The congregational life for almost all congregations is set up primarily by extroverts and for extroverts. Likely you’re not ministering properly to the highly introverted pure creatives. This is a unique personality that a handful of people possess. I happen to be one of them. These unique individuals have a set of creative talents that you need in your ministry. They also have some unique weaknesses and needs you need to understand so you don’t drive them away.
What’s a Highly Introverted Pure Creative?
Let’s begin by defining the highly introverted pure creative. An introvert is a person that is primarily energized by their internal thought processes. They think deeply. They reflect. They have deep insight and understanding into things. They make great theologians, because their minds dig deeply into God’s soil.
They are also often highly creative. Some are pure creatives. God put pure creatives on this earth to write, create music, shoot videos, draw, paint, and dance. They most reflect Christlike character through the creative process. God is a creator and has designed certain people to reflect the creative side of his nature.
The key strength of the highly introverted pure creative is creativity. It’s also an area that is often misunderstood. They often question things and that questioning may be interpreted by those that don’t understand as being critical when that’s often not the intent of the heart. Their creativity often expresses itself as some type of art—music, drama, poetry, dance, painting, or other types of things. In many cases someone may be highly proficient in several arts.
At times God will give the highly introverted pure creative a gift that is forward facing—like teaching, evangelism, or administration. I know this, because God has gifted me to teach. To a certain degree this makes sense, because this personality type often uncovers deep truths through their incessant internal thought processes. Those truths need to be shared.
But there’s a rub. One of the key weaknesses of an introvert is they have limited people energy. People drain the introvert and in social settings they cannot turn this discharge of energy off. Often this discharge of personal energy energizes those around the introvert—sometimes in soft, subtle ways, but also sometimes in more exuberant fashions—like through teaching, preaching, or dramatic performances. An introvert may have a strong stage presence, natural leadership skills, can be the life of the party, may be funny, and may not come across shy or socially awkward. And, that’s a problem, because this masks their true personality and they may be expected to minister like an extrovert.
A lot of noise and activity in the environment drains the introvert. They need quiet and solitude in order to escape into their internal thought processes and renew themselves. This isn’t to say the extrovert also doesn’t need some solitude and reflection, but for the introvert it’s a consistent, daily hunger.
While an introvert may come across as having a bubbly, exuberant personality, there is usually a reticent lone wolf residing underneath. This personality type doesn’t like conflict. And, they don’t like the need to be overly vocal to get their point across.
Our Society and Congregations are Run by Extroverts
Your most vocal people are your extroverts. So, when you design things to be more introverted friendly, the extroverts will be quick to speak up and assert their extroverted perspective on things. That’s their nature. The introverts won’t be as quick to speak. Perhaps that’s why things are often designed by extroverts for extroverts—the loudest and most persistent voices are the ones heard. God speaks in a still, small voice. And, it’s often the same type of voice the introvert uses. But, it’s hard to hear that voice when the extroverts are making too much noise.
I’m not saying everything has to be designed to minister to introverts. What I am saying is currently 95% of the life blood events in congregational life are extrovert oriented and a proper balance would be that only 50% of the life blood events should be extrovert oriented. There isn’t a proper balance and understanding of the introverted personality, which can drive introverts away—and, many of the most creative people, the ones that you need involved in creative arts ministries, walk out the door.
I’m not trying to pick on extroverts. Many of the most godly people I know are extroverted. They minister to me in ways an introvert could not. However, if you truly have a deep discussion with an introvert and they open up to you, which they may be hesitant to do because they fear bringing up uncomfortable issues that may cause conflict, they will express that they often feel society as a whole tries to conform them into acting in extroverted ways and suppresses them from keeping the extroverts in check.
Let’s Join a Worship Service
For most congregations, the main worship service is considered the lifeblood event of the congregation. This rule may not be stated, but much of the time, energy, and focus of the congregation goes into this weekly event. It’s often an event designed by extroverts for extroverts. By it’s very nature, it’s an extroverted event, because a large social gathering is an extrovert magnet.
Suppose in the middle of the service a particularly lively song is being played. Someone in the audience is dancing and clapping, hooping and hollering, praising the Lord. Someone goes up to that person and tells them to quiet down. Many people would think that is out of line. However, how many people would consider it out of line if someone were to nudge their quiet neighbor and encourage them to clap their hands? Probably not near as many. But, why? Why is it considered rude for an introvert to ask an extrovert to worship in a more introverted fashion, but it isn’t considered rude for an extrovert to ask an introvert to worship in a more extroverted fashion? There are some unstated social rules that a ministry must understand in order to be an environment that’s comfortable for introverts. One of these unstated societal rules is that extroverts are allowed to be overbearing and impose an extroverted environment on introverts, but introverts aren’t supposed to check the extroverts and quiet them down. I’ve spoken to many introverts that feel this way—not just about religious events, but about the way our society as a whole functions. Since the worship service is intrinsically an extroverted event, what needs far more consideration is accommodating the needs of the introverts, because the event can easily become overwhelming and fatiguing to introverts.
