Hey friends, welcome to Your Enneagram Coach the podcast. We're here to help you to discover, explore, and to become the person that you've always longed to be. We're hoping you're enjoying this series on the gospel and today We're going to be playing a replay of one of our most popular episodes on the Enneagram in the gospel Now, what do we mean by the gospel? well That means all of the kind and loving benefits that are given to us in work through a relationship with Jesus Christ because of his life death and resurrection So we hope you enjoy today to experience what we all long for, and that's the freedom from all the self condemnation, fear, and shame that we carry along with our types. That we, by grace, can be saved. But in a very cosmic sense, it's much bigger than that. That Jesus is the second Adam. That in Genesis 3, whenever God gave the promise to Eve to say that a child of her womb will crush the serpent's head, that Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise and the seed of what is to come, that he will return again and he will renew all things. Oftentimes has been portrayed, particularly here in Western culture, as the first step for the Christian. But what we'd like to commend is that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, but it is also the core of the Christian's life. So, the Gospel isn't just the first step for the Christian, but rather it's at the center of the life of the Christian because everything spawns from a heart that is at rest with all that our Heavenly Father is in the person and work of Jesus Christ, which is now applied by the Holy Spirit. So the way that Paul phrases it is that it's faith working itself out in love. And the reason why that we're addressing the centrality of the gospel for the life of the believer right now is because Advent's here. And Advent does capture for us a framework for our own experience. So just consider it. So after the last prophet of the Old Testament, there's this darkness and silence and waiting for 400 years. You know, there's many of us that long for change. We recognize, um, the Weaknesses of our Enneagram types. A matter of fact, it's part of finding our type where the Enneagram has like a, a Beth calls it a nonjudgmental friend, simply given vocabulary to these character defects in our life. And so we long and we wait, we spend a lot of money trying to find solutions to help us personally and to help us relationally. And then there's Christ's arrival that was very obscure, very meek, very human. And yet, in light of His arrival, there was so much more hope to come, that God now became man and that He intended to dwell with us, fulfilling God's ultimate promise that He would always be with us and never forsake us. And then Christ's arrival also brought hope. There was a hope of things to come, that salvation, that the advent of Saul, God's intended fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament would now be fulfilled in this very small child being born in this obscure place. And all the persecution that would come along with it, all the ostracizing that would come with it, that the hope. of God's people would be in the person of Jesus Christ.

And so with that, that's kind of been our focus as a couple and as believers is that hope. And so when we started to dive into the Enneagram, most of the resources out there, if not almost all of them, didn't have this hope in it. It didn't have a gospel centered perspective. Do you remember that?

I do remember that because I remember early on in our studies of the Enneagram, we, you know, we kept fairly quiet about it. I come from a very rigorous theological tradition. And so, um, I, I wasn't necessarily afraid of reading these authors, but there was definitely like, yeah, we don't, we do not agree with their particular worldview, but we'd like the schema, organization of the Enneagram and how it helped us to understand and see people. But also, we were bringing our lens of a Christ centered theology to understanding the Enneagram, that these other authors weren't describing what the real problem was, and nor were they describing what the real solution to our problems were. And so Beth and I, in kind of quietness and patience, um, just quietly sat with these things. But then Beth started to read some things in the various books that she was reading of, wait a minute, there's, there's something here as it relates to the gospel.

Yeah. You know, I think first and foremost, it, it, It really was about my own personal change. You know, I could see more clearly with the help of the Enneagram, my weaknesses, my sins, my shortcomings that I needed to own. But then the hope of Christ, if I just sat with that, oh my gosh, talk about despair, right? Because it's like so clear. But the hope of Christ is that it's all been taken care of by His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. And I was thinking, okay, well, how does that specifically apply to me as a nine? And how can it free me in the way that I know the gospel frees me, um, to have the abundant life that Christ brought? So in my own kind of, Um, journey, my own diving deep in the Holy Spirit, applying these things. I saw that there's a unique message that Christ gives my heart, that it longs to hear in such a way that brings absolute freedom and grace and it propels me. But then I started recognizing, wait, if this is true for me, then the gospel also speaks in the same way to all the other nine or all the other eight types. And once I started using that language with the people in our church that we were working with and seeing them light up with hope, transformation, excitement, joy, it was like, Oh my goodness, here we have not only the gospel of hope, but we have a key that can actually deliver it right to their heart.

