One of the primary reasons the concepts behind the Enneagram first resonated with me can be summed up in the words of Paul in Romans 7:18b-19: \u201cFor I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do\u2013this I keep on doing.\u201d (NIV)<\/p>\n
I realized that the strengths I have always leaned into\u2013being organized, being driven to get things done and to do them well (when I was in my 30s my mother told me that I had <\/span>always <\/span><\/i>been driven, even as a child and a teen), to take charge when there is a vacuum of leadership, and to feel comfortable being in the spotlight (actually <\/span>desiring<\/span><\/i> to be in the spotlight\u2026)\u2013well, those strengths also sometimes got me into trouble. They still do.<\/span><\/p>\n And I don\u2019t want to get myself into trouble. I don\u2019t want my strengths to turn into challenges or even liabilities. I really want to do the right thing in every situation.<\/span><\/p>\n But too often\u2026 I just don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t understand why that kept happening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Until I discovered the Enneagram. <\/span><\/p>\n If you know anything about it, I\u2019m sure you can guess toward which number I lean most strongly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, I most often live with the personality patterns of the Three. Though I also lean almost as much toward Two.<\/span><\/p>\n If you read the description above, you can probably imagine when and how those personality tendencies can be positive and helpful\u2026 and when and how they may lead to problems when not managed effectively. Miscommunication. Misunderstandings. Misalignment of direction. You get the idea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Self-awareness is the name of the game. That\u2019s when you can step back, almost like you\u2019re hovering over yourself, and say, \u201cOh look! I\u2019m doing <\/span>that<\/span><\/i> again!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But self-awareness isn\u2019t enough. You then need to move into self-knowledge. That\u2019s when you can say, \u201cYes, I noticed it\u2019s that same trigger that caused me to do <\/span>that<\/span><\/i> again. Now I can prepare for it so I can choose to do something different next time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That last comment is really the point of this essay. We get to <\/span>choose<\/span><\/i> our actions. As leaders, it is incumbent on us to use the free will God has given us to choose well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In <\/span>Meditations<\/span><\/i> by Marcus Aurelius (circa 170-180 AD), the author frequently writes about the three disciplines of Stoicism. He describes them this way (with side comments by translator, Gregory Hays):<\/span><\/p>\n Everywhere, at each moment, you have the option:<\/span><\/p>\n Gregory Hays explains that for the Stoics,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c…perhaps the most important [worldview] is the unwavering conviction that the world\u00a0 is organized in a rational and coherent way. More specifically, it is controlled and directed by an all-pervading force that the stoics designated by the term <\/span>logos<\/span><\/i>\u2026 (When the author of John\u2019s Gospel tells us that \u2018the Word\u2019\u2013<\/span>logos<\/span><\/i>\u2013was with God and is to be identified with God, he is borrowing Stoic terminology.)… All events are determined by the <\/span>logos<\/span><\/i>, and follow in an unbreakable chain of cause and effect.\u201d [2]<\/span><\/p>\n Hays explains that Stoics get around the apparent lack of free will by \u201cdefining free will as a voluntary accommodation to what is in any case inevitable.\u201d [3]\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n That certainly resonates with many Christians, I\u2019m sure, who also struggle with the dichotomy between the free will given to us by God, and our belief that God is all-knowing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n About human free will, Dallas Willard wrote,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe will, or heart, is the executive center of the self. Thus the center point of the spiritual in humans as well as in God is self-determination, also called freedom and creativity\u2026 Every human being has a will, or willpower. It is our inclination and capacity to act on our own and to produce what we find to be good\u2013to be freely creative. Because we have will we are not <\/span>things<\/span><\/i>. We have in us the capacity to be self-determined to some significant degree. Without will we would have no life that is recognizably human\u2026 It is the human spirit, and the only thing in us that God will accept as the basis of our relationship to him.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0[4]<\/span><\/p>\n Marcus Aurelius also discusses what it means to be the best version of yourself:<\/span><\/p>\n The human soul degrades itself:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n II. When it turns its back on another person or sets out to do it harm, as the souls of the angry do.