God and Introverts

Do you like being along?

Me to!

Some of church life is a real drag on me. I enjoy the people and meetings, to a point. I really, really, really enjoy God. One thing that I miss the most right now is time with my BFF (God). I even like it when we have those painful talks on how I am messing up or how I am neglecting some essential aspect. While I believe that I am an introvert, I relate to God in more ways than just thoughts. But I love thinking about God, creation, nature, the universe, science, fun, knowing the unknowable and hunting.

I copy and pasted a definition of the introverted person from a web site. It is below.

I think that if up to 60% of the population is in some form, people of introverted perspective, we should redo church. At least we should re-do some of church. We should be more thoughtful that energized, we should be more holistic than single issue driven. We should be more interconnected than promote our separated visions and goals.

Now granted you might be a person who is not energized by thinking, you may be one who is empowered by people and events. You may love worship that is full of human energy, you enjoy passion driven presentations. OK, I was not saying that you do not think. It is that thinking just doesn’t bring a smile to your soul. You are not filled with delight over thinking a new thought or pondering the possibility of the impossible.

But I want to give a “shout out” for those of us who are worn out by human energy in the church and in our meetings. We (introverts) want passion, love, the presence of the spirit of truth (you might call this the introvert spirit J). Great worship and prayer for me is not conditional upon external energy, it is conditioned on truth, justice, righteousness, contemplation and meditation. I don’t feel “God is in the room” based on how much clapping, screaming or loud praise is occurring. I look for and feel presence, His voice, His inner witness, His guidance and direction. I believe if we want God to come we turn our heart toward him, not just our voices.

Don’t think that I am opposing extroverts, I am not. I am just trying to love myself (in the most Biblical way possible) and say “Introverts exist and they love God”. In the next meeting I want the worship leader to applaud the one who had the best thought of God. I want them to honor the presence of God when we are beholding Him in our inner man, regardless of the energy in the room.

OK, I know that it is never going to happen. If we struggle to discern the Holy Spirit we are most likely not ever going connect with the true spirit of what is happening within one another (presumption aside). I know that life is an external and an internal event. I know that most of us connect through what is happening in our culture and surroundings. But I still want to somehow encourage those who are introverts. Thank God for you!!!

So the other day I went hunting. I got to sit on a bucket, by myself, for a few hours. I loved it and was energized. I got to behold God in nature and in my life. I had the time to consider what God had created, the sky, heavens and flying birds. I enjoyed listening. Peace swept over my spirit like the breeze across the field. I got to smell the rain, the grain, the trees, the grass and the fresh air.

So the other day I went to the prayer room. I got to sit on a chair for a few hours by myself, and I loved it. I got to behold God and His nature and life. I had time to consider what God had created and why He had created it. I enjoyed listening. Peace swept over my spirit like the breeze of heaven. I got to encounter heaven, holiness and divine peace.

Basically, an introvert is a person who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people.

Introverts are more concerned with the inner world of the mind. They enjoy thinking, exploring their thoughts and feelings. They often avoid social situations because being around people drains their energy. This is true even if they have good social skills. After being with people for any length of time, such as at a party, they need time alone to "recharge."
When introverts want to be alone, it is not, by itself, a sign of depression. It means that they either need to regain their energy from being around people or that they simply want the time to be with their own thoughts. Being with people, even people they like and are comfortable with, can prevent them from their desire to be quietly introspective.
Being introspective, though, does not mean that an introvert never has conversations. However, those conversations are generally about ideas and concepts, not about what they consider the trivial matters of social small talk.
Introverts make up about 60% of the gifted population but only about 25-40% of the general population.[i]

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[i] From the web site http://giftedkids.about.com/od/glossary/g/introvert.htm