Book Review for Busy Pastors (and Others)
by Jim Miller
Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extrovert Culture
Adam S. McHugh
Intervarsity Press (November 30, 2009)
Is there a place for loners and wallflowers in the modern high-energy, goal oriented, purpose-driven form of American Christianity? Adam McHugh began writing his book Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extrovert Culture as a self-apologetic. There were two unmistakable realities in his life: (1) he was called to leadership in the church and (2) he was an introvert. You can take it from me, a fellow introvert, in our contemporary American church these two things, leadership and introversion, blend like oil and water. I faced the fact a long time ago, it is the choleric type-A go-getters, the extroverted good-time-charleys, the never-say-die goal-driven over-achievers who eventually elbow their way to the top and set policy for the rest of us. Unfortunately, they often do it over the docile bodies of people like McHugh and me. In a survival-of-the-fittest form of Christianity the extroverts are the fittest. But God has called introverts to leadership, too, and whether we are made to like it or not, by the grace of God we are who we are. So how does that work out in a religious culture not made for us but where research indicates that that more than one-quarter of American religious leaders are self-confessed bonafide introverts?
McHugh, in a recent interview, pointed out how unique the qualities of introverts are but how they are prone to be overlooked. “In our extroverted society,” he said, “we value aggressive, action-oriented, gregarious people, and most introverts do not fit that profile. We are calm, thoughtful, reflective types who may be invisible to others if they are not looking. But I think introverts have tremendous gifts to bring to others.” These include listening abilities, creativity and imagination, compassion, insight born of self-awareness, peacefulness, and a servant mindset usually expressed in behind-the-scenes service.
From that premise, McHugh looked again at scripture and discovered many notable leaders who exhibited traits of introversion: Jacob, for example, and Moses; Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary the sister of Martha; Zacchaeus, the woman with the issue of blood, and Timothy, the protégé of Paul. Yet they are immortalized forever in scripture along with extroverts like Peter and David. Extroverts may be the drive shaft that propels the church, but it is the introverts, the thinkers, writers, theologians, poets, and mystics, who from behind-the-scene reflective study and contemplation provide the fuel.
With clarity, logic, practical examples, and scripture “Introverts in the Church” offers ways for more reticent types to effectively serve, lead, worship, and share their faith with some helpful advice to the terminally introverted on how to be more involved in the world outside themselves. “Introverts” offers hope and reveals how more restrained people can approach relationships differently and practice spirituality in ways that fit who they are. We are the persons God made us to be and since leopards cannot change their spots, we introverts are stuck with who we are. But it is more than enough.
Artist Bio
Adam S. McHugh (Th.M., Princeton Theological Seminary) is an ordained Presbyterian minister, a spiritual director and an introvert. He has served at two Presbyterian churches, as a hospice chaplain and as campus staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. McHugh grew up in Seattle, Washington and graduated from Claremont McKenna College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He and his wife live in Claremont, California. Visit his website at http://www.introvertedchurch.com/.