<\/p>\n III. When it is overpowered by pleasure or pain.<\/span><\/p>\n IV. When it puts on a mask and does or says something artificial or false.<\/p>\n V. When it allows its action and impulse to be without a purpose, to be random and disconnected: even the smallest things ought to be directed toward a goal. But the goal of rational beings is to follow the rule and law of the most ancient of communities and states. (2:16)\u00a0 [5]<\/p>\n At another point, Aurelius writes, \u201cI was once a fortunate man but at some point fortune abandoned me. But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions. (5.37)\u201d [6]<\/span><\/p>\n Good character is something we look for in leaders; we don\u2019t want to follow degraded souls. Good character is a critical element without which we cannot trust our leaders to do the right thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But what is character? A simple definition is this: what you would do without thinking, when no one is watching<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our character is formed by our personality patterns, our attachment patterns, our experiences, and our circumstances. It\u2019s an integration of internal and external influences.<\/span><\/p>\n So why do we struggle with building good character?<\/span><\/p>\n As clearly laid out in his book, <\/span>Live No Lies<\/span><\/i>, John Mark Comer reiterates the age-old understanding of why we sin: the devil, the flesh, and the world. He says, \u201cthe devil\u2019s primary strategem to drive the soul and society into ruin is <\/span>deceptive ideas that play to disordered desires, which are normalized in a sinful society.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0 [7]<\/span><\/p>\n Comer quotes Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order: sin is the \u201cunwillingness to trust that what God wants for me is only my deepest happiness.\u201d [8]<\/span><\/p>\n And that is how all these threads can be brought together: as leaders, we must continually grow in our trust of God’s goodness and be willing to allow the sometimes challenging pruning of our character that God knows is best for us.<\/span><\/p>\n Embracing the fullness of our identity as beloved children of God, warts and all, is essential for cultivating good character and making wise choices. The journey of self-awareness and self-knowledge, as illuminated by the Enneagram, allows us to recognize our strengths and weaknesses. It helps us see where we are deceiving ourselves as well as others, by wearing that false mask of which Aurelius wrote. As Comer invites, “live no lies.”<\/span><\/p>\n By exercising our God-given free will, we can align our actions with our true selves, creating a life that reflects the goodness and purpose God intended for us.<\/span><\/p>\n As we strive to be all that God created us to be, we must remember that character is not simply about avoiding wrong actions but actively choosing good ones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is about being authentic, pursuing humility, and treating others with love and respect. When leaders commit to this path, we inspire those around us to follow suit, fostering a community grounded in trust and integrity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a tall order, one we can\u2019t possibly achieve on our own without the grace and power of the Holy Spirit to guide us. <\/span><\/p>\n We can only be the beacons of light Jesus wants us to be in an often dark world, by growing in character\u2013becoming more like Jesus\u2013through daily spiritual disciplines that come from good choices and actions… and a lot of prayer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [1] Marcus Aurelius, <\/span>Meditations<\/span><\/i>, trans. Gregory Hays (New York: The Modern Library, 2003),<\/span> 93.<\/span><\/p>\n [2] Aurelius,\u00a0 xx.<\/span><\/p>\n [3] Aurelius, xx.<\/span><\/p>\n [4] Dallas Willard, <\/span>The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God<\/span><\/i> (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1998),<\/span> 80-81.<\/span><\/p>\n [5] Aurelius, 22.<\/p>\n [6] Aurelius, 65.<\/span><\/p>\n [7] John Mark Comer, <\/span>Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace<\/span><\/i> (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2021), <\/span>57.<\/span><\/p>\n [8] Comer, 61.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the primary reasons the concepts behind the Enneagram first resonated with me can be summed up in the words of Paul in Romans 7:18b-19: \u201cFor I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3221,2967],"class_list":["post-38336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aurelius","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38336"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38338,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38336\/revisions\/38338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Free Will\u2026 or Not?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Good Character<\/span><\/h2>\n
Authentic Leadership<\/h2>\n
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