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1 " Because introverts are typically good listeners and, at least, have the appearance of calmness, we are attractive to emotionally needy people. Introverts, gratified that other people are initiating with them, can easily get caught in these exhausting and unsatisfying relationships. "
― Adam S. McHugh
2 " When introverts go to church, we crave sanctuary in every sense of the word, as we flee from the disorienting distractions of twenty-first-century life. We desire to escape from superficial relationships, trivial communications and the constant noise that pervade our world, and find rest in the probing depths of God's love. "
― Adam S. McHugh , Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture
3 " Introverted seekers need introverted evangelists. It's not that extroverts can't communicate the gospel, either verbally or nonverbally, in ways that introverts find appealing, it's that introverted seekers need to know and see that it's possible to lead the Christian life as themselves. It's imperative for them to understand that becoming a Christian is not tantamount with becoming an extrovert. "
4 " The verbal tool of exploring mystery together is not confrontation or preaching but dialogue. We subject ourselves to the same questions we pose to others, and as we traverse them together, we may arrive at surprising conclusions we could never have reached when simply trying to defeat one another's logic. Our questions are open ended, granting the other person the freedom to respond or not to respond. The questions stick with us, even haunt us, long after we ask them, and we await insight together. The process is more important than an immediate decision. "
5 " Introverts treasure the close relationships they have stretched so much to make. "
6 " In a team setting, leadership is shared by a community of people, which counters the tendency for pastors to form congregations in their own images. "
7 " When introverts are in conflict with each other...it may require a map in order to follow all the silences, nonverbal cues and passive-aggressive behaviors! "
8 " He is not a man that is easy to draw out, though he can be communicative enough when the fancy seizes him.” STAMFORD, DESCRIBING SHERLOCK HOLMES TO DR. WATSON, IN SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, A STUDY IN SCARLET "
9 " God has always been about the business of shattering expectations, and in our culture, the standards of leadership are extroverted. It perfectly follows the biblical trend that God would choose the unexpected and the culturally "unfit" - like introverts - to lead his church for the sake of greater glory. "
10 " Let God make you fully you. Rejoice in your God-given temperament and use it for God's purposes. This point cannot be emphasized enough. We must be authentic. If we try to be someone we are not, people will see it instantly. "
11 " In community, introverts follow a rhythm of engage, then retreat. Too much time in social interaction, no matter how satisfying, is disruptive and disorienting for introverts, and they need to step back to rediscover a sense of identity. They can lose themselves in community and need to retreat into solitude in order to be restored into shape and to find the power to give themselves fully to others when they reengage. "
12 " Introverts have a constant internal monologue rushing through our heads. "
13 " introverts often feel more freedom in worship services that feature traditional liturgy than they do in ones that feature more open, informal, unstructured styles of worship. Introverts often appreciate the depth of liturgical prayers and hymns, as well as the rich symbolism that fill traditional churches. "
14 " Other voices will try to categorize us and tell us what is wrong with us, but true identity is discovered as we meet the One who created us and as we allow him to identify us. We are never strangers or outsiders to Jesus. "
15 " The listening life is based less on the content heard and more on relationship with the One who speaks. Like Elijah, we can even come to listen for the silences, because God's silences have a different texture to them. His silences are full. When they come, we know that the story is not over. "
― Adam S. McHugh , The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction
16 " We who follow a crucified Messiah know that love will sometimes compel us to willingly choose things that make us uncomfortable, to surrender our rights for the blessing of others. "
17 " Long periods without quiet refueling leave introverts feeling physically exhausted and emotionally hollow. "
18 " Growing up constantly being compared to extroverts can be very damaging. Most introverted children grow up receiving the message overtly and covertly that something is wrong with them. They feel blamed—why can’t they answer the question faster? And defamed—maybe they aren’t that smart. Forty-nine of the fifty introverts I interviewed felt they had been reproached and maligned for being the way they were.”[1] "
19 " We may be in particular danger for depression because we internalize our emotions, and we may also carry inside us the dysfunctions of our families in ways that extroverts don’t.[2] "
20 " While extroverts commonly feel loneliness when others are absent, introverts can feel most lonely when others are present, because ours is the aching loneliness of not being known or understood. "
