:10 — The Gist: Many churches—particularly evangelical churches—tend to be extroverted places where introverts are marginalized, causing some Christians to feel they are not being faithful. McHugh shows how introverts can live and minister in ways consistent with their personalities.
:20 — The Quote: “If human perfection, epitomized in the person of Jesus, includes extroversion then a large number of the population will always and irredeemably fall short. This adds a theological component to the already-prevailing cultural prejudice that extroversion is the superior temperament.” (p. 16)
:30 — The Good: Although the book is relatively brief (222 pages) it provides a comprehensive introduction to the role of introverts in the community of believers.
:40 — The Blah: Because the book covers the subject from so many angles and attempts to explain the subject to various groups—from introverted
parishioners to extroverted pastors—not every section will be valuable to all readers.
:50 — The Verdict: As an introvert who has always attended non-liturgical “sociable” churches, I’ve always felt my lack of sociability was a sign of spiritual malaise. McHugh provides a valuable corrective to this self-defeating mentality. Few books published this year will likely have as valuable an impact as this slim volume.
:60 — The Recommendation: While the book is most valuable to discouraged introverts, everyone involved in church ministry needs to hear McHugh’s message and implement his recommendations.
January 27th, 2011 | 1:02 pm
I’ve followed his website, but I have not yet read his book. According to Myers-Briggs, I’m an INFP; and I’ve noticed that much of what he says on his website (and I’d imagine in his book) matches my experience as an introvert, though in a Catholic Church rather than a Protestant one.
January 27th, 2011 | 1:12 pm
Haven’t read the book myself but have heard of it. When I first did so, my thought was that I was puzzled at those who would suggest that Jesus had an extroverted temperment. This would be the same guy who was constantly going off into the wilderness to pray away from the crowds, who had to be urged into public ministry before he was ready at Cana, and who had a close, highly trusted inner circle within The Twelve that he spent more time with. Sounds like a classic introvert to me.
Of course, even then the idea that Jesus’ temperment on the introversion/extroversion scale is somehow an indicator of the holiness that Christian should aspire too is bonkers. Jesus was most definitely a man. But that doesn’t mean women should try to be more like men to be better Christians.
Part of the Incarnation thing is that while Jesus is Lord and the Alpha and Omega, and the perfect Man, his human nature, by definition, had to have certain characteristics on either/or spectra that in no way tell us useful things about his revelation of the Word. We don’t know Jesus’ height. But let’s say for the sake of argument he was 5’10″. Does that mean that 5’3″ men and 6’4″ men are being insufficiently Christlike?
January 27th, 2011 | 1:59 pm
What is this :10, :20 thing? Distracting.
Thanks for the summary; I will seek out this book. I am a happily Catholic introvert, but only happy now, after a childhood being raised in an extroverted tradition which told me I was bad due to my God-given temperament. One person actually informed me that I could never be a good Christian because I am not a morning person.
I thank God every day that I found the Church, where everyone is a sinner, and everyone is known as a child of God, temperament notwithstanding.
Well, I’d like to hear what insights Mr. McHugh has about the situation.
January 27th, 2011 | 2:00 pm
I am an introvert who has left the Lutheran church for the one True Catholic Church. The former church was turning into a pseudo-non-denominational church, with a praise service and modern music. It wasn’t for me. I got tired of the pastor asking my wife if i was “OK”.
I love my new church. The pastor is a quiet priest with a dry sense of humor who has a lot to say in a few words. Thank God, I am HOME!
January 27th, 2011 | 3:30 pm
I take it that the people who equate no pressure to extroversion with Roman Catholicism are not members of parishes with a strong Southern European ethnic identity. The “if you become Catholic you won’t have this problem” argument leaves me colder than usual in this case. Sometimes I actually see the point; not this time.
January 27th, 2011 | 5:23 pm
pentamom,
Can you be more specific? I’m a definite introvert with both American (English) and Italian background; I have attended Catholic parishes in southern Italy, and I think they’re awesome, loads better than American parishes. I don’t see why an introvert would feel any less at home there than in a northern European Catholic Church.
For example, they’re stuffed full of statues and paintings, and they’re brilliant with bright, happy colors. Many American Catholic churches are still recovering from the 70s, when churches were required by the American Bishops’ conference to look ugly. (Well, not really. But it seems like it.)
