A Book Called YOU

Understanding the Enneagram from a Grace-Filled, Biblical Perspective

Matthew Stephen Brown

• Éditeur: Thomas Nelson
• Année: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780785240860
• Sujet: Psychology
• Sous-sujet: Personality in Psychology

Consider the possible Enneagram types of well-known figures in the Bible to discover more about yourself and gain specific wisdom about how and why you are uniquely made.

Who am I? Everyone asks that question, no matter their age or status in life. If we're truly supposed to be real with others, shouldn't that start by learning how to be real with ourselves?

The Enneagram describes nine basic personality styles which can help us better understand who we are and what drives us. When God designed you, He did not create you as a number but as a uniquely created individual. Your Enneagram type can give you great insight into the complexities of yourself and others. A Book Called YOU will show you how a biblical view of self-discovery can improve every part of your life, and includes:

• The potential Enneagram type of well-known biblical figures like Peter, David, Abraham, King Saul, and more
• The character, core motivation, and core weaknesses of each Enneagram type
• Advice on how to best love each personality type
• How to pray specifically for each Enneagram type

Based on his widely successful teaching series "A Series Called You, " pastor Matt Brown offers a groundbreaking, entertaining, and heartfelt guide that highlights biblical truths alongside the Enneagram to help us fully embrace who we are and help us love and relate to the people around us.

type six

THE LOYALIST

Faithfulness vs. Fear

You are not an accident.

There are no such thing as accidental children—just accidental parents. God made you. He knows you and loves you. God loves you because you are gifted and beautiful, and God loves you despite your brokenness. God pursues you, and He’ll never stop pursuing you, because He cares about you and He’s designed you to be with Him forever.

If fear is a part of your life, if it’s something that’s influencing your life maybe even more than your faith, know that God doesn’t want you to be led by fear. He wants you to be led by Him.

Many of us are afraid to step out in faith. We’re afraid to take a risk, and we’re afraid to step into the realm of what’s unseen. So let’s look at the Six.

Sixes in the Bible: Peter

In this chapter, we are going to take a look at the life of the apostle Peter. Peter is one of the most amazing people ever to live. He’s a Loyalist, a Six on the Enneagram. He was somebody who wanted so desperately to be there, to be stable, but he was riddled with fear, even when knowing the power and promise he witnessed in Jesus constantly.

In our world today, we have a crisis of obesity. It doesn’t matter what country you are in; obesity is one of the great ills that the world is facing. Two thousand years ago, obesity was not an issue—starvation was. It didn’t matter whether you lived in Europe, India, or Africa, starving to death was a possibility for everyone, whether you were rich or poor, powerful or a slave.

And so, in Matthew 14, Jesus did something amazing. People were hungry, some of them were starving. He took a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread, blessed them, and fed the masses. They freaked out. All their problems were solved! They wanted to take Jesus and make Him king. So immediately, Jesus did something surprising.

Matthew 14:22 says, “Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home.” If power is something that you aspire to, if fame is important to you, I want you to know that Jesus always ran from both. He ran from fame, and He ran from power, because those things can corrupt even the greatest of intentions. You can have a pure heart when you start out young—a heart to serve, to give, to take care of people. And then you get elected, you get a position, you get power, and your motives change. Jesus told the disciples, “Let’s get out of here. I know you’re wowed by what I just did, but we have to head across the lake.”

Jesus sent the people home, because the party’s over when Jesus says it’s over. “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone” (v. 23). Jesus got alone with God, and He prayed until nightfall. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land. Where were they? They were on the Sea of Galilee.

If you go to Israel, you might be a little disappointed when you see the Sea of Galilee.

The Eskimos have five hundred words for snow because snow is around them all the time. If you live in Alaska, there is a lot of snow. If you live in the Middle East, there is not a lot of water, so you don’t need a lot of words for water. The Jews call everything a “sea,” whether it’s a lake, an ocean, or the Mediterranean. The Sea of Galilee is just a lake. So when you go there after you have read the story, you might think, How the heck do you almost die in the Sea of Galilee? Just swim to the shore. It’s not that big a deal.