The Worship Leader is Too Rah Rah
At times the cheerleading from the worship team and those on stage needs to be toned down. You can sing and clap with all the energy and enthusiasm you want, but don’t try to prod others to do the same. Let’s consider common things a worship leader may say:
“Let’s all stand up and praise the Lord.”
“Can everyone clap and give the Lord a hand.”
“Can I hear a shout? Can someone give me an amen?”
“Let’s sing out.”
These kind of things are great examples of an extroverted encourager inadvertently creating an extroverted worship experience. Things become louder. There’s more movement and activity. And, the introvert becomes overloaded. It’s most worship leaders' natural tendency to push the worship experience in this direction; but, the introvert may need a more quiet, reflective worship experience.
While the extroverts may enjoy this prodding, the introverts finds it manipulative. Congregations need introverts being highly involved in the planning of worship and social events. And, they must understand that when an introvert gives feedback that basically amounts to turning down the volume, they aren’t trying to be a wet blanket. They’re trying to create an experience the introverts will also benefit from.
If you carefully consider most of the prodding the worship leaders and those on stage give, you’ll see what they are subtly saying is, “You all need to worship in an extroverted fashion.” Consider the phrases above. They are all prodding the audience to act extroverted. This makes the introvert feel uncomfortable, because what is being taught is that the way an introvert is naturally wired isn’t godly and spiritual, but instead they need to be something they weren’t designed to be in order to meet God’s standard.
Do not push introverts to doing extroverted aerobics. These can include dancing, singing, shouting, clapping, doing the Hokey Pokey, shaking hands, talking to their neighbor, or whatever. An extrovert can see an introvert sitting quietly during an exuberant worship number and think that person just needs some encouragement to really worship the Lord. I am aware extroverts often do this with the best intents. But, that introvert was having a moment with the Lord, or was reflecting on the words of the song, or was thinking through a deep theological truth that hit them earlier in Bible study and then someone breaks that moment and ruins the experience. There’s no way around the fact that extroverts, because they are often more outspoken and need more socializing, often impose extroverted expectations on introverts far more than introverts impose introverted expectations on extroverts.
The Worship Service is NOT the Main Event
Okay, I know someone is insulted by that statement, particularly the boldface “NOT”. It’s vitally important to understand how the introvert experiences the worship service. It’s entirely different than the extrovert.
To someone that is introverted, the worship service is exhausting. I’m using the example of the worship service because it’s a common point of reference to most believers. I’m not saying it can’t be valuable to an introverted, because it can. But, a congregation has to understand how introverts experience things so they don’t drive them away.
Introverts are drained by too much socializing, too much noise, and too much interruption to their inner world. Doesn’t that sound like a worship service? I’ve found some of my most profound experiences of God have been when I’m alone—either in solitude or given the space to be in reflective thought. There have been times when I’ve found public worship and in particular singing satisfying. So, it’s not that introverts can’t enjoy worship.
One thing to understand is that for an introvert the worship service may not be the main event. And, that big social event afterwards is also not their main event. Most of the time these events are planned by extroverts and for extroverts. Space needs to be carved out for the introverts in order to draw in the people needed to do all aspects of the Lord’s work. Everything seems to revolve around the weekly main worship event and much of the time and energy of the congregation goes into this event. This unstated assumption may drive introverts away, because not enough effort is being put into creating quiet, intimate, smaller group events. I can speak for myself on this. I often get more—far more—out of an intimate Bible study than I do the worship service.
There’s also subtle pressure on the introvert to see an extra exuberant worship experience as something special. This may be imposed from the stage, as a leader proclaims, “Wasn’t the praise and worship service this morning wonderful!” Which expects an exuberant, “YES!”. To an introvert, the praise and worship singing may have been too loud or too long—not because there is anything wrong with the introvert, but because it was an event created by extroverts for extroverts. There was far too much rah-rah and cheerleading going on. And, the introvert steps back and really wonders when that worship song stalled and totally lost its musical momentum, breaking down into a long pause of repetitiveness, if it was really the Spirit moving. I fear the “moving of the spirit” often isn’t a movement of God’s spirit, but is really something that is projected as God’s spirit. Sometimes it’s an extrovert just thoroughly enjoying extroverted aerobics. These statements that hint that an exuberant worship is somehow extra spiritual and godly, may leave the introvert feeling something is wrong when they needed something that is more quiet and reflective.
