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I recently read Adam McHugh's book Introverts in the Church (IVP Books, 2009), a thoroughly researched treatment of the nature of introversion and its implications for leadership and ministry.
McHugh describes what being an introverted pastor was like for him:
I… relished times of solitude, reflection and personal study. I enjoyed people, and I found satisfaction in depth of relationship and conversation, but even when I spent time with people I liked, I looked forward to moments of privacy. I found crowds draining. I could stand up in front of hundreds of people and preach a sermon without nervousness, but I often stumbled through the greeting time afterward because my energy reserves were dry. (p. 13)
I can relate to that. We introverts really do enjoy people, but only in small doses. Small talk takes its toll on us. Solitude is our friend. But we live in an extroverted society, and Protestantism in general is an extroverted milieu.
A therapist who works with lots of pastors as clients told McHugh that many of those pastors struggle to find balance in their lives and often wrestle with depression. The therapist says that
many introverts pay a high cost to be in ministry. They feel unable to meet the social expectations placed on them by their congregations, and they frequently lack adequate boundaries to enable them to find rest and to recharge their introverted batteries.
Only now, as I look back on 39 years of pastoral ministry, am I coming to a full realization of how much my introverted temperament has been a drag on my ministry and my ability to be a more productive pastor.
Recently I heard the great tennis professional Andre Agassi being interviewed about his new memoir Open. He startled me by saying that he hated playing tennis all those years. Hated tennis! How could someone who spent almost 40 years playing tennis as a professional and eventually becoming the best in the world—how could he "hate tennis"? You wonder if he is exaggerating.
Yet, his statement struck something way down inside of me about my experience as a pastor for 39 years. I don't think I would encourage anyone with an introverted temperament to go into pastoral ministry.
