The polarized church part 4: expanding our spectrum

Like I said before, where we land on the introvert/extrovert spectrum is like being left or right handed. However, we need to remember we have two hands, just as we have two sides to our personality.  Our personalities, just like our hands are most efficient when we use both sides together. Not just the one, even if it is the dominant one. While it's good to be true to ourselves, it's also good to stretch our horizons beyond our comfort zone and utilize both sides of ourselves on important tasks. Keeping in mind, and I repeat, as rewarding as switch hitting may be, there is still that price to pay. We can't maintain living outside our side of the spectrum all the time. We need to allow ourselves time to recharge after a depleting task. 

We see an example of this in the Bible as well. If we go back to the story of Jacob the introvert, specifically Genesis 32, we see Jacob's horizons being broadened by one of the more perplexing stories in the Bible.  Here Jacob must reunite with his brother Esau. Jacob is obviously scared that Esau will want to get revenge for the theft of his birthright. So Jacob utilizes introvert strategy just in case Esau does attack. The first thing he does is break up his people into two camps, so half can easily escape if needed. He also sends ahead a gift of livestock to appease his brother. Yet even with these precautions we see Jacob dragging his feet in a vain attempt to avoid facing this potential confrontation.  Introverts tend to be non-confrontational that way. Then a man who is eventually identified as God brings a conflict to Jacob. God does not face him on a mental introvert level either, but in a very physical extrovert way; a wrestling match. In essence telling him, it's time to man up and face up to this problem you created. You have an extrovert side, and you need to use it in this situation that you are avoiding. Once God proves to Jacob that he is capable of embracing this side of himself, What does God do? As the passage itself says "When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man." Now think about that. While we see God pushing Jacob beyond his introvert safe zone, would crippling his hip make him more of an extroverted man of action like his brother Esau. Hardly, If anything just the opposite. Perhaps in a way God is saying I accept you as the introvert you are, but still, I need you to know there is more to you than you think there is. We even see Jacob continue being more of an aggressive extrovert by demanding a blessing from God. God rewards this boldness by essentially making him the father of the nation of Israel. As we all know, Jacob's twelve sons would end up becoming the twelve tribes that made up that nation.  All because he answered when God called him out. Then in verse 31 we see an implied passage of time, so obviously Jacob didn’t run out and face his brother like a hasty extrovert. That would have been hard with his newly acquired limp. However, that limp afforded him the time to recharge after this aggressive experience. So that, when he did arrive home, he could face his fears fresh; and he did.

To sum it up, be true to yourself, but don't be afraid to step outside yourself imposed boundaries occasionally either. There is likely more to you than you realize, if you trust, and put your faith in the Lord.  

The Visual PARABLEist

It does not matter when we get there, as long as we get there together