Beyond Personality: How We Would View the Gospel if We Knew Ourselves

If you've been running around in any young Christian circles lately, you've probably found yourself in a conversation about your Enneagram type, or perhaps your Myers-Briggs. Or maybe you've been listening to Christian radio, where songs written about fear (writing to fear, personifying fear, etc.) have become nearly as common as songs about God's love.

What do all of these new trends have in common? They are examples of psychological principles being applied within the Christian worldview. And they are proving very useful to many, helping Christians understand their tendencies, both positive and negative, so that they can address their personality and see how the gospel can redeem it.

The more and more I see Christians obsessing over the Enneagram or over their "root fears," however, I notice that key elements of Christian doctrine frequently get swept to the side. I want to focus this blog post on how I have noticed the impact of psychology on the Christians' understanding of their faith, and perhaps make a few helpful corrections.

The Psychological Understanding of Human Beings

To open up this conversation, it is important to understand the psychological worldview and its origins. (Being trained in the liberal arts at the collegiate level, I have encountered this worldview quite frequently).

First, it assumes the Darwinian view that humans, like all other living creatures, are in a constant struggle for survival so that they can reproduce and pass on their genes. If you take psychology 201 and/or 202, I guarantee you that chapter one of your textbook will have Darwin in it.

This is not to render psychology illegitimate, but it is important to keep in mind. My psychology professor literally told us on the first day of class, "To a behaviorist, you are a gerbil. End of discussion." Obviously behaviorism is only one branch of psychology, but you get the idea.

One major consequence of this Darwinian view of humanity is that we are primarily motivated by fear. On the second day of psychology class, you will probably see the classic stress response diagram. Your professor will literally be like, "This is your whole life! It's all about being afraid, fight-or-flight, and survival."

I see the effect of this centralization of fear in modern Christian music and slang. The popularity of songs like Francesca's Battistelli's "Breakup Song" and Zach Williams' "Fear is a Liar" on Christian radio stations is just a small example. The idea that fear is a lie from the devil is also a common idea Christians use to encourage one another to get out of their comfort zone.

The second major psychological principle is that people are pleasure-seekers. They want to consume or experience the things that make them happy, and typically the things that make them happy are actually essential to their survival (goal #1!). If food, water, and being the right temperature make you happy (surprise!) they are also keeping you alive. If you don't like these things, you are typically diagnosed with a disorder.

In general, psychology paints human beings as motivated primarily by fear and pleasure. These things come naturally to people, and if we look at our lives, it is difficult to disagree.

Where the Gospel Differs (and Some Pitfalls)

Psychology tells part of the human story, but it is limited. Especially for Christians, who see human beings as both natural (physical, earthly, "of the dust") and supernatural (spiritual, with a soul that will live forever, made in God's image), the picture painted by psychology can even appear dull, like a rainbow without colors, or a human without a soul, like a zombie.

Because psychology can have no bearing on the human soul, there are some significant places where psychology contradicts Christian doctrine. Here a few pitfalls for Christians to avoid when embracing psychology:

#1: Excusing Sin

Particularly with the Enneagram, which sees the personality as set and innate, Christians should avoid using their personality as an excuse for sin. For example, a "Nine" Enneagram type, which is peaceful and non-confrontational, is considered to be growing if he or she begins to assert him or herself.

This is all well and good unless the person's desire for personal growth is not shaped by a reverence for Christ. Say the person is being irritated by one of their friends. Normally, they would hide their anger, following the Proverb that says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, and a hash word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). If instead the person tells their friend, "I find your behavior really annoying, and I wish you would stop," the Enneagram would applaud this display of irritation as personal growth. However, depending on how the person said it, and what motivated them, the Bible might say that this person sinned by responding in anger.

Additionally, the Enneagram identifies "root sins" for personality types. For example, I am a type three, and according to the Enneagram, my "root sins" are pride and deceit. A useful thing to know, to be sure, but these are only TWO sins! Given that people literally sin all day in various ways, I find it hard to believe that these are my only sins. And they're not, so don't let other sins slide!

#2: Hedonism

Hedonism, or the belief that what is pleasurable cannot be wrong, is an obvious consequence to the psychological worldview. Pairing with its focus on fear, those who disagree with Hedonism can be seen as rigid, judgmental, and unloving.

This is all over American culture, from "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to Disney's insistence that we follow our hearts. But the Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). And God has declared many things that make us "happy" to count as rebellion against him.

#3: Forgetting Christ

Ultimately, seeing humans as only physical and natural, and not as supernatural, makes God irrelevant. If life is all about surviving and staying alive in this world rather than looking forward to heaven, Christ isn't important.

As Paul writes about Christians who denied the existence of a supernatural afterlife in 1 Corinthians 15, "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised," and " If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied" (v. 13, 19).

What Does the Gospel Say About Us?

What makes Christians unique is not our obsession with personalities or our insistence that "fear lies,"—it is that we see humans as eternal beings! Psychology may apply to our physical lives, but our faith applies to both our bodies AND our souls.

So what does the gospel say about us?

First, humans without Christ cannot know the God who created them, and they are not reconciled with God. That means that those who have not submitted their earthly lives to Christ are still under God's judgment for their rebellion against him, so whether their live are long or short, their sin condemns them to suffer eternally. Sin separates humans from a perfect God. We should not be taking it lightly.

Second, Christ, the Son of God, took on a human body (without sinning) and defeated the dominion of sin and death by dying. We know he has victory over both because he rose from the dead, and all who believe in him and submit to him will live forever in heaven with him when they die, because God's judgment on Christ, his own Son, is applied to them. Having God's judgment already appeased, those who are covered by Christ's death live reconciled with God, both in this life and the life to come.

Life is more dramatic under the banner of Christ, but it is also eternal. If we know we will live forever, we will change. Little irritations won't matter. Even survival becomes a side note. After all, death is a door, and whether we know him or not, we will meet God on the other side of it. If we love Christ, then joy becomes our motivator.

Now there's a reason to let fear take a back seat.