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Gentle Reader,
Apparently there are people out there who think that shyness (used interchangeably with the term introversion) is sinful.
How irritating.
Yes, it is important to teach children to be polite. It is important to teach them to shake hands, to address adults respectfully and to look others in the eye. But come on. If my parents had forced me into situations, activities or relationships that I wasn’t prepared to engage in, I would have only retreated further. It’s beyond stupid to associate a reserved, contemplative personality with disobedience and sin.
After reading Adam McHugh’s Introverts in the Church over the summer, I’ve noticed the extroverted tendency to try and remold or even reject the quiet people more and more. Sadly, the Body isn’t immune.
We should be. We should be inoculated to this disease of comparison, competition and “better thans.” Jesus Himself should be the vaccine. Look at His crew! Peter was brash, Nathanael sat alone under a tree. Martha kept the party going, Mary listened intently. Paul spoke, Luke wrote.
Do I really have to go on?
Being quiet isn’t a sin. Having a contemplative, observational nature isn’t a sin. Needing alone time isn’t a sin. Preferring quality to quantity isn’t a sin.
You aren’t wrong. You aren’t bad. God made you the way you are. He can use you just as effectively as He can use the most effervescent, talkative, people-person types.
Anyone who thinks otherwise can keep it to themselves.
Can’t wait for you to get involved at CWC!
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Me too! Also scared to death. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Did Jesus have a Facebook Page? and commented:
When I read the following post yesterday, I thought Marie was talking about me. I believe we both share some of the same quiet characteristics she describes here. It has taken many years and much “God” counsel to understand God made me in his image and to rejoice in those traits instead of allowing others to accuse me of not being like them. Had I listened to those who consistently tried to make me an unhappy extrovert, I would not know the God of the Universe I know today. By being still, quiet and reserved before Jesus, he instills in me himself, he gives me his wisdom and knowledge and the understanding many don’t have of the Bible today. And that is a very good thing.
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Thank you for this post Marie. I am a quiet, shy person and have experienced everything you said. My own mum meant well, but she could never accept me as I am and tried to remake me as a ‘party girl’. Of course she failed and left me with a legacy of self-doubt. Which Jesus has helped me greatly with.
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I’m sorry you went through that, Deborah. Know that He loves you and made you just as you are! I have no doubt that He’s used you in many and mighty ways for the Kingdom.
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