Well, here’s what happened. “The disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves” (v. 24). Let me tell you; it doesn’t take much of a wave to scare you to death. Waves can be very terrifying. When I took my kids surfing when they were little, my daughter yelled, “Dad, I’m gonna die!” It was like a one-foot wave. But moving water is stronger than you, it’s more powerful than you, and it can terrify you.

About fifteen years ago, Tammy and I got certified for diving. It was going to be great—a new adventure. We went through all the classes. And to get certified in diving, you pretty much just learn all the ways that you can kill yourself while diving. You need to know the math. You need to know what’s going on so you don’t put yourself or others in danger out in the ocean. God made us to remain above water, not below it. When you go below the water, bad things can happen.

Tammy and I passed certification, and it was a blast. We had a good time learning, and we went for our first dive without an instructor. That meant Tammy and I were our own experts. We were supposed to save ourselves; that’s what it meant. We went to Catalina Island off the coast of California. It wasn’t super adventurous or super dangerous. It’s like five feet from Long Beach, so it wasn’t scary, right?

We were having a wonderful dive and a really great time. We were down below in the ocean, looking at all kinds of fish and sea life. What we didn’t know was that a storm was brewing above. We had no idea that a summer storm came in, and it was blowing our boat all over the place. So we surfaced, and we were surprised by this storm that had whipped up instantaneously. The ocean went from flat to four-foot waves.

Now, that doesn’t sound terrifying when you read about it, but when you’re in the ocean, and your head is twelve inches above the water, as you bob, every four-foot wave is, guess what? Four feet over your head. Every wave that comes over you kind of drowns you and pushes you down.

By this time, we were all out of oxygen. My wife, who’s a Six, assessed the situation and said, “We are going to die!” Now, Tammy is an influential person and the cofounder of our church; people look up to her. When she announces that we’re all doomed, that’s bad news. She screamed, “I’m going to die, we’re going to die, and our children are going to be raised without parents!”

I tried to talk her off this mountain of fear. There was another couple with us, and they were just treading water, watching us. The other couple’s husband panicked, and he swam off and left his wife. His actions were like, “Honey, you’re on your own.” He started swimming toward the boat. And there I was with two women. One was flipping out. The other one was just looking at me.

I said to her, “Where’s your husband?”

She’s said, “He’s gone.”

I said, “Okay, just hang with me.”

I flipped Tammy upside down on her back, and I started swimming, dragging her while she’s crying, “I’m going to die! I’m going to die! You did this!” We were swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, and finally, just when we couldn’t do it any longer, someone on the boat threw us a lifeline. I grabbed onto the lifeline and pulled us into the boat. Our friend got up on the boat, and there was her husband, standing there. He helped his wife up to the boat, and she smacked him right in the nose. “Don’t you ever leave me again!” It was great.

Tammy said, “We will never do that again.” And because she’s a powerful person, we have not gone diving again.

So let me just say that waves can be scary. It doesn’t take a gigantic hurricane to die, okay? Some of you can drown in a swimming pool if someone does a cannonball. Water is scary. A lot of people die crossing a river because they think, Oh, the water is only waist deep. Well, when you’re standing up, it’s waist deep. When you’re lying flat, you’re in big trouble.

So just know it can get very scary, very quickly.

Let’s look back at our story in the Bible. In Matthew 14:24, “A strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.” Jesus fed the five thousand probably about dinnertime, because He likely preached when the sun was out. The people ate as the sun was going down. So this storm had been going on for hours, and the disciples were exhausted. They were terrified, they didn’t know what to do, and they were going to drown.

Look what happened next: “About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water” (v. 25). Some people say, “This is scientifically impossible, and this is one of the reasons I don’t believe the Bible.” Okay, listen to me, Captain Smarty-Pants. The most challenging verse in the Bible is the very first verse—Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” If you can get past that, everything else is easy. Because if God can create water, I think He can walk on it. He can do whatever He wants with it.

