5 ways introverts can evangelize

A couple of months ago, I wrote an article on this site on the topic of whether or not it is a sin to be an introvert. Unbeknownst to me, I was joining a pretty big discussion, led, in large part, by Adam McHugh, author of Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. Along with his now discontinued blog, www.introvertedchurch.com, (which still has lots of great articles in the archives), you can find a lot of great resources and ideas for how use the gifts associated with introversion in positive ways in the church. I've found these resources helpful, since recently the topic of introverts and evangelism resurfaced for me, and I've found myself trying to come up with some ways that introverts can evangelize within their comfort zones -- that is, using their natural gifts. It is, of course, important for all Christians to do things that are not comfortable when the Holy Spirit leads us to, but, as I wrote before (and as McHugh agrees), the American church largely favors extroverted ways of doing things, especially extroverted ways of evangelizing. So, here are five ways that extroverts may be able to join in the evangelism effort without striking up conversations with total strangers:

1. Give a speech, perform a song, act in a play, etc. that presents some aspect of the Gospel. This one will not be for all introverts, of course, because some introverts dislike public speaking or public performance. However, it is a great misconception that all introverts are afraid of public speaking; indeed, the vast majority of people I've met who are afraid of public speaking are extroverts, but, of course, that's only been my experience. What introverts are often afraid of is spontaneous public speaking (or public praying, etc.) Give an introvert some time to prepare, and a little artistic freedom, and they can often provide a quite moving and effective public speech or performance.

2. Make something beautiful that expresses some aspect of the Gospel and share it. Paint a picture, write a poem, take a beautiful photo -- and share it! Again, not all introverts are artists, but many artists are introverts, due to the introspective nature of artistic creation, and encouraging artistic contributions to church worship and evangelism efforts could be a good way to help introverts get involved.

3. Listen. Not all sharing of the gospel is about talking. Introverts are often skilled listeners, and the gift of non-judging, attentive listening, can speak volumes about the love of Christ. (note: this probably won't happen with a random stranger on a first meeting; it will probably require slow steps over time to get to know the person being listened to)

4. Perform acts of service that show Christ's love. The acts will be as varied as the individuals performing and benefiting from them, and, as with number 3, above, these acts will require time to slowly build relationships and show more explicitly the reason behind the actions.

5. Lead or join a very small group in a discussion of a book, film, album, etc. that expresses spiritual themes. This type of interaction is much more effective for introverts, who value thoughtful, deep discussion of ideas over small talk that requires spontaneous responses. Also, the small size of the group is key, and the subject matter provides direction for the conversation so the introverts aren't stuck not knowing what to talk about.

My list is, of course, biased toward myself -- an artistic type who enjoys performing in front of people. These suggestions wouldn't work for all introverts, but they could be useful for a few who feel that they have no options that work with their natural temperament when it comes to sharing their faith. More importantly, it would be a good idea for church leaders to make options such as these available to people when encouraging their congregation to evangelize or when forming church outreach programs. In the meantime, I've got McHugh's Introverts in the Church queued up on my Kindle so that I can find out more.

Is it a sin to be an introvert?

Is it a sin to be an introvert?

The short answer to that question is, of course, no. But it’s amazing how often I’ve gotten the distinct impression from various pastors and leaders throughout my life that my predilection toward introversion was sinful. “Go knock on that stranger’s door and invite them to our revival/concert/community event” says the energetic youth pastor; “Talk to someone you’ve never talked to before” says the pastor; “Turn to your neighbor and say (fill in the blank with rather personal information);” says the well-meaning Sunday school teacher; or better yet, “Give your neighbor a hug or a handshake” says whichever pastor is leading ‘greeting time’ each Sunday morning. There’s nothing wrong with any of these activities, but they are activities geared almost exclusively toward extroverts, and with no alternatives available to them, many introverts end up feeling that if they don’t follow the leading of their pastoral staff in these social niceties, they must not be doing what God wants them to do. I’ve heard many sermons on the golden rule in which whoever was doing the preaching indicated that “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” meant talking to people you didn’t know -- assuming that everyone wants to be accosted with small-talk by people they’ve never met in an already uncomfortable new social situation.

picture found here: http://adventuresoftheordinary.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/being-introverted/

The Bible tells us to love one another, to have patience and kindness toward each other, to share with those in need, but it doesn’t tell us to go out of our way to be friendly in the sorts of outgoing ways that have come to be expected of most people in American culture. “Friendliness” is not a fruit of the Spirit -- at least not as many of us define “friendly.” Believe it or not, there are ways to demonstrate love and kindness toward others without constantly seeking out people you don’t know and making small talk with them. There are ways to evangelize without knocking on the door of someone you’ve never met or handing out gospel tracts on the street. It is possible to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” by sitting quietly and respecting someone’s right to privacy.

That’s not to say that an introvert might not, from time to time, need to step out of his or her comfort zone and participate in extroverted activities at the prompting of the Holy Spirit; to ignore such a prompting would, indeed, be a sin. But there are many ways to follow the Bible’s teachings about loving our neighbors that work with different personality types. For me, an introvert, loving others means caring deeply for a very small group of close friends, evangelizing through acts of kindness and through my work and art, and remaining open toward new people by greeting them with a smile or a brief word, but not necessarily with lots of other talk.

It also means that, in order to participate in the social interaction that is expected of me and that may, occasionally be prompted by the Holy Spirit, I have to get lots of alone time in order to “re-charge” so that I will be able to love people in the more overt ways that they often need. Sometimes that means that I need to sit alone and not talk to people. This can be difficult to do at church. One Sunday, when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed by people and needed some recharging time, I had to resort to sitting in the ladies’ room for several minutes. That’s when I learned that the automatic lighting will turn off after a few minutes of inactivity. Even the lighting system was unsympathetic toward my introverted needs!

The point of all of this is not for me to complain about not “getting my needs met” or to justify my discomfort with greeting time (It’s a blessing that my participation in music ministry means I get to play my guitar while everyone else shakes hands; I used to go get a drink of water during greeting time just because I felt so awkward the whole time).  Instead, I hope to shed light on the fact that preferences for extraversion or introversion are culturally-bound, not spiritually grounded. American culture views extraversion as normative, so it is no wonder that American churches do the same. But since the church exists, in part, to transform culture, it might be a good idea to reexamine the tendency to hold up a cultural norm (extraversion) as a spiritual value.


Big Disclaimer: This blog entry merely describes a tendency I've witnessed across the board, not the specific actions of any church or individual.