I've been reading the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking. The author devotes a couple of pages to the role that introverts play in the evangelical church. She visited the Saddleback Church in Hawaii and interviewed one of the church leaders there who is an introvert and shies away from many big social events. He gets quieter at parties the louder people get. The thing is, much of the church today requires their people to be outgoing,social butterflies. Many people don't particularly like this. The passage that stuck me is this:

Contemporary evangelicalism says that every person you fail to meet and proselytize is another soul you might have saved. It also emphasizes building community among confirmed believers, with many churches encouraging (or even requiring) their members to join extra-curricular groups organized around every conceivable subject--cooking, real-estate investing, skateboarding.

This particular leader looked around and realized that there were many believers who felt overwhelmed with all the outreach programs. He started some small groups and one-on-one outreach programs, and it helped many student leaders "find rhythms in their lives that allowed them to claim the solitude they needed and enjoyed, and to have social energy left over for leading others."  There have been bloggers who have commented that "In a universal church, there should be room for the un-gregarious".

I was struck to the core by that. I mean, Matthew 28:19 says, "therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Jesus didn't give us one specific way to reach out to people. If it were me, I would rather reach out to people in a small group rather than a large group. We all have our place in the Church, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13: "The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. (I would add, some are extroverts, and some are introverts). But we have all been baptized into Christ's body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit."  (emphasis mine)

In other words, introverts have just as much a role to play in the church as the extroverts, and it is wrong to downplay their contributions or require leaders to be extroverted. At the same time, introverts should get involved in the church using the gifts they have been given. I'm an introvert myself. I can go out to a social event and have a good time, but after a few hours, I'm ready to be home and relaxing. I can't be out all night. I also prefer smaller groups to large crowds. I'm glad I started reading this book. Although it's not a book about the church, I'm glad the author (Susan Cain) pointed this aspect of the evangelical church today...I had never thought about these things that she brought up.