And I can remember, uh, in some of the reading that we were, we were doing of these various authors before the Enneagram took off is that they would address these. messages of that, that we long to hear as a kid, these longings that each type brings, but there was no solution except for somehow to be something for yourself, rather than an expression of faith that Oh, wait a minute. We were created to reach out to God, to be back in relationship with Him through reconciliation, through Christ's life, death, and resurrection. And that that is the transformative power for our lives is faith in Jesus Christ outside of us. Now, what's interesting is that early when we started posting these things on social media, I remember there were some in the Enneagram community that were like, you shouldn't bring Christianity into this.

Yeah. And, but what's interesting is that, you know, it being to us a neutral tool, you could bring any world perspective, any world religion to it. And so we were like, well, no, cause we don't agree with, we don't align with everyone else's views. We have a very specific view of how we see the hope that we have at the end, the transformation process. It is not about ourselves. It is about. us recognizing our depravity, our need for a savior and how we have a savior.

So our hope in this one episode is to use the insights of the Enneagram, not as an authority over our lives, but just as a servant of clarity. Offering us vocabulary and understanding of ourselves to describe these longings that we have in our hearts and to see how Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection and ascension now answer the longings in our heart that we have sought to To satisfy through a variety of other relationships and things and accomplishments, whatever it may be, have been a distraction when all along the Spirit of God has been inviting us to see Christ anew and to find our heart and rest for all that He is for us.

And one thing I want to Uh, layout for us, because all the nine types, the message that we're going to lay out for the nine types should and does apply to all of us, because it's all the gospel message. So you might be wondering, well, then why do you break it up? Well, each of us has this core longing, this need. And And yet no human, no job, no material on earth can ever satisfy this, but we look for it too, right? We keep trying, but it's only what Christ has done in and through us that will bring us that hope. And so what we want to explain is that we each have this longing. And what we're trying to do is to bring the gospel message. Uh, So that you, your type can hear it so clearly that it brings real and lasting transformation at an accelerated pace so that you can feel, believe and know that you are his beloved. And in that it's going to radically transform how you see yourself, how you see God and how you are with others. Let's dive in to all the nine types.

So here's how we're going to do this, uh, for this particular episode one, we're going to look at what each type belongs for and as it represents a unique part of our humanity as a whole. Then we're going to look at what Christ has done. to satisfy that longing. And then lastly, what Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension have actually secured for us in the new heavens and the new earth. So we hope that you find, not only for the gospel for each Enneagram type, that we find a common sense of humanity from all types as they all bring their own unique experience, uh, to our lives. So let's start with type nine. And here's the idea that type nines long for peace. They long for shalom, the kind of peace and rest that we had in the garden. But until Christ's return, we will face tension in all of our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others, and with creation. It's inescapable. We long for reconciliation, to be at peace with one another. And the truth of the gospel is this, is that Jesus told us that, My peace I give you. He does not give peace as the world gives. And that Christ has secured for us reconciliation, both with Him, with others, with ourselves, and with creation. And the promise of the new heavens and the new earth is that we will be restored to right relationship in all of its fullness, and we will have the kind of shalom that God intend for us in the garden. Matthew, why don't you elaborate a little bit more about the nines experience in this world and the truth of the gospel.

Yeah, you know, for us nines, we're constantly looking for peace, shalom, oneness with others, and we'll do it at any cost. We'll give up ourselves and we'll merge with others, and yet it's exhausting because we'll never be able to make everyone perfectly happy so that we have the shalom that our heart aches for, and yet we keep trying. So, this Christmas season, we get the gift of Jesus Christ, who is our peace and our real joy. So, Ninths, now you get to come to Christ and find and experience the true inner stability and peace of mind that you've been looking for.

