The way we live out our lives depends on the kind of personality we have. What we do, how we do it, the way we go about our daily tasks, the ways in which we relate to one another … all these things come out of the kind of personality we have.
You can argue, if you want, that cultural factors make you who you are, that you learned how to act because you grew up among southern African-American males or because you were taught what stern Yankee women did. And yes, I would agree, cultural factors do help shape us. But deeper than culture, beyond race or nationality, is the matter of personality. What kind of personality do you have?
Or you could argue, as some do, that we are responsible for ourselves, that nothing makes us do anything or be anything. Some would argue that we are totally responsible for every action, and that we just have to pull up our socks and decide to do what is right. Well, of course I believe in personal responsibility. Of course I believe we are capable of deciding our behavior. But it is also true that the very way in which we decide these things is determined by that thing I'm calling personality. What kind of personality you have determines even the way you go about making those decisions.
Personality. The way we live out our lives depends on the kind of personality we have.
So let me attempt, this morning, a very quick and dirty personality test. It won't be scientific and it won't be complete. If you have a psychology major among your credentials, you will hang your head in shame, because this won't stand up against scholarly scrutiny. But it's just a quick experiment, designed to demonstrate something about personality.
I'm going to pose a series of opposites, statements which represent opposite ways of responding to various kinds of situations. I want you to listen carefully to each of these pairs and then to raise your hands to indicate which of each pair best applies to you.
The first pair:
[1] If you are asked a question about how you feel concerning some issue, do you prefer to think about it a while first, then give your answer? Or do you find it easier to start talking about the question, looking for your answer in your own words?
[2] If you are in a group which is discussing what to do about some problem, do you generally wait for someone to ask you what you think, or do you like to get out in front with what you think?
[3] If you are asked to speak in public, do you need to prepare your remarks rather carefully, or can you speak your thoughts without depending on written preparation?
[4] When you are working, do you find that you need privacy to do the work? Or do you thrive on the hustle and bustle of people and telephones and activity?
[5] When someone suggests a course of action, are you more likely to think of reasons to go slowly and be careful, because it might not work; or are you more likely to say, "Let's just try it and see what happens?"
And the last question: when I ask you to do testimonies or put up your hands during a worship service, how many of you would rather I not do that and just go on and preach, and how many of you would not only like to put up your hands, but also to say a few hundred well-chosen words as well?! Don't even bother with that one!
Rather as I suspected, far more of you put up your hands for the first choice in each of these pairs than put it up for the second choice. Far more of you gave evidence of what we call an introverted personality than evidenced an extroverted personality. I am not surprised at this. Introverted more than extroverted. We as a church are overwhelmingly an introverted group of people; we naturally and instinctively turn inside when faced with any issue. Our very way of being is to turn in, look around, and be cautious.
I am not surprised. And I'll tell you why in a moment. But first, I want to nail this down. We've been looking all this month at the question of resources for the future of our church. We've been attempting to identify what God has given us in order to face the future.
Today I'm raising the question, is the personality of our church a resource for the future? We are, most of us, variations on a particular personality type. That personality type, essentially introverted, turned inward, may look like a liability. It may seem to be something which will hold back our church from being, as one member has openly hoped for, not just a good church, but a great church.
But here is the good news for today; here is the gospel for this hour: God has given us our inwardness; it is His gift to us. And it can, in His hands, become a powerful resource for our future. An introverted church is not one which is doomed to fail, but one which can succeed wonderfully.
Now I said a moment ago I would tell you why I am not surprised that we largely turned up on the introverted side of the equation during my little test a moment ago. I got the first clue some eight years ago on Anniversary Sunday. Former pastor William Scurlock had been asked to preach for anniversary, and had been asked also to sit down with members of the congregation to do some analysis about the fix we were in. Those of you who have been around for a while know that about a year before then the church had gone through a tremendous upheaval that had resulted in the dismissal of the pastor, the associate pastor, and the minister of music. Those of you who weren't around don't know about that, and we will just keep you happy in your ignorance!
At any rate, during that discussion Rev. Scurlock talked about personality types. He made several points: first, he said that a church and its leadership mirror one another, they almost always have similar personality types. Like begets like, similar personalities feel comfortable together. Thus, he said, despite all the changes, despite the passage of the years, despite even racial change, the personality of the church in 1985, when he was speaking, was essentially like what it was when it was formed in the 1920's.
Then Rev. Scurlock went on to report that he had been privileged to know all the pastors of the church except the very first one. He had known personally number 2; he was himself number 3. Since he had stayed in the Washington area, he had also come to know numbers 4 and 5, and he was convinced that all of them, including himself, and with perhaps only one exception, were introverted personalities.