The Worship Music Does Not Prepare the Introvert to Listen to the Message
Oh boy, now I’m stepping on some toes! But, it has to be stated, because this will illuminate how introverts experience things.
I know the thought process. We need the praise and worship to prepare our hearts for the message. That isn’t necessarily true for the introvert. Remember, the praise and worship is an extroverted event. Even when an introvert is fully engaged and enjoying the praise and worship, it’s still draining their battery. As their battery drains, the introvert needs to turn to their internal thought processes to recharge. Which means, the introvert may be daydreaming when the message is placed at the end—not because there is anything wrong with the introvert spiritually, but because the worshipping has sapped their strength. While the praise and worship energizes the extrovert making them more prepared to hear a message, it does the exact opposite to the introvert—leaving them drained when it’s time to listen. The introvert that was the most engaged student during the small Bible study before service may be the least engaged during the message. Here’s a guideline that must be understood. If there is something extremely important to communicate, the introvert will be more able to absorb, understand, and process that information if it’s given before much socializing, singing, dancing, and music has occurred. Often the thinking that goes behind ministry events is done from an extroverted perspective. Things are designed by extroverts for extroverts. More space needs to be carved out for introverts to function in the body.
I’m not saying everything has to be designed to minister to introverts. What I am saying is currently 95% of the life blood events in congregational life are extrovert oriented and a proper balance would be that only 50% of the life blood events for a congregation should be extrovert oriented. There isn’t a proper balance and understanding of the introverted personality, which can drive introverts away—and, many of the most creative people, the ones that you need involved in creative arts ministries, walk out the door.
Let’s Turn Off the Music
I’ve been at many social events where someone feels the need to have music playing. Why? Why can’t we enjoy some food and fellowship without bringing in extra background noise? Plus, that social event is often after some sort of worship event, where I’m already drained by all the socializing and volume. It would be nice to have a quiet conversation with someone without constant distraction. Noise, distraction, and activity in the environment just drives the introvert to exhaustion. When there’s too much noise, I just want to leave.
Even when the music is turned off, you may need to consider the acoustics of the room. Some rooms are echoey. They reflect a lot of sound. In such environments, people tend to talk louder and the volume increases. It’s simply impossible to have a conversation with another person at a normal speaking volume, which drives the introvert out the door. Just think about it this way. With any kind of external stimulation, the introvert experiences it as much louder than the extrovert. What is a 3 on the extrovert’s volume knob of external stimulation is an 11 to the introvert.
Introverts often like cozy, quiet, intimate spaces. When planning social events, you need to consider finding those types of spaces to make introverts comfortable. I’m not saying every social event needs to be done this way. Your extroverts have needs that need to be met as well. But, almost all congregational social events I’ve attended have been too noisy for me to feel at peace for any length of time.
The Clock is Ticking
Keep the worship service within a reasonable and consistent time. Start on time and end up time. As the time clicks by, the introvert is becoming more fatigued. So, cut the fat out of the service. And, if the preacher is long-winded that needs to be addressed. I’ve heard five minute messages that have taken an hour to communicate. To be fair, I’ve also heard hour messages that needed to be an hour. Understand that what the extrovert experiences as “God’s spirit moving” the introvert is experiencing as the service needlessly dragging on.
Why Aren’t More People Involved
I know you’ve seen them—the quiet pew dwellers. They show up for every service, sit there quietly, leave without a peep, but never become involved beyond their regular attendance. It’s easy in ministry to think, “Well, I’m glad they attend. If they want to get more involved, that’s great, but I need to spend my energy on the 20% that’s doing 80% of the work.” It’s easy to become so busy that you don’t spend enough time reflecting, “I wonder why they don’t become involved beyond regular attendance?”
I’m not going to say I understand every fish that needs to be hooked. But, some of those fish are highly introverted pure creatives. You’ve designed things around the unstated assumption that the worship service is the point of entry to congregational life. So, that’s where the highly introverted pure creatives enter. They sit there and enjoy the service, but being involved in the service isn’t for them. It’s an extroverted event. They just don’t see themselves leading worship, giving a message, or being the cheerleader for the extroverted aerobics. They aren’t experiencing something that is designed by someone like them for someone like them.
They Want High Intellectual Stimulation and a Challenge
We aren’t wired like other people. We experience things differently. One thing we require is a higher level of intellectual stimulation than others. We can become bored easily. We find the same-old, same-old to be boring, dry, and uninspiring. We are often at the other end of the continuum of those that really enjoy nostalgia and tradition.
