As indicated earlier, when you say introverted church vs extroverted church, it is the same as saying traditional vs contemporary church. Traditional being introvert skewed, and contemporary being extrovert skewed. While this shift from traditional to contemporary that occurred over the centuries could have led to a more balanced ambivert church, it really hasn't happened that way. In the end, we have just gone from one extreme to the other, and neither is absolutely right, for in worship there is a time to be reflective, as well as a time to offer praise. Still, you have many arguing otherwise in order to skew things to their liking.
Often, what we see is a long time traditional church getting shaken up by someone who wants to change it to contemporary. While that person may mean well, what they fail to recognize is that a long established traditional church will likely have a high amount of introverts in it. It is what such a church would naturally attract, since it gives them the peaceful state of mind they crave after all. So insisting that a bunch of introvert’s act extroverted via contemporary worship is going to be far more of an uphill battle than they realize. Even if contemporary wins out, many of the introverts will feel as if they have been rejected.
It can go the other way too. For example, a long established contemporary church will naturally have many extroverts in it, for it gives them the emotional charge they enjoy. Then a leader comes along and says we need to be more seeker sensitive in order to reach out to the lost and unchurched. So they eliminate a lot of the worship elements that fire up the extrovert’s emotions, but possibly scare off new people. This can leave the extroverts feeling alienated.
Either way, many will fight such an action, thinking only of their comfort. Such internal conflicts in a church rarely turns out well, especially if both sides are insistent on winning rather than resolving and seeking balance, so if one side wins, the other side loses, and the losers tend to leave rather than accept said change.
But, if we are truly unified body of Christ, things as this should not happen. In a balanced church, extroverts should be allowed to be their dynamic selves without being accused of being a crazy weirdo. In a healthy church, introverts should be allowed to be their quiet reflective selves without being accused of being a lazy dispassionate stick in the mud. Most importantly they need to help each other to be more balanced in their spirituality without judgement or shame. As well as be happy for others when their spiritual needs are being met. Even if it does nothing for you. Like I said before we have two hands, or two sides to our personality, and so does the body of Christ. Individuals and the church alike are most efficient when we use both hands together. Not just one, even if it is the dominant one. While it may take an introvert to come up with the next big idea, it will take an extrovert to make the idea happen. Well, what does that mean in practical terms? More on that next time.
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| If only we could understand each other, then we wouldn't need to fight |
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