Jesus was walking toward the disciples on the water, which was a little freaky. It was three o’clock in the morning. The disciples thought they were going to die, and now here came Jesus, walking on water. When the disciples saw Him, they were terrified, as you would be—as we all would be. We would all be scared to death if we think we’re going to die, and here comes somebody walking on the water. This doesn’t happen.

Can you imagine that you go out to a local lake for an afternoon barbecue, and all of a sudden you see me out there walking on water? You’d be like, Wow.

How did the disciples respond? “When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, ‘It’s a ghost!’” (v. 26). Notice the phrase “In their fear.” This is where some of you live every single day. You live in your fear. In your marriage, you’re in fear. Raising your kids, you’re in fear. As a college student, you’re in fear. In your friendships, you’re in fear. When you’re on the Internet, you’re attracted to fear.

This is why our news is the way it is. Every night, the news at eleven reports that you’re going to die, right? Every single night you’re going to die. People are freaked out.

So in the disciples’ fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” The next verse says, “But Jesus spoke to them at once. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said. ‘Take courage. I am here!’” (v. 27). Over 360 times in the Bible, God says the words, “Don’t be afraid.” That’s almost one time for every day of the year.

Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Why would God keep saying that? Because you’re freaking out. God says, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage.” A lot of us think courage is something we either have or we don’t have. We look at courage the way we look at happiness. Both courage and happiness take work. You have to work toward them.

Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage.” Why? These are some of the most important words for every single one of us who believes in God: “I am here!”

One of the most ridiculous things we do in a church service is a thing called the invocation. It’s where we invite God to be a part of what we’re doing. We don’t have to invite God to be with us. He’s already here. You don’t have to worry; He’s here.

If you’re a believer, you don’t have to ask God to join you in your marriage; He’s there. You don’t have to ask God to join you in raising your children; He’s there. You don’t have to ask God to be with you in your finances; He’s there. What you need to do is remember that He’s there and act accordingly.

“Then Peter called to him, ‘Lord, if it’s really you . . .’” (v. 28). I mean, who else is it going to be? Think about it: if you’re at a lake and you see someone walking on the water, I’m hoping you guess it’s Jesus. There’s a historical precedent, right?

Yes, Jesus was walking on water; this is what He does. Peter said, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water” (v. 28). Now, let me just say this. Be careful what you pray about. When you’re flying on an airplane, don’t ask God to increase your faith. And certainly don’t do it when we are flying together. That is not when I want our faith to increase. I want to have very little faith as we’re flying. When we land, then you can pray that all you want.

Peter said, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you.” Here’s the thing you need to know: God never called you to live an ordinary life. He has made every single one of you extraordinary. And He has called every single one of you to be extraordinary. So if you ask God to save you from your ordinary life and to do extraordinary things with you, guess what He’s going to do? He’s going to answer that request. He’s going to say, “Did You hear that, Jesus? Did You hear that prayer? They want Me to do something extraordinary. Let’s do it.”

Peter was saying, “Jesus, I want to walk on water like You’re doing. I want to do what You do.” And just so you know, this is what Jesus made you to do. He made you to do the same things He does. And Jesus said to Peter, “Yes, come” (v. 29).

“So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus” (v. 29). Peter went over the side of the boat. It wasn’t beautiful, but he got out of the boat, and he walked on water. I’m sure he cried out, “I’m walking!” Right? Too bad it’s not on Instagram because I would post this for everyone to see.

Peter started walkin...

Table des matières

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword by Lisa Bevere
• Introduction: Why You?
• Type One: The Reformer
• Type Two: The Helper
• Type Three: The Achiever
• Type Four: The Individualist
• Type Five: The Observer
• Type Six: The Loyalist
• Type Seven: The Enthusiast
• Type Eight: The Challenger
• Type Nine: The Peacemaker
• Conclusion
• Notes
• About the Author