American parishes get all worked up over when to kneel and stand; everyone has to do the same thing or it’s a fight. In the parishes I’ve attended in southern Italy, some people kneel at the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer, some at the beginning of the consecration. Some kneel during the Agnus Dei, some not.
American parishes also have a rigid, northern European approach to communion: first row first, second row second, etc. (Unless you’re in Cardinal Mahoney’s diocese, since he thinks it looks better if the back row goes first. Heh.) It’s rare for someone in the first row(s) to approach the altar near the end of communion. But in the Italian parishes I attended, some people from the back rows went to communion right at the beginning; others (including people in front rows) waited prayerfully first, and approached only near the end of communion.
I’ll concede that the stereotypical Italian character is loud, brash, and extroverted, and the popular culture feeds into that. In my experience, though, Italians treat their Masses very seriously, they encourage the development of the interior life (an introvert’s dream), and they take a live-and-let-live approach to liturgical posture.
Again, all in my experience, but it is not that limited in either range or time.
January 27th, 2011 | 7:59 pm
I never would’ve taken Joe Carter for an introvert. He has a pretty outgoing writing style.
January 27th, 2011 | 9:50 pm
Yes, we “introverts” hate the kiss of peace gesture and holding hands of strangers during the Our Father. We especially hate going to the post mass “coffee and cookie” meeting and standing there like a wallflower at a school dance.
All I can say is: Thank God for Eucharistic adoration…
January 27th, 2011 | 10:33 pm
Jack Perry — you seem to be suggesting that personal conduct during mass is all that’s in view here. I was envisioning a larger view of what it means to relate as an introvert within a given church body. I really don’t see why an introvert should have particular trouble in *any* church situation if all we’re talking about is how you act during the course of the church service — you follow whatever prescribed liturgy or “liturgy” is occurring, wherever you are. I suppose in a really free-form charismatic setting you might have problems, but the first person to bring up the subject was a Lutheran — I can’t see how being an introvert makes much difference in how you experience Lutheran worship. I thought we were talking about how one relates to others within the church in other settings — in which case I’d definitely feel at a disadvantage around those loud, brash Italians, no matter how orderly and reverent they were during the mass itself.
January 28th, 2011 | 3:37 am
Geez, are there any other First Thoughts readers out there who aren’t introverts??
January 28th, 2011 | 9:28 am
I haven’t read the book so I cannot comment on it, but I have worked and studied in the mental health field for over 30 years and introversion has been a particular area of interest for me for the last 10 years. By the way, Jesus is an introvert. Introverts tend to be more internally driven in that the are more reflective and sensitive to the existential crises of human existence and they are energized internally through their reflections about human existence and the mystery of life. They will tend to be more introspective and more consciously aware of the subtle ways human beings harm one another.
The extrovert tends to be externally driven in that they are outwardly motivated through the circumstances of social dynamics and develop their skills and sense of self based on how well they perform in the social arena. They will tend to get their energy from those outside of them and will seek positions of leadership because of their drive to be in control. They are extremely competitive and aggressively seek what it is they value without realizing how they may affect others with their approach. With the extrovert you are either for them or against them.
Just a couple of observations.
January 28th, 2011 | 10:15 am
I thought we were talking about how one relates to others within the church in other settings — in which case I’d definitely feel at a disadvantage around those loud, brash Italians, no matter how orderly and reverent they were during the mass itself.
In that case, my experience is that there is no such thing as “other church settings”, such as one might find in an Baptist congregation in America (for example), or even a Catholic parish in America. Southern European Catholics don’t have the sharp distinction among between church community and local community that we have in the States, which is what one might expect from a place where Catholicism is the dominant religion. Church festivals are community festivals, and introverts can enjoy those as well as anyone else.
It seems to me that the real distinction is between the kinds of participation that evangelicals expect of active church members; this is not something that Catholics expect.
But maybe I still misunderstand you.
January 28th, 2011 | 10:19 am
I dunno, Christ must have been some kind of introvert to attract crowds of thousands to His sermons.
January 28th, 2011 | 1:25 pm
I’m not thinking so much about “church activities”, as living in community. Talking, interacting, socializing, showing hospitality, caring for one another, bearing one another’s burdens. All those things are going to be done differently by, and feel different to, introverts and extroverts.