So, let's talk about Type 8s next, and we'll go through the same idea, um, one, our longing and how 8s represent a longing that we all experience and the truth of the gospel, um, that. It's available for Type 8s. And then what Christ's sacrifice has meant for the first fruits of the new heavens and the new earth. Well, in this sinful and fallen world, we all will face betrayal. We will face and experience evil. And we will endure the difficulty of being wounded and no amount of strength, no amount of independence can protect us. But Jesus told us prior to his ascension that he will never leave us nor forsake us and that he has become for us our shield and our protector. He is the one who has defeated our enemy. So in the new heavens and the new earth, we will be able to let our guard down. To experience mutual trust and support, and we will be able to be at rest with one another and creation.

Yeah, Jeff, it's really interesting for type eights. You know, a lot of people think, uh, AIDS want to just jump in and be the strong one and take charge. Well, in actuality, it's really want someone else that is stronger, more protective than they are, that they can rest and experience the fullness of. this protective figure over them, that they are safe and secure in, um, that protective stance. And so AIDS, the great news is that's exactly who Jesus Christ is for you, the gift of being your protector and your strength. So this Christmas season, you can come to Christ and experience his passionate love and protection for you.

You know, it reminds me whenever you share those things about AIDS, Beth, that Christ, one of the, Three offices that he fulfills. It's a prophecy of Old Testament fulfilled a new prophet, priest, and king that Christ fulfilled for us the office of King. He was the true and better King. That he not only in the way that our, uh, King, uh, Catechism answers that question, is that how does Christ fulfill the office of a king? He does so by subduing our hearts to him and subduing our enemies. It's Jesus stepping in, being the leader, being the one who's going to make decisions and allows the hearts to be subdued. the heart of the eight to rest and but also subdues our enemies. He's also our protector. So there's no need for the protective shield because Christ is enough. Great. So let's talk about type sevens. Well, in this fallen and sinful world, sevens remind us of our need to find joy, to find life. To find hope and sevens remind us of these longings But sometimes their use of reframing can either trick themselves and maybe some others into finding To mistakenly believing that we've actually found it apart from christ But jesus came into the world that we might have life in life to the full jesus Demonstrated that he was the water of life. He was the bread of life and he was the light that would bring life. So in the new heavens and the new earth, we will have joy, joy that is true, that is rich, and that is full. It won't be fleeting, but rather it will be a genuine joy.

Yeah, when I think of that kind of joy, you know, I think of the spring, a spring of living water that is ever flowing and just constantly moving, but you can drink as much as you want because it's right there. So sevens, the gift for you in this Christmas season is Jesus Christ himself, who is your true satisfaction and your delight. So you get to come to him and experience that deep satisfaction and a content heart that you've always longed for by simply being with him, being with the spring and drinking as much as your heart.

It reminds me the image of in Psalm 1, like a tree planted near streams of water and the idea of a tree showing up in heaven once again, where there'll be another river, another tree, a tree of life where sevens and we all will find joy and contentment. Yeah, for type sixes. Uh, so I had a Fun time, uh, jotting down some notes about what is it that I really want. And, and here's what I came up with. And hopefully sixes will resonate with me in this, but in this world, the ground beneath us is shaking and our felt sense of security is shaky. And we look for all these assurances, whether it's systems of belief or right relationships with mentors, uh, or trying to come up with the best solutions and think through all the scenarios, but we find everything is wanting Well, what's the promise? What's the truth of what Christ has accomplished for us? Well, he told us that in this world you will face trouble, but take heart, I've overcome the world. He offers his peace and assurance through faith in his life, death, and resurrection, who secured for us the yes and amen to all of his promises. So that now whenever we hear the command, fear not for I will be with you, for I'm with you. We know that in Christ. He has promised to be with us in even greater ways through the gift of His Holy Spirit. And in the new heavens and the new earth, we have security. We have assurance. We have a world without fear. There will be no need for our anxiety. There'll be no need for hypervigilance. Our hearts and our minds can rest.

