Introverts and Extroverts

There are two types of people. Well, maybe three. There are people who get energy from being with other people. We call those extroverts. There are people who get energy from being alone. These are called introverts. Then there are people like me, I suppose. On the Myers-Briggs Types Indicator, my scores on that scale come back ambivalent.

But how we are determines how we like to worship. It determines how we work best. But we need a little of both.

A man called Chris Anderson started a conference years ago where he invited people with significant ideas to present short talks (no longer than 20 minutes but most often about 10 minutes) to an audience who paid as much as five figures to the left of the decimal point to listen. He called it the TED Talks conference. It became successful. There are now many of these around the world. He now records them and you can watch for free.

Recently Susan Cain presented on being an introvert in a culture that increasingly rewards (or forces you to be) an extrovert. It is worth a listen.

In our spiritual practice, we need to be aware of our tendency and seek balance. Introverts would tend toward study and meditation. Extroverts tend toward worship, celebration and service. Following the example of Jesus, everyone needs time alone to find God and center themselves. It might be difficult for extroverts, but it is necessary to achieve depth in your celebrations and service. Study and meditation alone will not make you whole. Introverts need to get out and be with people. Learn to celebrate and serve. Just as Jesus often withdrew to be with God in order to serve more, we also need to seek that balance.

Leave a comment