemed? The answer has to be "no!" Why? Because we are given a new one; the nature of Christ in the image of Christ's nature. If God were able to redeem our old nature then we would not need a new nature. The fact that God has given us a new nature shouts that our old nature is beyond redemption! Therefore whatever qualities we posses that we feel driven by are not the qualities we should be putting energy into. We should be putting energy into putting off these old habits and putting on the new ones. This is contrary to the idea of "self actualisation." This is the idea that we grow in our personalities until we are the best we can be. An analogy might be like having a car, we can polish the old car and get it tuned up so that everyone thinks it is wonderful, but we are supposed to be driving the new car!
Each personality type has a lie at it's root, and we need to live in the knowledge that that lie is corrected by ultimate and absolute truth:
1, The perfectionist believes that they know the right way, the truth is only God fully knows the right way, we do not posses all knowledge. The child perfectionist believes that mummy and daddy will love them if the get it right, the truth is God loves you anyway!
2, The helper believes that his/ her love makes the world go round, it is God's love that makes the world go round and if He needs your help He will let you know. The child helper believes that mummy and daddy will love them if they are helpful, again God loves them anyway.
3, The achiever believes that hard work will make them successful, God will make you successful. The child achiever believes that mummy and daddy will love them if they are successful, whereas God loves them anyway.
4, The artist believes that truth is found in the deepest of feelings, whereas truth is only found in God and at every level.
5, The observer believes that resources are limited and therefore has to hoard knowledge, the truth is that God is limitless.
6, The loyal skeptic believes that the world is a dangerous place and security can be found in authority. The truth is that security can only be found in God. No human authority is infallible.
7, The enthusiast believes that life is all about fun and avoids the truth that life is also about pain. We are to weep with those who weep as well as laugh with those who laugh.
8, The top dog sees life as unjust and that they are needed to defend the innocent. Again there is a nugget of truth in this but it is subjective. God is the defender of the innocent, there is justice, God will avenge every wrong doing. We are called to be obedient to His every word, that means fighting when He says and not fighting when He says.
9, The mediator believes that peace is the most important thing between people and will deny self to achieve peace. That sounds very ideal but the truth is that there can be no peace other than between man and God. God calls us all to make our peace with Him through Jesus, that requires us to acknowledge our own needs. If we bring the whole world to peace and have not made our own peace with God then we have achieved nothing.
There are very good qualities to our old natures but we are told to put of our old nature. That is a tall order and something beyond our usual understanding. Jesus did not function in a way that He was compelled to follow a pattern of behaviour regardless of what His Father was telling Him to do. We have His nature and have the ability to grow in that freedom. To function in step with the minute by minute will of God.
We can all hear a helper saying how we should help those in need and feel guilty because we aren't. But the helper is no more helping than we are! They are not helping they are compulsively rescuing! We can read a book by a mediator on how we should consider others before ourselves, but the mediator is not a good role model of what Jesus called us to. Jesus refueled Himself , He attended to His own needs and the needs of others. He was able to reach conclusions for action and didn't need to endlessly debate the possible outcome of any and every possible action!
The challenge for us is not to be like the helper or the mediator but to be like Jesus. Free from being slaves to our behavioural habits.
6 comments:
We certainly should not use our personalities as excuses for not trusting God and growing in Christ.
We may have tendencies (or, like the image in the bible, be different parts of the body), but we are called foremost to be like Christ. He gives us a new nature, but perhaps not a completely different personality. I think our nature and personality may be different things to some degree.
I'm not sure. I need to think more about this.
Very interesting post. You are a deep thinker!
You are right that God made each of us to be distinctive. This is what I have been wrestling with. I once asked someone with a masters in councilling but they just brushed it off saying we can all self actualize! However, as I see it that is making the best of the bad thing!
I am not sure either! It just seems to me the way I have seen Christians acting in church, a lot of what goes on is based on people following their old natures. I have seen helpers making sure they are the vicars best friend, sign up for everything, get established in positions, bend the vicar's ear and run themselves into the ground trying to do everything. This is cleched 2 behaviour. But what is horible is that vicars tend to depend on this slavish self secrifice. They see it as good but I see it as "acting carnally" being of the flesh. Not acting carnally as in bodily sin, but being a slave to the old nature.
But there is the problem, what nature do you use if you don't use your old one! The obvious answer is "the new one" but how do we use that? 2s read the bible and take from it the self sacrifice verses. 3s take out the "work has its reward" verse, one's take out the legal verses. 5s take out the knowledge and wisdom bits.
I see it that at the fall the perfect personailty was shatered like a chrystal. We each have a small piece of that chrystal. We are being restored.
By the way Peter was a six. It is interesting that he always argued with Jesus. When Jesus said he would die Peter argued. When Jesus said peter would betray him he argued. However, when God wanted the gospel to go to the gentiles, he knew that Peter would want to argue about it. So he had the argument in private on the roof top. He saved having to have the argument in front of Cornelius! For all we know Peter may have chopped off his ear! But, to me this says that GOd is perfectly happy and able to use us the way we are. He knows our weaknesses and limitations and uses us anyway.