It’s pretty easy for the weekly service to feel like it’s hit a rut for us. Things are often run on the same template. And, it becomes boring. There’s not enough variety. I’m not sure why, but it’s often the traditionalist that gets their way when things are decided how things are structured. I’m not saying they should never get their way, because they have a need for nostalgia and tradition. What I am saying is they get their way too often. It would be nice at least once a month if not more frequently to have something different in the service—something like a drama performance, the introduction of a new song, a poetry reading, a video presentation, a believer’s art demo, or even to completely change the order of service. These things are often given the, “But, we can’t do that”, or the “We’ll have to think about it” response and never come to fruition. And, little by little the pure creative loses heart that there is a place for their unique talents in ministry.
Often things are organized by those good at administrative tasks, but administrators don’t understand creatives. They see the incorporation of something like a drama performance into the worship service as another administrative chore that needs to be done, where the creative sees it as a huge blessing and the rare opportunity to really use their creative talent.
At times in ministry there’s this notion that we must keep the task small. We’re dealing with volunteers. They have lives, jobs, and families. If we overburden them, we’ll burn them out. So, let’s keep things simple. Let’s not give anyone too much to do. This is proper thinking, but this thinking doesn’t consider the unique wiring of a true creative. Highly creative individuals like myself can become burnt out simply due to boredom. If the task is too small, it’s not a challenge. True creatives need challenge. They need tasks they don’t exactly know how to do and must figure out. They need a high degree of intellectual stimulation. For fear of giving people too much, it’s possible to give the creative person too little. For fear of burning people out, we naturally ask, “Is this task too big?” We need to balance that out when dealing with creatives by asking, “Is this task too small?”. You can unintentionally burn out a creative by not giving them enough challenge.
The Business People and Administrators Can Crush the Creatives
Here’s a huge secret to working with creatives in ministry. You don’t need to understand them. You won’t. You won’t understand how that art show, drama performance, or new musical composition they’re working on is going to worship the Lord and minister to others. The only thing you need to discern is whether their talent is from the Lord and whether they are a person of godly character. If they are, then give them the green light as much as possible and let them do their art. Quit throwing up roadblocks and stop signs, because you don’t see what they see. They have a vision you don’t have, won’t understand, and can’t comprehend.
Also, realize they don’t understand you. They often aren’t good at (and may not understand) the business end of things—keeping on the lights, paying the taxes, and making sure the building doesn’t crumble into ruins. You have an entirely different vision and insight into things. What I’m asking is for you to change your perspective on the ideas brought up from the pure creatives. You should be thinking about how you can free the pure creatives to realize those dreams as opposed to trying to understand those dreams from a business perspective. It’s often the administrative personalities that are most crucial to the successful ministry of the creatives. It’s also often the administrative personalities that cripple the creatives from ministering like they should.
One thing that cripples and drives away creatives is when their ideas are constantly blocked. In most congregations, big projects require approval before given the green light. Let’s use the example of a building project. Before that building project is undertaken, several contractors will be contacted. Everything will be planned out, itemized, and budgeted down to the penny before the stamp is given and work begins. This is certainly needed when doing a building project.
But, the expectation that every detail will be ironed out before beginning a creative endeavor is unrealistic. A creative pursuit only begins with an intuitive feeling of where things are headed. There isn’t a single piece of art where all the details fell into place until the piece was finished. Every worship song you sing started out with a creative musician with just a fledging idea of where they were headed.
On the business end of ministry, with things like a building project, the starting point for the project is having all the details figured out. For a creative project, the ending point is having all the details worked out. If your leadership structure only green lights projects when all the details are known beforehand, you are crippling the creatives and you are hindering them from doing the Lord’s work. You have become a stumbling block. Creativity simply does not operate like business. It’s not administrated like business. It doesn’t function like business. Yet, the pursuits of creatives are where they most reflect God’s character, because he is infinitely creative and designs some people to particularly reflect that aspect of his character. Some of the best business minds in your congregation would have stopped God’s building program when the earth was without form and void, because they couldn’t see how all the details were going to fall into place. Even in God’s creation, all the details were not in place until the creation was completed. Creative projects almost always begin by being without form and void. Often the administrative personalities that run things don’t understand this nebulous beginning, so they reject things that are truly from God.
Let the Dialogue Begin
I am speaking on behalf of people wired like me. We have for years been underrepresented, under utilized, and ministered to improperly. That needs to end and it begins by starting dialogue.
I hope those that are wired like me will read this and speak up. Share it. And, I’m hoping those in congregational leadership will approach this with an open ear and gentle spirit. For too long, the highly introverted pure creatives haven’t had the needed voice. So, I’m stepping up to sound the call.
