Introvert or Extrovert: How Do You Connect to God?

A couple weeks ago, I wrote the following on my Facebook wall:

I am such a homebody. I could be satisfied staying home all day, every day, with occasional trips to Starbucks to spice things up a bit.

A good friend of mine wrote the following response: 

Both sound terrible to me. I’d be depressed from being alone all the time and then adding in burnt & over-syruped coffee would put me over the edge.

As much as his comment made me laugh, it really crystallized for me the difference between an introvert and an extrovert. And it got me wondering: 

How do extroverts and introverts experience God differently? 

This is a website about formation. We talk often here of the inner landscape of the human experience, which is such natural fodder for introverts to think about and discuss (see this article). We talk a lot here, too, about stillness and contemplation and rest — again, such natural preferences and ways of being for introverts. 

What I’m learning is, this site is quite biased toward the introvert’s experience of life and of God!

Again, my friend’s comment got me wondering. How does an extrovert experience God in different ways than I do? Are still moments of contemplation ever helpful for him or her? What kinds of things draw them nearer and close to God than the things I usually do? Do extroverts reflect on their spiritual life and experiences the way introverts are prone to do? 

Which naturally leads me to want to ask you:

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you find that your introversion or extroversion influences how you best connect to God? What are the ways you prefer connecting to God?

Comments

[Chad Turnbull]

Introversion and extroversion are categorized by the personality theory community as preferences (as opposed to a particular way we think or take in information). They are hardwired with far reaching implications, but preferences none-the-less. I find it helpful to remember that category when thinking about how they relate to spiritual formation.

Food preferences are less hard wired (some would argue not), but make for a good analogy. If you and I walk into a grocery store we'll have the same options for food choices. Vegetables, fruits, breads, dairy, protein sources, etc. Odds are that in spite of having the same selections to choose from we'll end up with a very different menu in the end.

Additionally, your taste preferences may lead you to emphasize vegetables while mine may lead me away from vegetables, but I can't forgo vegetables all together and expect to be healthy.

Extroverts need and enjoy quiet contemplation, but long periods will lead to depletion in the same way that introverts need social interaction but will feel depleted after long periods of it. The challenge for extroverts is that most of the spiritual formation paths that are emphasized are the solitary disciplines and we have to work hard to be free of guilt when those don't bring us closer to God in the way others speak.

God wired us in a specific way for a reason and He must enjoy it when we a) relate back to Him in the way He intended and b) use our God given personality to better love him and love our neighbor.