Church/Piety

Is WRPC a Church for Introverts or Extroverts?

Posted on by Carl Robbins

Introvert & ExtrovertWhat is an introvert ? According to social theorists, introverts…

  • Enjoy time alone
  • Consider only deep relationships as friends
  • Feel drained after activities outside their home, even if they were fun
  • Are great listeners, can be in a group & never contribute to the conversation and be satisfied
  • Appear calm and self-contained
  • Think then speak or act

What is an extrovert ? The same social theorists assert that extroverts…

  • Like to be in the thick of things
  • Relish a variety of interactions
  • Know lots of people, considers lots of people friends
  • Enjoy chit-chatting, even to strangers
  • Feel stoked after activity
  • Speak or act then think OR think while speaking

Who is the church for? Redeemed sinners – both extrovert sinners and introvert sinners.

The commands of God are not divided by personality type.

  • The Lord does NOT say “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves (Hebrews 10:25)…..unless you are an introvert, then you can stay home alone.”
  • God does NOT say “Tame your tongue ( ala James 3)…unless you are an extrovert, then just rattle on uncontrollably.”

In a context (1 Corinthians 12) where Paul is speaking of the diversity of spiritual gifts, the great apostle goes to great lengths to demonstrate how deeply those with widely varying gifts NEED each other. That is surely the same with widely varying personality types.

Believers can grow frustrated with each other because THEIR relational needs aren’t being met. Think about some of your own relational frustrations with others in the Body of Christ? Are others “shallow/surfacey”, when you want to have deep, long, soul-baring conversations ? Maybe it’s because they’re extroverts and you’re an introvert.

There’s NO sin involved. Just different relational styles. And maturing, wise believers KNOW how to be longsuffering with one another and how to bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:13).

Carl Robbins
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Carl Robbins
Carl is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a graduate of Crichton College and Covenant Theological Seminary. Pastor Robbins has served churches in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Nevada. In addition Carl has served on the board of crisis pregnancy centers, Christian schools and seminaries. He has spoken to college groups, medical school forums, state legislative groups, seminary chapels and church conferences. His special passion is training pastors in developing countries. Carl and wife Sandy have been married for 37 years(!) and are the parents of three believing, adult children: John and his wife DeAnna and their children (Bray, Emmie Ruth, and Maggie Grace), James and his wife Megen and their children (Jack and Lainey Janice), and Sarah and her husband Andrew Holmes. Carl and Sandy love OU football, big dogs, good Mexican food, and the beach—any beach, any time.