Can introverts lead full Christian lives?

[Sarcelle]

Did he tell that all Christians go door to door, village to village?

Should we all do this?

Leave our jobs, families and live like this?

All of us?

Sure he told his disciples but he knew Lazarus, Mary, Martha, the woman at the well. They stayed put and spread the seeds of the Gospel as they lived their lives.

We aren’t supposed to be all alike and be cookie cutter Christians.

 

[PeterT]

We aren’t supposed to be all alike and be cookie cutter Christians.

Of course not. My reply was more in response to you criticizing those Christians who do choose to go door-to-door spreading the Good News. Their ministry should be respected too.

 

[ATraveller]

I think the approach is more individual. Getting to know someone first, truly knowing who they are, helping and praying for them. This gets more souls then just preaching to strangers.

This.
If the OP also included shy people (and people including myself tend to confuse shyness and introversion), then it is something we should help each other overcome since it’s hard to form friendships without getting over that barrier.

Though handing out the Gospel of John isn’t bad IMO.

 

[Maximus_Power]

Someone who is truely charitable performs the corporal acts of mercy out of love of the acts.
It’s seems like an introvert would have a hard if not impossible task of reaching that level of spirituality.

It’s seems like for an introvert to reach that level he’d no long be an introvert at all.

 

[Maximus_Power]

You seem to be using the word “introvert” as though it meant the same as “autistic”

I don’t think autism is something that can be overcome.

 

[oldgraymare2]

When it comes to evangelization and works of charity, some of the hardest workers at my church are introverts. Anyone with any temperament can find works of charity to suit them. I’m an introvert and work in the sacristy, mostly by myself, and love it. I have introvert friends who help clean the church or work in the kitchen or have other behind-the-scenes jobs. It may be uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get to know the small group of people with whom you volunteer and it’ll feel like “home” soon!

If a little bit of interaction with people appeals to you, become a Mass greeter or an usher; they’re sorely needed and you can get to know a lot of people quickly and it’s only for 1.5-2 hours a week. If you want to stretch your boundaries a bit, take Holy Communion to the home-bound, even if it’s just one person that you visit each week or so. God has given you many blessings and talents and you need to challenge yourself to continually grow in love and charity!

When it comes to evangelization and works of charity, some of the hardest workers at my church are introverts. Anyone with any temperament can find works of charity to suit them. I’m an introvert and work in the sacristy, mostly by myself, and love it. I have introvert friends who help clean the church or work in the kitchen or have other behind-the-scenes jobs. It may be uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get to know the small group of people with whom you volunteer and it’ll feel like “home” soon!

If a little bit of interaction with people appeals to you, become a Mass greeter or an usher; they’re sorely needed and you can get to know a lot of people quickly and it’s only for 1.5-2 hours a week. If you want to stretch your boundaries a bit, take Holy Communion to the home-bound, even if it’s just one person that you visit each week or so. God has given you many blessings and talents and you need to challenge yourself to continually grow in love and charity!

You offer some great ideas in your post.

One of the things that I used to do at my last parish was to help clean up after some of the parish functions, like parties/luncheons.

You didn’t have to sign up to do this. You just needed to stay around after everyone was done eating, and you needed to just pitch in and put the tables and chairs back where they belonged in the Parish Hall for the children’s weekday lunches.

You also had to be willing to take down the table decorations and the table cloths and throw away any other trash/rubbish that was left behind anywhere else.

I didn’t mind helping in this way, and the clean up was done quickly when it was done with a group of others.

It was also a great way to get to know my other fellow parishioners better.

You’re helping out but you’re also not committing to any regular committee work.

I also did committee work too, but cleaning up after the parties was fun for me.

 

[CathoRick]

It seems to me that evangelization and works of charity involve a certain level of extrovert behavior

Not necessarily; an online forum with a number of Catholic members professing the faith is what got me to research the Catholic faith, attend my first Mass, and eventually convert, not to mention the number of online charities you can donate to. The Internet is our primary method of communication today, and just so happens to be dominated by introverts.

Should Introverts find other ways of contributing, or should they overcome and learn to become extroverts for love of neighbor?

Well, like I said, there’s plenty of opportunity for introverts to evangelize/donate online. However, I do agree that all of us who are introverted should make an effort to socialize and volunteer more. That’s been a work in progress for me (an introvert) over the years, and believe me when I say it’s taken me out of my comfort zone.

 

[Convert3]

It is a great thing to do…for the younger folks. Us older folk with back issue have moved on.

 

[Zach]

We might have to distinguish between introverts and people with certain personality disorders. Introverts can get along fine with others. People with certain personality disorders are incapable of being comfortable in social situations. And these can be further distinguished from people with social phobia. The phobic are afraid. A certain personality disorder type is incabable of taking orders or fitting into any heirarchy or being part of a team or interacting in groups or dealing with different personalities and temperaments or dealing with the day to day social interaction. They might think everyone is out to get them, or everyone is playing power games or judging them harshly or talking behind their backs.

 

[Sarcelle]

When I was an atheist, I have been approached by evangelicals asking me if I’m saved.

Saved from what?

They seem to expect me to know where they are coming from. Someone who is not familiar with Christianity would have missed the point,

If they wanted me to know, really know the Gospel, they would have taken the time to get to know me as an individual so they can know how to present to me Gospel in a way that makes sense to me.

From my observations the intentions are good but sometimes the execution misses the mark.

 

[Sarcelle]

And introversion can?

An introvert is someone who is drained by social interaction. Shyness is not synonymous with introversion. An introvert gets his or her energy from ideas.

An extrovert is someone who gets charged by social interaction.

It’s an ingrained part of one’s personality and is not a character defect.

I am an introvert but I am not shy at all.

I feel drained and exhausted when forced to be in crowds all day. Small groups and one on one interaction is fine for me.