The Gospel for Defenders: A 40-Day Devotional for Powerful, Challenging Protectors: (Enneagram Type 8)

By Tyler Zach, Beth McCord and Jeff McCord

What if your greatest weakness is your greatest strength?

For the Enneagram Eight-the Defender-life is all about protecting and empowering others. While our unfair and apathetic world desperately needs your big heart and bravery, sometimes your desire for intensity causes you to either burn out or burn bridges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyler Zach
• Release date: Dec 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798869050373

Book preview

Day 1:

The Struggle

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

—Revelation 17:14

Life can be a struggle, fierce and

unrelenting, with many obstacles and foes. It tests our strength and often strains our spirit. Sometimes life feels like a relentless grind, but that doesn’t stop you from dreaming impossible dreams. Through hardship and shattered expectations, Defenders always seem able to dip into untapped sources of strength, pivot, and find a way to make a fresh start. As Nietzsche said, the struggle doesn’t kill you but only makes you stronger.² Eights are the epitome of those who are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.³

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

—Frederick Douglass¹

Yet, let’s pause for a moment and consider the perspective of the Defender without God. In that mindset, Defenders become Terminators, scanning the world for enemies—and they are seldom disappointed. They view the world through the lens of scarcity—a cold, hostile, threatening place where the strong eat the weak, the powerful take advantage of others, and no one gets a break. In this world, they must do whatever they can to survive, fending for themselves and taking whatever they can get. In this world, most people have bad intentions and cannot be trusted. As psychologist Dr. Jerry Wagner says, average to unhealthy Eights come into a situation with a chip on their shoulder, looking for opposition, anticipating a fight, and expecting to be taken advantage of.⁴

While many may find this is a dark and depressing view of the world, it is also true that both oppressors and victims live in our world. There are those whose negative experiences, untended trauma, and illnesses drive them to inflict pain on those around them—a motif explored in countless westerns, crime dramas, war stories, and mobster movies. Even many Biblical stories show the brutal capacity of humanity without pulling any punches.

Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Eight’s yearning for vindictive triumph finds fulfillment.

Your realist view of the world serves you well—as well as those you protect. Consider this: if Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King, Jr. hadn’t seen the world through the lens of an Eight, the Underground Railroad and Civil Rights Movement both would have looked very different. Contrary to what some might believe, the world isn’t always rosy, filled with rainbows, butterflies, and unicorns. It is a struggle of good against evil, with a spiritual enemy who seeks to devour us.⁵ And we choose every day whether to bring heaven or hell to bear on the tiny piece of the world we touch.

As an Eight, you have the ability to put on redemptive lenses and recognize that with the right leverage, the world can just as easily become a place of beauty, joy, and love, where you can extend trust to others. When you choose to submit to God’s protection, you can learn to become tender and vulnerable without constantly fearing harm and realize that not everyone who disagrees with you is your enemy.

The Good News for Defenders is Jesus understands the struggle intimately. He is the Suffering Servant who experienced hatred, rejection, mockery, and betrayal from enemies and even His closest friends. He knows what it’s like to be a prophetic leader and change agent, yet not receive honor within His own hometown⁶—just as you may not always be respected or embraced within your own family, church, denomination, or tribe.

But through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Eight’s yearning for vindictive triumph finds fulfillment. Although the cross initially appeared as a failure, as if Jesus had been overcome, the game was not over. The book of Revelation reveals the ultimate triumph of the Lamb, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who will conquer all enemies of peace and flourishing through His sacrificial love. Those who have bowed their knees to King Jesus will be able to claim His victory as their