And if I’m to take from your comments that there is no expectation of living in community among Catholics (though I doubt that’s actually the case) I wouldn’t consider that a mark in that church’s *favor.*
January 28th, 2011 | 2:58 pm
I’m not thinking so much about “church activities”, as living in community. Talking, interacting, socializing, showing hospitality, caring for one another, bearing one another’s burdens.
The more I read this and other comments, the more I think people confuse “introverted” with “self-centered” or “antisocial”. I’ll concede that highly extroverted people tend to interpret introverts that way, but that isn’t the reality.
Introverts can and do talk, interact, socialize, show hospitality, care for one another, and bear others’ burdens just as well as extroverts — they just do it differently. Some could argue that introverts are far better at bearing others’ burdens than extroverts, since introverts are quieter and can be better listeners than extroverts, and prefer small social gatherings with people they know, rather than large social gatherings with unknown people.
Despite repeatedly scoring perfect introversion scores on such tests, I spent much of my life tutoring poor people for free (or at steep discounts), at Catholic Parish Outreach centers, or in parish liturgical activities. That was not inconsistent with my personality, and I even enjoyed it, because I tend to prefer small groups of people I know well. That’s introversion.
And if I’m to take from your comments that there is no expectation of living in community among Catholics…
No, but on the other hand, a devoted sacristan would be considered no less active than the people attending the weekly fish fry, even if that’s the extent of her/his interaction with the “community” outside of Mass. Nor would the person who walks faithfully to daily Mass and prays the Rosary alone outside the local abortion clinic, be considered less active than the people who attend the parties.
What I’m saying is that the sort of community events to which evangelicals are often pressured into attending — the Wednesday night dinner, for example, or the Sunday after-service social — are not expectations of Catholics. For that matter, I’m not sure they’re staples of church life outside the United States.
(If this is not your experience of evangelical or American Christianity, fine, but it was mine, and I am not alone.)
January 28th, 2011 | 2:58 pm
Pentamom,
Cathodox churches and communal understanding came about at a time when you could build a church and everyone within walking distance would attend. And they already knew each other so there was no need for coffee hour afterward, or outside Bible studies to get to know each other.
Protestant churches have definitely taken better advantage of modern mobility for bringing people from different parts of a city to worship in one church, and helping them network. Catholics, and especially us Orthodox, are not very good at that, mainly for historical reasons, which admittedly -at least in my opinion- need to be updated.
But then, in low-church protestantism, the pastor and social networking are the stars of the show, while in liturgical churches it’s the liturgy.
January 28th, 2011 | 3:16 pm
Sean,
Many introverts are comfortable being in front of a crowd; they are just uncomfortable being in a crowd. It’s a common misunderstanding about introverts.
January 28th, 2011 | 5:03 pm
[...] Joe Carter reviews a book that sounds like it would be perfect for me: Introverts in the Church. [...]
January 28th, 2011 | 6:24 pm
Not buying it, Chris. If Christ is the perfect man, then He should have perfect inwardness as well as perfect gregariousness. He should be the best life of the best parties, telling the best jokes, and also the best at spending time by Himself. There’s no reason to interpret Him as an introvert just because you are. I see this with Christians, Muslims, bipolars, asperger’s people, all like to claim celebrities for their own, and that’s all you’re doing. It’s no big deal, it’s just a non-starter.
January 28th, 2011 | 6:40 pm
” If Christ is the perfect man, then He should have perfect inwardness as well as perfect gregariousnes.”
Hear, hear, Sean.
January 28th, 2011 | 9:14 pm
“And they already knew each other so there was no need for coffee hour afterward”
They already know each other so there’s no need to continue to spend time together knowing each other? This is odd.
January 29th, 2011 | 12:15 am
Sean,
I don’t claim that Christ is an introvert, but that you seem to have a misconception about introverts.
January 29th, 2011 | 6:25 pm
“The more I read this and other comments, the more I think people confuse “introverted” with “self-centered” or “antisocial”. I’ll concede that highly extroverted people tend to interpret introverts that way, but that isn’t the reality.”
No, that’s definitely not what I’m doing. I’m an introvert, and I understand it’s not that.
I just don’t understand why doing all those things around a bunch of loud Catholics is necessarily easier for an introvert than doing it around a bunch of quiet Presbyterians, to the extent that people are representing the Catholic Church as the answer to the question, or Protestantism as the reason people struggle with it, or whatever’s going on with these “I used to have this problem and then I became Catholic” comments.
