I hope you get what I have been driving at during these last few months. That both extroverts and introverts within the body of Christ need to meet in the middle and help one another, not try to change others into a version of yourself; which only creates conflict. Within worship there is a time to be quiet and reflective, as well as a time to be exuberant and praising. Without the extrovert side of the contemporary heart focused church, worship can become dispassionate, legalistic, and ultimately insincere. Without the introvert side of the mind focused traditional church, our worship can become worldly, shallow, and ultimately selfish.
In the end, we need to rejoice in our differences, not eliminate them for the sake of comfort. While this is but one aspect of where we need to bring unity in our diversity. Our failure to recognize it has allowed a division to faction off the church. It's a simple human failing of church leaders to try to recreate the church in their image and temperament. They always use the same argument when people resist too. "If you were faithful, you would do what I'm suggesting." Never recognizing that it takes little or any faith to just be true to their own temperament, as they are. The inherent diversity in mankind can be the biggest strength we have, if we embrace and honor it as instructed in scripture. However, it can be our greatest liability if we try to defy and fight against it, which humanity naturally tends do.
Speaking as an introvert, the understanding I have found by educating myself about the spectrum has really granted me a lot of peace that I was lacking. It's helped me to understand myself, as well as others who naturally think, feel, and act differently than I do. Specifically why they react to me the way they do. It's really freed me from a lot of false guilt, and allowed me to accept myself as God truly made me, and not as the world would recreate me in it's so called ideal extroverted image. If you are not an introvert yourself, you are probably in relationship with one. Perhaps they are even part of your church family. They may even drive you insane on how they approach life. This information will certainly help you to understand them much better. In your case, study it because you care about them, not just yourself.
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| The diversity alga-rhythm |
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