Comments on: Introverts and Extroverts at Church

By: Jennifer @GoingByFaith

Jennifer @GoingByFaith — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:11:32 +0000

The church we go to offers a mix for both personality types — there is a connection center where you can get coffee/bagels before the service and chat with other visitors. In the connection center there is a tiny “book store” set up, and this is great for more introverted people who want to be around others — who knows, maybe I’ll meet someone — but it isn’t feeling forced. There’s also the option to come and take a seat directly.

Interesting topic to ponder.

By: Christina

Christina — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:41:55 +0000

I definately just saw this book at the bookstore yesterday! I did “perk up.” I think that as we realize & God reveals to us more and more what unity in the body of Christ looks like, we are freer to be ourselves (extrovert or not), and to use our skills in the unique way God calls us. I think we do need to make a place in the church for the variety of people that exist. I am creative – and I know that most churches neither accept nor understand that (large) part of me. As we make spaces for the contemplative as well as the exhuberant expressive, as we extend our hand to people who are different as well as the same as ourselves and as we make moves to understand and accept each other in community, it will become less important to fit moulds or imposed expectations.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:07:07 +0000

“I never considered the possibility that there was any kind of Christian other than an extroverted Christian, so I thought that I was doing something wrong, or that I had a handicap that had to be overcome.”

Ditto! Definitely track down a copy of the book and read a few pages, it’s worth it just to know that you’re not alone in that feeling and that’s decidedly not true!

Oh, and thanks for popping in and taking time to comment!

By: TheCynicalChristian

TheCynicalChristian — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:58:14 +0000

Wow, it’s refreshing to hear that a book like this even exists. I never considered the possibility that there was any kind of Christian other than an extroverted Christian, so I thought that I was doing something wrong, or that I had a handicap that had to be overcome.

I think this tendency to value extroverts over introverts is of a piece with the church’s love for big, dramatic testimonies. People want to hear, and the church heavily promotes, epic, crash-and-burn stories of debauchery with a little Jesus at the end. If you were saved at a young age and stayed in the faith, plugging along the narrow path, that’s a big yawner. Unless you went to some exotic and/or dangerous land as a missionary, then we all want to hear about that too. Those stories are good and valuable, but this is another case where the church gets captivated by big personalities, and that may be to the detriment of the rest of the body.