January 31st, 2011 | 2:32 am
There is a joke about theologians: They get to talking in such language and terms that God has to ask the archangels Mike and Gabe for a translation.
Christ IS.
That should end all silly discussions about whether or not He matches one of our psychological distinctions. To imagine otherwise borders on heresy. Who are we to judge what the Xpistos is? He gives us His death in Baptism, as well as the Eucharist, and in the Eucharist also gives us the food for tomorrow–for eternity.
Everything else, especially our opinions, are at best secondary, and most often, of no effect upon Jesus, for He is not of this world and we Christians of whatever stripe far too often ARE of this world.
Today’s Epistle–I Cor. 1:18-31–puts “our” opinions on the “do not disturb because they don’t matter” shelf. Baptism shatters man’s reasoning, and what is left is toast with the Eucharist. The liturgy is the vehicle that breaks the Old Adam, that the new might break forth, all in the Incarnate Word, God in the flesh. If there is one claiming the name Christian (of Christ) that argues against any of that, then he is but a caricature of Jesus.
The ultimate shame of faith is the breeches permitted by all and everyone under the name of doctrinal purity. I know that leaves me wide open, but bring it on, I have had really big guns come at me for saying that.
Still true. Everyone has their own little piece of Jesus they fancy as their own, and everyone else is wrong. Hogwash. We either belong to Him as He says in His own words (John intimated there were too many of them to be contained in all the books of the world), or we do not. Our wisdom is what today’s Epistle called it–foolishness.
Be it Calvin’s pre-destination; Luther’s free grace; Rome’s faith formed by love, or the Orthodox theosis, we ALL struggle to know the mysteries. Proclaiming one’s side correct at the expense of all others is really, all in all, presumptuous. To minimize the grand theology of all to make it serve the various psychoses we invent or “discern” in our mundane, and I am sure, very boring to God discussions means nothing. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked Peter.
That question should be the question we should all ask when we awake, and when we put our heads on pillows. Our answer to that would solve most every theological rift, and lay waste to the cheap psychology that has invaded the Una Sancta.
We think too much of ourselves, and we have since Eden. We are way past the time to get over the me/us, andinstead, focus on the One Who came in the Flesh.
However, Chesterton got in right in Orthodoxy when he surmised that the most overlooked factor about Jesus is His mirth. Jesus and Isaac must rock Heaven giggling themselves silly over all of our serious theological discussions.
Get a grip, Sports Fans. There are many martyrs for Christ dying every day in this modern world of ours, while we quibble about personality types.
Give the Xpistos a break. He, at least, has earned that much. If you are an extrovert, shout and be glad! If you are an introvert, don’t shout, but still be glad.
Jesus loves you both.
January 31st, 2011 | 9:02 am
Pentamom,
I just don’t understand why doing all those things around a bunch of loud Catholics is necessarily easier for an introvert than doing it around a bunch of quiet Presbyterians, to the extent that people are representing the Catholic Church as the answer to the question, or Protestantism as the reason people struggle with it, or whatever’s going on with these “I used to have this problem and then I became Catholic” comments.
To repeat myself for the umpteenth time (and the last time, I promise!), Catholics don’t feel compelled to “do all those things,” whereas in certain evangelical churches it is expected. On the other hand, a Catholic can develop an interior life and even embrace a Christian mysticism, whereas many evangelicals look on that as pagan.
The comparison isn’t to “quiet” Presbyterians, and the issue isn’t “quietness” anyway. The question is the sorts of activities into which one is pressured to engage. Having said that, I did attend a Presbyterian church once, and the expectation to attend the after-worship coffee and doughnuts was one of the deal-killers. Perhaps not all Presbyterian churches are like that, but at least one of them was in my experience.
January 31st, 2011 | 3:27 pm
Then if that is your answer, I will repeat my previous comment — regarding freedom from having to lovingly interact with the rest of the church in a burden-bearing community, *regardless of how that’s done*, isn’t a plus in favor of a church, it’s ignoring apostolic teaching on the duties of believers to one another. Therefore, it’s no solution to the problem of introverts in the church, insofar as there is a problem.
January 31st, 2011 | 6:13 pm
You will not find me advocating anywhere the so-called “freedom” from having to interact lovingly with the rest of the church. This is a pure invention on your part.
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