The Dangers of the Introvert Movement.

When I first saw the introvert-pride blogs and memes begin to surface on the internet, I was thrilled. I was quick to share these articles and cartoons, happily proclaiming my introversion to the social-media world. Finally, people who understand! People who appreciate who I am! 

I wasn't made aware of the problems of this mentality until many months later, when reading a reactionary blog from an extrovert who felt attacked by introverts. This individual was clearly hurt that extroverts were so often portrayed as shallow, obnoxious, and lacking in intelligence and creativity.

I suddenly saw my introvert-pride for what it really was: just plain old ugly pride. My continual promotion of introverted values had created an us vs. them mindset within myself, and I had actually begun to think of extroverts as "less-than", as people who could never really "understand" or "mesh" with me.

But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 

 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" There should be no division in the body. Its parts should have equal concern for one another.

-1 Corinthians 12:18-21, 25 

And what's worse, we introverts have begun to use our introversion as an excuse. An excuse to not
preach the Gospel. An excuse to avoid reaching out. An excuse to only participate in ministry that is "introvert-friendly." An excuse to remain rigidly within our comfort zone. Because God "made us this way for a reason," and He certainly would never call us to do something "against our nature."

As much as I, as an introvert, would like to believe that, when I look at Scripture, I simply can't. The true children of God act first and foremost not from some nature they were predisposed with from birth, whether introverted or extroverted or whatever else, but from the nature of the Spirit of God, which is love.

Some claim that Jesus was an introvert (personally, I tend to think of Him as somewhere in the middle of the introvert-extrovert spectrum--the perfect balance). But let's imagine for a moment that He was an introvert. Not for a moment did that nature keep Him from reaching out to people. Long after His disciples were exhausted and ready to go home, Jesus had compassion on the crowd and continued to minister to them.

On the flip-side, let's pretend Jesus was an extrovert--would that give Him the excuse to avoid spending time alone with God, because it wasn't "in his nature" to be away from people? Certainly not!

We're all different. We have different struggles, different temptations. We are all prone to disobedience in different ways, but the propensity of our natures does not give us the excuse to indulge in that disobedience. God will call both introverts and extroverts alike to behave in ways that go against our natural bent. It is in those circumstances that it is most clear that we must rely not on ourselves, but on His Spirit within us.

That is the true danger of the introvert/extrovert dynamic. It causes us to look at ourselves. It spurs us toward selfishness. But this life is not about us. It's about following the voice of God wherever He leads, with the trust that His power will see us through.

Abba,

This prayer is for them.

They're after Your heart, oh God. Seeking, chasing, longing (after). Hearts after Yours, oh God. Fashioned, modeled, mirrored (after).

Caught up in the tangle of dark before dawn, they do not see what we see. Unaware, quite completely, of their fragrance of beauty. I watch them slip down the mud-heap of lies, and I break as the spark dims to ash in their eyes.

If they could but glimpse: the way their voice sounds just like You, the way through their gaze You come bleeding through.

Call my brothers, call them by name. Consume them forever in Your jealous flame.

Blessed sons of the Most High--the world is waiting for you to rise.

Completely in Love.

"Perfect love casts out fear," (1 John 4:18). 

Whenever I hear this verse discussed, the conversation generally centers solely around God's love for us. Which is not inaccurate--truly, if we could receive God's love perfectly, fear would cease to be even the vaguest of memories. But I think there's something we tend to overlook.

The one who is made complete in love is not simply the one who is loved perfectly, but the one who also loves perfectly. This is what John is screaming through the repetitions in these five chapters, the word as constant as the waves of the sea (love, love, love). The one who does not love cannot claim to know God's love. The only response to a perfect love is to love perfectly in return.

If we genuinely loved the lost, no power in Hell could prevent us from sharing the truth that would bring them into the arms of ultimate joy. If we genuinely loved our brothers and sisters, no petty arguments or hurts could ever stand in the way of us crawling to them on our hands and knees to reconcile their hearts to ours. If we genuinely loved our God, we would obey even the most impossible of commands without the slightest hesitation.

When we love perfectly, the fear will leave, Beloved. Love will scoop that darkness from the hidden hollows of our hearts and fling it far, over our heads and into the sky's vast expanse. Our eyes try to follow, but it has disappeared, swallowed by infinite blue. We have never felt so light.

Tall Tails.

The other day, I was watching the cartoon classic An American Tail with a group of friends (yes, we're all highly mature, intelligent adults--don't judge). Near the end of the film (for those poor souls among you who have not seen it), there is a scene in which an evil cat who has been masquerading as a rat is stripped of his false identity, and a crowd of mice denounces him in anger and disgust. And the cat, who refuses to admit to the lie, says, "Who are you going to believe? Me, or your own eyes?"

Of course, in the context of the movie, the question is ridiculous. No mouse with any sense in its (admittedly tiny) brain would believe the words of the deceitful cat over the clear evidence set before its own two eyes.

But suddenly I thought of the quote in an altogether different scenario. I heard the words again, and this time they were spoken by the voice of God: Who are you going to believe? Me, or your own eyes?

Because sometimes, the things God asks us to believe are a great deal more far-fetched than a cat claiming to be a rat. But unlike the cat, when God speaks, it is not a charade--it is truth. When God speaks, it is not to hurt us, but to give us life. Paul was so confident in this, he said, "Let God be true, and every human being a liar," (Romans 3:4).

Honestly, now. Do we trust God that much? Over the opinions of every person we love and respect? Over the perceptions of our own senses? Over the reality that we have constructed around ourselves since the day of our birth?

We should. Because God's reality is far truer than our own. His ways soar higher, His thoughts dig deeper (Isaiah 55:8-9). The world we see around us is experienced as if through a glass, darkly, but when we are brought up to Himself, we will see everything as it truly is (1 Corinthians 13:12).

God is calling us to a higher faith. He is calling us to believe Him with everything, regardless of what anyone else says, regardless of our own thoughts or emotions or circumstances.. The rest of the world will call us crazy. They will use words like impossible. But we will not understand, because such words do not exist for us. We are children of the Infinite; there is no impossible for us. We will never say never again.

Like a Little Child.

It's time to drop the cynicism. We've given it a fancy name, but it's really only an intellectualized word for unbelief. And it is a poison, saturating our veins and crippling our bones.

Where is your child-like faith, sons and daughters of the King? Have you so quickly become weary of doing good?

We blame it on our environment. We blame it on the music. We blame it on the people. We blame it on the lack of results. And it causes me to wonder: Since when have our circumstances weighed heavier than the promises of God?

Since you tried to accomplish My promises in your own strength, His voice answers me.

Dear children, Daddy wants to lift us up on His shoulders, miles above these mountains. He is waiting for someone who is unafraid to believe. Someone who doesn't expect to fail as they take that first step onto the ocean's churning surface. Someone like you.

Only, give Him your doubt. That jaded look in your eye. That voice in the back of your mind that whispers impossible. Rebuke the lies, and let His truth set you free.