We need to go back to see how the Scriptures speak to us, found in Psalm 139:12-15:
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
God has designed each one of us exactly how he wants us. Not only that, but he will use his design of us to reach out and show his glory to the ends of the earth.
Once I realized who God made me, and how he was going to use me, it transformed my thought process on my life and how I lead others on mission.
What I have come to realize is that I am a functional extrovert. Many see me and think I am an extrovert, but in reality, my wife used to call me a hermit because of how much I avoided people.
What this means for me is that I will force myself into situations to meet new people and share stories, but it is not natural for me. I am basically in the middle of the introvert and the extrovert. Because of this, I think I have a unique perspective on how to lead and be an introverted evangelist.
Some Things to Think Through
Being an introvert and staying an introvert is not a sin.
Many put this on others, and in return, introverts can feel very alienated and burdened to do what others (read extroverts or functional extroverts) are doing. Allow the introvert to be exactly who God has made him or her to be, an introvert.
Do not try to make an introvert an extrovert.
This is not your calling. Your calling is not to make everyone in your church look like you or act like you. If this was the case, everyone else on the planet could die and you could take over as king of the world. God has made his body different on purpose, including introverts and extroverts.
Having introverts in your church is not the same as having immature believers or wolves in sheep’s clothing.
It seems as though most of us have treated introverts as though they were a disease that needed a cure, instead of image bearers of God created by him for his purpose. Know God’s creation is beautiful, purposeful and should be celebrated not degraded.
