Extrovert

Look, there are lots of posts about extroverts and introverts, and they are (mostly) true, and I find the (noncondenscending) ones very informative/helpful. (extroverts don’t mean to interrupt/be rude and introverts aren’t really being standoffish/antisocial, etc).

In my profession, pastoring, I have met a lot of introverts-(wait don’t you have to preach on a regular basis? you ask)

The answer is, its because of introverts super-cool-awesome listing super-powers…which are very pastoral and help a lot.

Note: this is also why pastors take Monday off, they are recovering from the preaching/being large groups/expended lots of energy thing

Usually I take Friday off, after a week of only interacting with small one-on-ones or just small groups of people, I’m drained.

Church has time for both of these types: That passing of the peace time? thats for the extroverts, that silent prayer time? That’s for the introverts…(per usual, you prob should only like about 3/4 of the service, because you want people who aren’t like you to find meaning in the worship too)

Here is, what I find, to be a helpful metaphor for introverts and extraverts

When introverts interact, they are like a balloon that is slowly deflating….and in order to regain energy, they need to go and have some down time to re-inflate…..

When extroverts DON’T interact: its like a balloon that is being filled with more and more air…and if they don’t get a change to deflate (by interacting) they will “pop”

I tend to refer to this phenomena in my own life as “emotionally throwing up” where suddenly I burst out with all of my feelings in one long-winded moment, and I don’t have the energy to pare down or be quiet (help! I’m talking and I can’t shut up)

Respect the balloon…and whatever you need to do to keep your balloon at a manageable level…do so…

and go in peace!!

Author: katyandtheword

Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant for 7 years, where the church has solidified its community focus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ. She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible. "Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal. Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times. "Hallows, not Horcruxes" Harry Potter View all posts by katyandtheword