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Don’t Let Satan Define You

How many of you remember what Jesus did the first time he came here?  That’s right – he healed people, cast out demons, and paid for the sins of the whole world. 

In Mark 3:10 it says – For He had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had plagues.  And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying “Thou art the Son of God.”  And He straitly charged them that they should not make Him known.

I feel no need to dig into why Jesus disallowed the demons to identify Him.  He was doing that for Himself, by the knowledge He shared and the miracles He performed, followed by the sacrifice He made.  Who among us wants their worst enemy to define them?  What devastating results would ensue with so many led astray?

So why would so many in the American church want demons to define them?

When my former church invited Jennie Allen to speak for two days, I was dismayed at her statement that her deepest interior work was done through the use of the Enneagram.  Not time spent seeking knowledge of God through His word.  Not prayer.  Not repentance.  Not believing God when He tells us through His word that it is sufficient.

 I told the senior pastor, as a warning, to steer clear of someone so ungrounded in basic Christianity.  As it turns out, that wasn’t a concern.  Our entire church staff had done their Enneagram profile.  It was how they knew who they were and how to relate to others.  One of the associate pastors said, “Oh don’t worry, we didn’t go that deeply into it.”

Ok – problem #1:

So you KNEW it was a bad thing?

You dabbled in darkness which informs me of:

Problem #2:

Please allow me to elaborate

What is the Enneagram – a mere personality test or is it another religion with a different worldview?

While I wouldn’t allow the Enneagram to define me, I will heed how it defines itself. 

Here are the New Age beliefs it promotes:

• Humanity is divine so if you delve into a hidden body of knowledge and master it, you will be moved to a higher state.  You will find your true self and find your way back to God through your roadmap to divinity.
• Your personality number is the ‘mask you wear’ so you must go through integration and disintegration, utilizing self-discovery, self-reflection and deep meditation to transcend your false self to discover your true self.
• God is incarnate in all of us so we aren’t really sinning, we just are ignorant.  Man is essentially good.
• We have the power to transform ourselves.

This poison pill promises to teach you:

1. Who God is
2. How you connect with Him
3. Who you are
4. How you can relate to others

For people who claim that scripture is our only source of absolute truth, we should take it seriously. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve of what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” ~Romans 12:2

Do we really believe that God can transform us through His word?  The popularity of the Enneagram answers that with a resounding NO.

The problem for the American church is that the Enneagram has gone viral.  A study from 2017 shows that 67% of mainline protestants affirm New Age beliefs.  Oh but surely evangelicals are wiser.  The bad news is a more recent study confirms that MOST evangelicals know what their Enneagram number is.

Do you know what happens when you approach a church about their use of this devious tool?  According to Dr. Chris Berg, who wrote his dissertation on this topic, there are two responses: shock and rage.  Do you know why?  Because the Enneagram tells them who they are.  If you attempt to warn them of the danger they take it as a profound personal attack.

By using the Enneagram, people are in fact saying they don’t believe God, that the Bible is insufficient and that knowing about themselves is far more interesting than knowledge of God.

You don’t have to take my word for it.  For further study, I’d recommend:

The New Age Trojan Horse by Dr. Chris Berg

Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret by Benoit and Montenegro

Or this interview with Chris Berg 

It boils down to this – would you go to a demon to learn about transformative spirituality or would you rather follow God?