For the body is not one member but many….But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body,just as He desired. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. I Corinthians 12:14, 18,19
Personality assessment tests- a series of questions carefully designed to identify a person’s strength and weaknesses - are not a new idea. Describing people - or assigning them to a certain personality type- has been around a long time. It’s been repackaged and tweaked but the concept is the same - describing people according to personality. The popularity of these tests has shot up in recent years and all sorts of organizations are getting in on these inventories. Churches, companies, and counselors use them to help us understand ourselves, and one another, better. One of my daughters is using them in her graduate degree program, providing valuable feedback for organizations in the area of human resources. These instruments are not only popular but often very beneficial. It is often a startling revelation to discover that a very different perspective is just as valuable as your own and that “different” does not have to mean “wrong”!
These “inventories” can be personally validating - we all want to be understood and to have an objective source such as these tests describe your way of thinking and behaving is very comforting. Maybe even vindicating! These tools tend to present the information about oneself in a way that is encouraging and appealing - sometimes even the “weaknesses” don’t seem all that weak but instead as a potential strength!
So why this post? Surely I am not just trying to endorse enneagrams and urging us all to take some tests to better understand ourselves!
You’re right.
I’m not.
While I am not opposed to these tools and while I do see ways such things can be an instrument for good, I do see some dangers. And I am urging us as Christ-followers to be cautious.
Here’s some concerns to ponder…
The tendency to “put people in a box”, or to put it another way, to be presumptuous. We think because we know a person, we can assign them to “ a 3, wing 2” and consequently predict their behaviors, opinions, and even motives. This is not only wrong, it’s potentially damaging. One of my kids and I were “helping” my husband take the test, answering the questions for him before he could select an answer option. We had already pegged him to be a certain type and assumed we knew how he would answer the questions. Well, we were wrong! Our “insight” hadn’t identified him at all - what we thought we knew was not only erroneous, it was also offensive and judgmental. Pretty sure Psalm 19:13 warns me against this - “Keep your servant from presumptuous sins; may they not rule over me” . So does I Corinthians 4:5 - “therefore do not go on passing judgment before its time”.
2. The inclination to see the inventories as “prescriptive”rather than “descriptive”. By that I mean that we can let these assessments dictate how we behave, operating under the mindset of “this is how we ‘8’s’ are”. This then leads us to excuse our sin and just view it as a weakness. a part of who we are that others will just have to accept. Instead of owning our sin, we explain it away, perhaps even blaming someone else for not understanding. This is as old as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And it’s worse than detrimental - it’s deadly. When we don’t acknowledge our sin as sin, we stop fighting against it. And when we stop fighting against it (because we can just explain it away or blame another person), we actually accept, and then embrace, that which is a deadly assault on our soul. Our personality and our circumstances do not cause us to sin - they merely reveal the wretched state of our natural self : sin. And when we do not fight against all that falls short of the glory of God, we fail to avail ourselves of the only hope for change - His grace.
3. The final concern I have for us to be mindful of is that of a self-centered mindset. If we aren’t careful, these otherwise beneficial tools can drive us into ourselves. Instead of placing ourselves into a Biblical community where caring and Christlike friends speak truth (and grace!) into our lives, rebuking sin and exhorting us to sanctification, we are tempted instead to rely on a test to supply all the insight we think we need. And those assessments are usually easier on our weaknesses than a group of fellow believers should be! Believing that gaining understanding of ourselves will lead to transformation and fulfillment is a snare. Proverbs 3:5,6 warns us against exactly that and implores us instead to trust God to make our way straight. This self-centered mindset also leads us to see ourselves as autonomous, rather than as part of the Body. That’s where I was originally going with this post but much more tumbled out! By focusing so much on our personal strengths and weaknesses, we can fail to see that we are not an independent being but rather part of a whole. The proper view of one as part of a whole can simultaneously humble us (after all, a big toe is only a big toe, not an entire being!) and confer value upon us (we have gifts and purpose that the Body needs!).
So, in conclusion,feel free to take those tests. Enjoy increasing your understanding that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made. Just employ caution . Don’t presume that you or anyone else fits in a box. Embrace the truth that God is marvelously personal and individual with every single soul. Don’t try to use your “number” as an excuse to be a jerk. Acknowledge that sin is sin, and, while you may indeed have “weaknesses”, rejoice that where we are weak, He is strong!
And, finally, lose the focus on self. Just lose the focus on self. Stop being the center of your attention. You’ll be a lot more joyful and peaceful and loving if you lose the focus on self!