Introverted and Extraverted Evangelism
An extravert I know does an amazing job of meeting people and inviting them to church. His approach has a lot going for it. Meet enough people, and you will find lots of people who aren’t interested in the gospel — but you’ll also find a lot of people who are. He’s right, and it works.
But an introvert I know also does a great job of meeting people, building relationships, earning trust, and influencing them toward the gospel. Her approach has a lot going for it. She meets resistant people, and can enjoy the process of friendship and gospel-sharing better than anyone I know.
We need both extraverted and introverted evangelism.
According to The Power of Personality, extraverts excel at:
- enthusiasm — an eagerness to communicate
- flexibility — the ability to respond nimbly
- drive — a clear goal orientation
- emotional warmth — a love for talking to different people
- speaking — an ability to speak well
Introverts excel at:
- listening — a capacity to understand others
- calm — the ability to give others space, and to speak without aggression
- analytical thinking — the skill of piecing together what others say in order to meet their needs
- tenacity — patience a refusal to give up easily
- empathy — an ability to put oneself in the position of others
Can we really say that one set of strengths is better than the other? We need both.
“God wants each of us to share our faith” writes Mike Bechtle, ” but he wired us uniquely so we could share uniquely. Our effectiveness comes through our uniqueness.” We need both introverted and extraverted evangelism.
