EDITORIAL: Evangelism: Not just for extroverts

A friend who "gets" me recently emailed a link to a fascinating video. It's a lecture from the TED Talks series by Susan Cain, an attorney-turned-author of the new book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Cain acknowledges the "Extrovert Ideal" dominates our culture. It casts outgoing, gregarious crowd-lovers as natural, successful leaders. But she speaks up on behalf of introverts, "one-third to one-half of the population … (who) prefer quieter, more low-key situations."

"When it comes to creativity and leadership, we need introverts," Cain claims. Her manifesto states: "There's a word for 'people who are in their heads too much'—thinkers" and my personal favorite, "It's OK to cross the street to avoid making small talk."

People who only know me casually typically think I'm an extrovert. This is a common projection upon people who have some form of public role. We speak to hundreds of people, write words read by thousands, perform before crowds. And so folks assume someone who enjoys doing that must be extroverted.

Of course, that's not the measure of extroversion or introversion. The key to realizing whether you're an introvert or an extrovert is figuring out where you draw energy. This is a bit oversimplified, but it's as easy as understanding whether you "charge your batteries" by jumping into a crowd or by getting away alone.

Both introversion and extroversion are value-neutral. Neither is inherently right or wrong. Even Cain, ever the introvert, concedes the world needs extroverts, too.

But here's a secret I've never told anybody: For most of my life, I refused to acknowledge I'm an introvert. The reason was simple; I thought introversion was sinful. That's because of how Baptists and other evangelicals typically practice evangelism. When I was growing up and in college, the blue-ribbon Christians were the back-slapping soul-winners who actually enjoyed spending the day at Six Flags or on busy downtown intersections so they could pass out tracts and stop total strangers to tell them about Jesus. This always scared the bejabbers out of me. Not because I was ashamed of Jesus or afraid someone would punch me. I just never felt comfortable striking up conversations with people I'd never met. Later, as a journalist, I covered scores of sermons in scads of evangelism conferences, where the tried-and-true tales always highlighted the speakers, who inevitably witnessed for Jesus to waiters, cab drivers and the person in the next seat on the airplane. The subtext of their message remained the same: If you're not Bible-whacking people you've never met, you're just not serving the Lord.

The other day, I met a friend for lunch. I admire this guy. He's a great pastor/preacher, and his church is serving all kinds of people and changing lives. He's the Real Deal.

Somehow, we got to talking about the Cain video and introversion, and I confessed: "I love my church. But some Sunday mornings, I try to figure out how I can walk from my car to my 'regular' pew without having to talk to anyone." My friend laughed out loud. "We ought to be in the same support group," he chortled. This guy. Fantastic pastor. Like me.

Before you get too riled, hear me: We need extroverted soul-winners. I love and admire them. We could use more of them.

The other reality is this: We also need introverts. And this: Introverts don't get a pass on evangelism. In fact, some of the best evangelists I've ever seen are quiet introverts. Cain's observations of introverts illustrates why they're effective:

• They listen. Like good counseling, some of the best soul-winning takes place when we give others space to tell their stories. In the telling, they see their need for Jesus.

• They pay attention. Everyone loves to be cared for. And folks who look intently see deep needs. This enables them to meet those needs—and heal in Jesus' name.

• They leave room in the spotlight for Jesus.

• They're creative. Christians who don't adopt traditional evangelism methods often come up with new ideas because they're willing to contemplate new opportunities.