​ The Gospel According to an Introvert

God’s creative design bursts with variety. In the human race, He fashioned a diverse assortment of looks, personalities, and abilities, giving a unique combination to each one of the nearly eight billion people walking around out there. 
 
He created the acrobat, the person who can trip over thin air, the beauty pageant winner, and the self-conscious preteen boy with a bad case of acne. He understands the outgoing church greeter and the quiet accountant. He designed both the orators who always know the right thing to say and the people like me who can manage to give a socially awkward response to a straightforward question.

​God didn’t make any mistakes when He made you or when He made me. As the psalmist declares, each one of us is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14a). 

The wonder of God’s creation

A part of the wonder of God’s creation of people in His image is how different we all are one from another while still being equal in worth and our ability to impact the world for His glory. ​I have had and listened to many conversations about personality differences. I would not classify myself as an extreme introvert (I enjoy an occasional party and can speak my mind when I’m comfortable with the people around me). If A were extreme extrovert and Z were extreme introvert, I’d place myself somewhere around a T. What does that mean? It means I can enjoy people time only if I have enough alone time to compensate. It means I prefer an evening in to an evening out, I would always choose to hang out with one friend instead of ten, and I never volunteer to lead anything. Ever.

Unless you’re an extreme extrovert, I think you can understand these feelings on some level. There’s nothing inherently wrong in these natural feelings and inclinations. God made me with these preferences. The problem comes when I use my natural personality to create a comfort-zone cushion that excuses me from serving God the way He wants me to.

What I’ve gradually come to realize, as I’ve compared what I naturally want to do with what I feel God calling me to do, is that while His creative design oozes originality and variety, His redemptive design is unchangeably singular.

• There is only one Gospel.
• Only one truth.
• Only one way to God.

And He has called every one of His people, regardless of personality, to share that way with others.

As one of God’s unique creations, I stand more on the introverted side of the personality spectrum. There’s nothing wrong with that, but lately, God has challenged me about using that as an excuse.

• A natural disinclination for conflict does not excuse me from rebuking a brother or sister in Christ.
• A preference to keep to myself does not exclude me from serving in my church.
• A discomfort with verbal communication does not remove my responsibility to share the Gospel with unbelievers around me.

​The Gospel Comes with a House Key

Earlier this year, I read Rosaria Butterfield’s book The Gospel Comes with a House Key. I read this book with avid interest as she told story after story of how God used her and her family to reach out to their community by opening up their home and basically sharing their lives with their brothers and sisters in Christ as well as their unbelieving neighbors.
 
I ate her words up, but in the back of my mind I kept telling myself, "this wouldn’t work for me." I was amazed at what God did through her sacrifice, but I knew that I could never do what she did. My home is my sanctuary. My place to escape when I get mentally exhausted from being around people.

Then, near the end of the book, I came to this sentence: “I am a classic introvert.” Wait, what? I literally stopped reading and stared at the page. This woman, whose radical hospitality for the sake of the Gospel made her open up her very home to people in need was an introvert? I kept reading:

“We introverts miss out on great blessings when we excuse ourselves from practicing hospitality because it exhausts us. I often find people exhausting. But over the years, I have learned how to pace myself, how to prepare for the private time necessary to recharge, and how to grow in discomfort. Knowing your personality and your sensitivities does not excuse you from ministry. It means that you need to prepare for it differently than others might.”

Butterfield’s description of her own personality completely matches my own, and yet I had never considered that my struggles didn’t exclude me from certain ministries. I’d never seen active, people-centered ministry as something I could do (or at least do well) because I never thought about it as something we introverts are all called to do—just differently.
 
Some people might be able to jump out of bed and rush right into a day filled with people, activities, and service. I would be drained and longing for my bed and a book by hour two. But instead of telling God I can’t do it, I could ask Him for wisdom on how to prepare myself for something outside of my comfort zone.
 
In her book, Butterfield detailed how she prepared herself for ministering to people in need by learning to wake up early and have quiet alone time in the morning so that she felt relaxed and stocked up on her “me time” enough to face a day filled with serving people. This is such a different attitude than I have had toward ministry in the past.

We’re all called to share the Gospel

We’re all called to actively serve God and to actively share the Gospel. We don’t have to decide whether or not we’re capable of those things. God has already made us capable. We just have to learn strategies to prepare us for the ministry and Gospel opportunities He sends our way.

• If God is leading you to serve in an evening ministry and evenings are usually your time to recharge away from people—change your sleep schedule and learn to get your alone time in the morning.
• If your home is your sanctuary and you aren’t willing to use it for God’s Gospel service—confess your sin of idolatry and start having people into your home. Start small (maybe once a month) and work up to more.
• If you can’t figure out how to answer your unsaved neighbor’s questions about God verbally because you express yourself better in writing (like me)—take the time to write down the truth. Let your neighbor read it, or better yet read it to him. Let him know that you love your God and His Gospel so much you won’t let any personality limitation stand in the way of sharing your faith.
• If you’re an extrovert and can’t seem to slow down and stay away from people enough to get in God’s Word and spend alone time with Him—drop an activity that is standing between you and your time with God. (See, there are weaknesses on both sides of the personality spectrum.)

What do all of these scenarios have in common? ​

They all involve something we must change. God is right there prompting us. The Holy Spirit is inside convicting us. 

​But we must choose to obey, and many times obedience means change:

• a change to our schedule
• a change to our comfort zone
• a change to our daily lives

God doesn’t ask us to change our personalities. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. But He is our strength in whatever weakness we have.

“And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Cor. 12:9-10

When God calls us to do something outside of our natural strength, His strength is made perfect in our weakness. That is when our pride is stripped away and we can’t boast because we know He is the One doing the work through us.

So, don’t see your natural limitations as excuses to keep you from serving God and sharing the Gospel. See them as opportunities to learn how to rely completely on God’s strength. See them as a way to exhibit His power in your life.

If you're an introvert as well, what has helped you to share the Gospel?