3/21/2024 0 Comments Enneagram type 2 gifts![]() ![]() Their sermons can err on the side of scholarly discourse at the expense of the wounded humans right in front of them-the ones who need their pastor, not Pantaenus. Shadow: Fives may be tempted to trust the Great Thinkers instead of trusting the thoughts God gives them. Placing them side by side in a sermon can widen eyes to new perspectives. Gift: Fives see the big picture and are adept at seeing patterns of Scripture and patterns of the World. They can believe they have something truer, deeper, and more authentic to preach than other preachers, robbing themselves of the joy of the gospel by constantly comparing their sermons’ to others. Shadow: Fours can feel a bit superior in their quest to bring the beauty of the gospel to light. Gift: The true artists of the Enneagram, Fours dig deep to find that unexpected kernel of truth that reaches deep into listeners’ souls. Threes might not preach to magnify the Lord as much as they do to magnify themselves. Shadow: The lure to be seen as a “Celebrity Preacher” is a potential pitfall. Gift: The Three’s need to succeed can prompt them to work very hard to be stellar preachers, and listeners are the beneficiaries. Shadow: Twos need to be needed, so in the guise of pastoral care, hospitality, or evangelism, Twos can make themselves too available for any- and everyone’s wedding, funeral, or special occasion-regardless of the personal cost of time, energy, or family life. Gift: Twos will go to the nth degree to craft a great sermon and make themselves available to preach at weddings and funerals of those who don’t have a church home. Shadow: Preaching can show a lack of compassion or empathy for parishioners who don’t “get” what they “should” be doing, and subtly reveal resentment, or worse, contempt. Gift: A One’s drive to do the right thing and make the world a better place for everyone can move mountains. The following is by no means exhaustive, but I offer brief examples of the perspective our Enneagram number might be having on us unduly and unawares. The Enneagram is a great tool to help us offer the gifts we take into the pulpit to God’s glory, while also helping us recognize the shadows of the gift. Now that I do-and with the benefit of a few decades of learning in between- few things delight me more than to be an imperfect human preacher who is always learning. My perfectionism as an Enneagram One, even if it drove me to attempt to craft excellent sermons that fed my parishioners, was fueled more by shame-avoidance than joy-cultivation. Years later when I discovered the Enneagram, it was with a lightning bolt of recognition. I believed I had to skip all the human steps of development between novice and proficient, tesseracting instantly to “expert.” That said, the fallacies to my flawed thinking were legion, and one of the most insidious was that I couldn’t be human. ![]() If the sermon was perfect, there would be nothing to critique-including me.īased on the usually positive receptions my sermons received in my congregations, my drive for “perfect” sermons seems to have had an upside: the gospel was heard. I would control the sermon so I could control the reaction. To avoid any chance of repeat humiliation, I would make my sermons perfect: word-smithed, polished, manuscripted, with never a comma, jot, or tittle out of place again. The content of the letter, shall we say, suggested I was not only unfit to pursue a higher degree in my field of interest, but I might want to look for a different day job altogether!Ĭriticicism of my sermon felt like criticism of me as a human being.Īlready encumbered by the dis-ease of perfectionism, I suffered even more perfectionist angst in my sermon prep after that experience. Three days after the sermon, however, I received a two-page, single-spaced letter from one of my professors who attended the service. in homiletics, as my preaching professor encouraged. I offered the sermon just two months after graduating while contemplating whether my next move would be to pursue a Ph.D. ![]() I delivered the first sermon I ever preached-after ordination as a (transitional) deacon-in the Episcopal church where many of my seminary’s professors attended on Sundays. ![]()
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