Yeah. And when I think of just what you said, you know, I think of six is longing for that, that stronghold longing for that sense of security, like a cleft in a rock, you know, that they can be protected under there. And that is exactly the gift of Christ in this season as our shield and. Our provider, like a good shepherd, looking out for the needs of those he loves. And so six is you get to come to Christ and to experience his full support and provision for you each and every day.

Alrighty, type fives, you're next. Uh, well, in this fallen and sinful world, we must face life with limited understanding. It can be burdensome and demanding and in an effort to re resource ourselves. Fives and us all diminish our own needs and try to figure out life. Well, Christ has become for us wisdom from God. That is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. He is the fulfillment. of wisdom. He embodies it. Your needs and limitations are not a problem to him, but rather when you experience your need, when you experience your limitations, they are a reminder for you to be able to look outside yourself, to trust him and not in your efforts. And you know what, in the new heavens and the new earth, you're We will all live at peace with God and with our world. And as with the garden, we will have all that we need.

Yeah. You know, I think of, uh, fives when they feel depleted, that they have to minimize their needs and, and hoard their inner resources. Cause they're so afraid of this catastrophic depletion that might happen if they were to let up or to, to, um, give too much of themselves, what, what would happen? Would they have enough? And yet the beautiful thing is that God is the God of the universe. Like all of these things have been created by him. And not only that, but he delights in giving you the wisdom and truth that you long for, but also replenishing and restoring those energy reserves that you feel are so depleted. So, this Christmas season, come to Christ and experience the powerful resources that He will fill you up, not only in your energy and your ability to interact with others, but with insights, truth, and knowledge.

So, Type Fours remind us collectively, but also for Type Fours, long for humanity to be restored. For people to be in right relationship with themselves and with one another. To be known. And experience no shame. And how, what's the gospel for the type four and for us all to be known and cherished and love? Well, that all, as the Bible tells us in Romans, although we are still sinners. Jesus Christ died for us. He fully understands us both as glorious and broken people. He sees both our dignity and our depravity. And he gave himself fully and freely for us. And because of his work, he has secured for something, a new heaven and a new earth where our brokenness will be healed at every level. And we will experience God in one another with love, with acceptance.

Yeah. And when I think about Forrest Jeff, I think of someone who's looking for a rescuer, the ideal rescuer. And we look around to things here on earth and we don't find it and we're disappointed and we're hurt and we wonder, will we ever be fully restored? Will we ever be fully rescued? And the great news is that in this Christmas season, Jesus Christ is the gift of being the perfect rescuer and intercessor. Right? He knows you intimately. He empathizes. He can reach down to you and pull you back to him with pure love and to restore you to a place where you can come to him and experience the emotional balance that your heart longs for as he looks directly at you and how he uniquely created you and sees you for the special child that belongs to him.

Well, type threes offer us a tremendous gift because they remind us all. But for threes, they, living out a sense of calling in this fallen and sinful world is difficult. Processes and plans fail. Completing a task can be so frustrating. And we can lose our sense of dignity in the pursuit of our calling as we're wrestling with the thorns and thistles of this world. Well, the gospel for us all, and especially for the type three, is that Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith. That he who began a good work in you. We'll carry it on to completion, and He intends for us all to be trophies of His grace where we will gladly join people from every tongue, tribe, and nation in worshiping because of what He has accomplished in and through each and every one of us. And 1 John, it says this about the new heavens and the new earth. He says, when we see him, we shall be like him. That is the work will be completed. He will have accomplished what he set out to do. And we as people will experience the kind of dignity in our relationships and our work in the new heavens and the new earth.

And when I, I think of the threes, Jeff, I think of someone looking to put on. an identity, an image for others to see. And yet the gift of Christ, what He gives us is our true identity, who we truly are because of what He has done on our behalf. And so the threes can rest in this true identity because it has all of the accomplishments that we've ever needed are already ours and secure. So Christ gives us our true identity. which gives us great hope. And because of that, we can come to Christ and experience his love for being our most authentic self right before him.

