Alrighty 5’s, we know you hate the spotlight, but you’re up! Wondering what we’re talking about with this Enneagram thing? Click here for our intro post for details.
Our beloved 5 friends, also called “The Investigative Thinkers,” strive to fully understand the world, valuing knowledge above many other things in life. At their best, fives are perceptive, curious, wise, witty, and observant. However, their core desire to be competent can deteriorate into an unhealthy version of themselves, hoarding useless information and specializations. At their best, fives become intellectually arrogant, stingy, stubborn, and cynical.
Fives are unique in that they have the lowest amount of energy of any type and that energy is finite. While the rest of us have 100% batteries, 5’s wake up each day with only 10-20%. Their day is spent managing that energy reserve and everything -- every interaction, every task -- taxes that energy. Because of this, fives can retreat into isolation, hoarding their resources and energy so as to avoid becoming dependent on others. Acquiring knowledge can give a 5 self-confidence, but it is far from the peace and assurance that only comes from Jesus’s work on the cross. Their core weakness of greed (of time and energy) should act as a reminder that only Jesus can sustain them and that they do not need to withhold themselves or their resources to avoid depletion.
Appearing incompetent and incapable is a 5’s core fear, believing the lie that if they are well informed and perceptive, they will be safe. However, as believers, we understand that true peace can only be found in the freedom we experience when we’re walking in Christ’s will -- not an accumulation of head knowledge. However, fives are a beautiful reminder and reflection of God’s beauty and wisdom.
There are many moments in Jesus’s life where I think He embodies the 5 typology so perfectly. Even as a 12-year- old, His presence commanded attention in the synagogue, teaching with wisdom so beyond His years that it could only be from the Father. Also, He was constantly seeking knowledge and wisdom from the Father, retreating to quiet reflection, like in the garden of Gethsemane. If fives need to hear one thing from Jesus it’s that your needs are met in Him, they are not a problem, and your resources will not run out. Meditate on Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
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