I’m no Enneagram enthusiast. I’m not different than most people though, I enjoy personality tests. I think they can be helpful. They have some value. Still, I’m not making critical life decisions based on my enneagram number or my Myers-Briggs results or anything like that. Having said that… I’m an Enneagram 3: I’m an achiever. One of my highest scores on Strengthfinder is: Achiever. When the next big personality comes onto the scene I’m sure I’ll get some variation of an achiever again. Basically, I’m an achiever.
My “achiever” personality has been beneficial in some ways but it’s also caused a lot of stress and anxiety. There’s nothing more frustrating to me than not accomplishing what I know I’m truly capable of. COVID has highlighted that in brand new ways for me. There’s so much I’ve wanted to achieve in this season but life keeps getting in the way! Life has introduced all kinds of limitations upon me. Life has placed limits on my (perceived) ability to achieve. And it’s frustrating.
Because of that I’m thankful for Sean McGever’s recent book: The Good News of Our Limits. Sean is a friend and we’ve talked about limits quite a bit over the years. I don’t know his personality test types but I’d venture to say he’s an achiever too. So if he can learn to operate within his God-given limits then maybe I can too.
The Good News of Our Limits is immensely practical. I could see myself walking through this book with a small group at my church. But it is also grounded in some solid theology. He doesn’t use the term in his book but it really is a work of Christological Anthropology. Sean operates out of the conviction that Jesus reveals to us what it means to be truly human. As he explains (25): Jesus was tempted, slept, got hungry, was thirsty, got tired, slept, cried, slept, bled, had a physical body…. He was like us in every way except for sin. In his human nature Christ had limits. We have limits and that is okay! To act and live as though we don’t have limits is to overstep our metaphysical makeup.
Sean explains that way have relational limits, cognitive limits, vocational limits…. And that is okay! To know that we don’t need to achieve to attain God’s love is so freeing! Sean draws upon his years of ministry and educational experiences to make this point. You’ll get plenty of stories, solid biblical teaching, and practical advice in this book.
CWoznicki Think Out Loud 