Already type twos. Well, what longing do you invite us all to? Well, twos have the longing for people to be cared for and to experience healing. And oftentimes they take up the mantle themselves in order to bring that kind of care and healing to others. And yet it is burdensome. Well, the good news of the gospel for Twos and for us all is that by Christ's wounds, we shall be healed. He is our Redeemer. He is our counselor. He is our friend. And we'll never be able to replace or to address what only Christ can fulfill. But the good news of the gospel and the good news of the new heaven and the new earth for us all, as well as Twos. Is that in the new heavens and new earth, there will be no more tears. There will be no more grief or loss, and there will be no more tragedy, but living for eternity in right relationship with God and with others and with ourselves.

And Tews, you greatly. Have compassion, and you empathize with others. You feel other people's emotions and needs, and this urgency to move in and fix, and yet you're exhausted. Well, Christ is your gift this Christmas. Go to Him and allow Him to be your empathizer, your nurturer, who will heal and restore you right where you're at, as He also does that for others. And as you come to Christ, you'll be able to experience His unconditional love for you and His desire and pursuit to be with you.

And round this all off, we're going to end with type ones. Ones remind us all, but particularly ones experience the longing for justice and restoration in a fallen and sinful world. And the gospel for ones and for us all is that Christ's death has secured for us all righteousness for all those who believe in him and that longing for justice will ultimately be fulfilled in a fair and just new heaven and new earth. It's a restoration, It's redemption that has been accomplished by Christ, so that ones your heart can be at rest, that all things are renewed.

Yeah, for ones, Jeff, you know, they've had this inner critic that is constantly pointing out to them all the imperfections of the world. And it's true. There are imperfections of the world. We need a reformer, someone that will restore all things and reconcile all things. And that's exactly what Christ has done for all of us, which allows the one's heart to come to rest. And the gift of Christ this Christmas season for you ones is that he is your righteousness and your mediator. He goes before you. He shows his father. How your sins, past and present and future, are no more, and the righteousness that you have is won through Christ alone. So ones, you can come to Christ and experience childlike playfulness and real serenity because of all that Christ has done in and through you.

You know, by hearing these things, it came to mind for me as we're talking through each of the types and we end up reflecting these three ideas that, one, there was Israel in waiting for a Messiah, the advent of the Messiah, and what he would mean for the new heavens and the new earth upon his death. Life, death, resurrection, and ascension, that we're going to be singing these amazing hymns and carols, and some of them will be fun and joyful, and we'll have great times with our family, um, but I'd, I'd like to invite you to consider what, how these hymns may give expression to your unique experience of Enneagram type. That how, what it is that you long for and what your family members remind you of what we all long for as we await the arrival of our Messiah and His second coming. And that we're reminding one another that the truth of the gospel is global in that it applies to all of us and it is also specific as it applies uniquely to us. And that we remind one another in this season of how valuable they are. To God, our Father, Jesus Christ, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So we hope you have a very special Advent season with your family. We pray peace upon you all, that you would experience the joy of journeying with Jesus Christ.

And for each of you, you are a true gift. God created you to be your type. And yes, on this side of the fall, we do struggle, but we have great hope in the victory that Jesus Christ has won for us. So this Christmas season, open the gift that Jesus Christ offers you personally and how that will transform not only you, but your relationships and relationships.

We hope you enjoyed this episode and you find it, uh, helpful and would be an encouragement to your friends and family and community. Don't forget to also visit YourEnneagramCoach. com. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram, where we'll be providing some additional content in regards to the Gospel for each type during this Advent season. Thanks for joining us. Don't forget to check out the show notes as well and all the resources mentioned in the episode and the episodes that we previously did with our guests. And always remember this, the Enneagram reveals our need for Jesus, not our need to work harder. It's the Gospel that transforms us.