So I am in no way suggesting that we need to get ourselves "whole." I believe that we are perfected by God's grace, however, we are told to put off the old. I therefore feel that personality gives us clues as where our glass ceilings are. What is it that holds us back. As I say, I would love to be me in public speaking. God obviously hasn't given me that ministry (Sorry, gifting!) Part of the five thing is to not be yourself in the moment. This si something I try to avoid (in the double negative sense of trying to avoid not being me, meaning I try to be me!)
Joyce meyer is a 3. Her books and talks are all based on not doing threeish behaviour, like not seeking approval from others all the time. So she sees it that her threeish traits are not good or Godly. Although she may never have heard of the enneagram, she has come to the same conclusions. But look how hard she works to spread the message that you don't have to work hard!
I am tired and still chewing this one! I feel there is a danger in trying to find a universal theory of everything, I could spend my life on this and never get the answer! However, I am like a bog with a rabbit when I have a puzzle I can't solve!
Richard
Richard, I understand your post much more clearly after reading your comment.
I especially like when you said, "But, to me this says that GOd is perfectly happy and able to use us the way we are. He knows our weaknesses and limitations and uses us anyway." And I like the glass ceiling picture.
I've had fun tossing around the whole thing today in between kid stuff and hubby stuff and house stuff. Which probably doesn't boil down to a whole lot of time, but there are quiet moments here and there.
Anyway, good thoughts. I know that one of my weakness is being insecure in relationships, so when I am secure in God's love for me (which I am certain of more than anything else in the world), I know that it is God working in me. My old nature would never trust like that. But I have to tell you, it took quite a blow for that message to come through to me. But once it did, well, here it is.
I still have a little problem with authority - especially church authority. But that's another issue. :)
Take care.
I think that the enneagram helps us to see that it isn't just us. When I look at other people they don't seem to struggle with what I struggle with so I think it is just me and down to genes and upbringing. But the enneagram shows that it isn't just us.
It is almost painfully revealing. I have a friend who is a four. Once she saw the enneagram she turned her life around because she had seen that not only was her behaiour so predictable but that she could do something about it.
I should have warned you when I mentioned it! I forget and get lost in my menatl realms. However, my friend seems to be a lot more self confident and together now.
I think it had also helped her because she had listened to so much negativity about her from others that it helped give her an objective view.
I wouldn't trust the church! Trust God and do what He tells you. There is a danger in going too far the other way! I think a lot of church authority is usurpted authority anyway. Hold it losely, but don't let it stop you.
You have a huge amount to give looking at your blog. I was talking to a man yesterday who writes music. He once sold a song for a small amount years ago and it turned up on a Cliff Richard album. Now he wont let any of his music go. Is his music just for him? Does it matter who gets the credit? If we trust God he will take care of our needs, the rest really doesn't matter!
I have really enjoyed looking at your creativity. And I noticed that you home school. So do I. We are Autonomous now! Scary but great to watch them develop.
I've had my family members take the quiz, and as I predicted, my husband is a 5. I knew it as soon as I read the description (we've been married 23 years!). I don't know how accurate it is for children, but my youngest (10 years old) is a 9, Peacemaker, and my 12 year old (who, by the way, has high functioning autism) is an 8. I agree with their test outcomes - that is, it seems accurate for them as well. If I could just get my teenagers to sit still for a few minutes I could find out theirs!
You're right, it is helpful in getting me out of my self-condemnation modes and blaming rants I tend to go on. It also helps me be a little more compassionate to others.
Okay, on with the day!
CJ (the wife) is a 3 and was therefore always busy and I was always telling her to sit down. She was always complaining that she was doing everything. But once we read the enneagram we realised just how differently we are wired. So as you say, we have far more compassion for each other. All of the niggles seem to have turned into appretiated humour! I nearly said they have stopped, but I still moan that she never sits still and she still moans that she has to do everything, but we usually laugh about it.
Hig functioning Autism 8 sounds like a handful! I have a friend who has aspergers who is a 5 and another I had before who was a six, and I have noticed that the aspergers seems to accelerate their personality traits.
Eg, my friend who is a 5 hoards, is generous in giving information, gets nothing done but thinks and plans all the time.
My friend who was a 6 was actually a vicar. It was painful, only because he was in charge! He did the classic 6 thing of looking busy but doing nothing. You really could see that he didn't want to look like he wasn't doing something but also didn't want to do anything wrong, so did nothing!
Both of these friends were diagnosed at 50!
By the way here is something that is great fun to do with the enneagram!
Even more so now you have typed some of your family. (you will probably work out what the teenagers are eventually!)
href="http://www.actionforresults.com/docs/Enneagram%20Articles/POOHarticleFinal.pdf">http://www.actionforresults.com/docs/Enneagram%20Articles/POOHarticleFinal.pdf
Enjoy!
Richard
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