| God is Not an Introvert - article by Joel Hempel
Sorry, I mean God is not an extrovert. Anyone who knows me well knows I am an introvert. I love introverts. My mom and dad made one. Introverts are among God’s greatest creations. We are good listeners; we generally are not very good at small talk, but we will stay with you in deep conversations. According to popular opinion, we don’t like people. But we do; we just like them one at a time. Extroverts are okay. Some of my best friends are extroverts, including my wife, two sons, my brother, and the dog next door. In a conversation, extroverts have many words available– something I admire. They meet people easily – something else I admire about them, and if you are married to one, they are really good at getting you out of the house. Extroverts can find introverts boring. Yes, we know and are sorry about that; we don’t intend to be. And we know extroverts don’t intend to be overwhelming, but you are sometimes. However, this article is not only about us; it’s also about God. So, what do you think? Is God an introvert or an extrovert? God has a lot to say. Just read his Book. The Bible has 66 smaller books and 783,137 words in the King James Version. That’s a lot of words. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mound was about 2000 recorded words. On the other hand, when the man with leprosy begged Jesus to be healed, Jesus responded with four words: I will; be healed! Then, he instructed the man not to talk about the miracle (Luke 5:12-16). Jesus – God Incarnate – engaged multitudes of people and embraced them openly with many words of love and challenge – an extroverted thing to do. He then went off by himself and prayed to connect with the Father and to reenergize – an introverted thing to do. My guess is that God the Creator – like Jesus – is an equal balance of introversion and extroversion, or what the researchers call ambiversion. Then there is this: He made you and me. We are who God created us to be with our unique personalities and gifts. I praise you, the Psalmist wrote on our behalf, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). God made us in all of our uniqueness to serve God and others in ways only you and I as individuals can do. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works . . . (Ephesians 2:10). Have you been told you are too quiet, or you talk too much? If so, maybe God is inviting you to work on moving toward the middle of the introversion–extroversion continuum. On the other hand, maybe God is getting your attention, so you will embrace who you are and invest your strength in a ministry or vocation God has designed for you. The bottom line is that God wants us to celebrate our differences, respect others in their differences, and look for ways all of us can serve Christ and the church (see 1 Cor. 12:4-31). | 
