All that as an introduction. Yesterday I came across a new blog entitled Introverts Corner. This isn't just the ramblings of some random introvert. It is part of the Psychology Today website. There are some interesting articles. The one that caught Amanda's eye and the one we talked about last night was An Interview with Adam McHugh, author of Introverts in the Church. It's about a book that Adam McHugh has written about how the evangelical church is geared toward extroverts.
Churches sometimes unintentionally equate faithfulness with extroversion; we draw up a composite sketch of the "ideal" Christian--gregarious, with an overt passion and enthusiasm, eager to participate in a wide variety of activities, shares their faith with strangers regularly, assumes leadership positions quickly, opens up their home to others often--and this ideal person starts sounding suspiciously like an extrovert.If you're an introvert or someone who loves one, it's definitely worth checking out. Adam McHugh has a whole blog just about the introverted church here. It really is interesting to think about this slant in the church. I remember the comment of a Bible professor after I complimented him on his sermon at church. He said, "It's not my favorite thing to do. Mostly I just like to hole up with my books." I am so glad that there are people like him who want to "hole up with his books." This must of been the feeling of people like Paul, Luther, Calvin, Lewis and many other scholars and pastors on whom we lean so heavily. Let's celebrate introversion! Let's celebrate by nodding our heads quickly, averting our eyes, and retreating to our rooms to write complimentary notes.
4 comments:
This is great brother.
so true...i've almost written a post about this topic many times. growing up, i felt that school was geared toward and especially accomodating of extroverts.
i'm pretty sure all 3 of us have a tendency to internalize our thoughts most of the time...
Introverts are interesting to me since they operate so differently from me, but I have surely learned over the years that many times their way of doing things is better than mine. Maybe that's the wrong way to say it...an introvert's way of operating is good, just an extrovert's way of doing things is often good. The long and the short of it is, there are certainly strength and weaknesses for both the I and the E. Both personalities are needed in a family, in the body of Christ, and God once again knew exactly what He was doing.
Extro-what?
Is there any other way to be? :)
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