In fact, if you know anything about a psychological device called the Myers Briggs Temperament Indicator, Scurlock said that he would guess, though of course he had not had the chance to do the testing, that all of these pastors were in the same category: introverted more than extroverted, intuitive more than scientific, logical more than emotional, structured and organized more than spontaneous. Never mind all the details; his essential points had been that the church had a definite personality, and that most of its pastors mirrored that personality.
And then he drew a very interesting conclusion. Scurlock's conclusion was that this church, despite all its changes, despite all it had gone through, would once again call as its pastor an introverted, intuitive, logical, structured personality. Now guess who sat there as interim pastor, in mid-1985 not in the least thinking of himself as potentially the pastor; guess who sat there and said to himself … to himself, as an introvert would do …”That's interesting. I've been tested. And my personality type is introverted, intuitive, logical, and structured.”
Now I tell you all of this ... and some of you are wondering, "When do we get the sermon; he hasn't even read the Scripture yet" ... I tell you all of this to say, God has given us this personality. And God has given us to one another. Our common personality as an introverted, quiet, soft-spoken, cautious people does not need to be seen as a liability. It is an asset. It is a gift. It is who we are. And it is a resource for our future.
Now the Scripture story to show us how this can happen.
Throughout Biblical history no figure looms larger as a leader than Moses. When you think of Moses you think of the dynamic man who faced down Pharaoh, who gathered the people on the banks of the Red Sea, who brought them through the waters and out onto dry land. Moses the leader who took them through a generation of wandering in the wilderness, who received and taught the Ten Commandments. Moses' very name has become a synonym for dynamic, effective leadership. I suppose that if you had to guess, you would think that Moses was an extrovert: forceful, vigorous, decisive, persuasive. An extrovert, everything that you and I are not.
But I ask you this morning to examine Moses more closely. I ask you to follow with me as Moses brings his personality to the task to which God has called him. My thesis is that Moses was not an extrovert, but an introvert. He was not turned outward, but turned inward. Three times in the story of Moses' call, he uses a simple word that gives it all away: BUT. It is the clue to his personality. But. But, but, but. God calls Him, but Moses objects, "But". But Lord, I ... The very signature of an uncomfortable introvert.
However, to every "but" God has an "I will" answer. To Moses' every objection, God has an empowering reply. To every complaint raised by the introverted personality, a loving God, who made us that way, offers an enabling response.
Listen.
I
Exodus 3:1-8a, 10-12a, 13-14 [Emphasize the but at v.11, v. 13]
God called Moses to be the agent of His redemptive will among the people suffering in slavery, and Moses' first reply was, "But … but who am I that I should go? And if I [go], what shall I say when they ask me who sent me?"
Who am I and by what authority do I get involved? That is a classic introvert's question. You recognize it. You've used it. And so have I. I didn't get involved because it wasn't my job. It never occurred to me to speak out on this question because it isn't my fight. Somebody is supposed to take care of it. Somebody else is supposed to do that job. But … but it's not my job. Not my issue.
Now I want you to notice what the call is here. God's call to Moses is to go down to Egypt and rescue the people. It is a call to redemption. It is a summons to confront a catastrophe. However, Moses hadn't thought of it as his problem. It was not his catastrophe. Yes, he was a Hebrew, but he'd practically forgotten that, having been raised among the Egyptians. Yes, the people were suffering, and he had even spilled blood in their behalf; but now here he was, fat and sassy, out in the suburbs, tending sheep. Living a long way from the suffering, not having to listen to the cries of the people, and here comes God, asking him to get involved.
It never even occurred to him that it was his fight. Introverts don't look for anything new to do; they tend to their own knitting. Why should he do this? "But who am I, but who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. How did this get to be my job? And if I go what shall I say when they ask by what authority I come ... they will think I am nothing but a busybody!"
However, to every "but" God has an "I will" answer. To Moses' every objection, God has an empowering reply. To every complaint raised by the introverted personality, a loving God, who made us that way, offers an enabling response. "I will be with you … I will be with you. And tell them I will be what I will be. Tell them I am, or better, I will, has sent you."
Men and women, we may be quiet, shy, introverted, and cautious, but if our God is calling us as a church to a redemptive task, if it is His will that we reach and redeem the brokenness of this community, then He will be with us, He will make it happen, He will bring it to be.
And our very inwardness becomes an advantage, not a disadvantage, because we can more easily get our egos out of the way and can let God work through us. The extrovert, the naturally dynamic personality, puts himself on the front page, makes himself the issue. We have the advantage, because when we ask, "Who am I and by what authority do I do this?" God is able to be the "I will" that this world needs. The world doesn't need Christians prancing on the stage; the world needs God, mighty to save.
Our kind of personality is a resource for the future. God has given us our inwardness. He will so that we can.
II
But ... but … but
A second time during this call experience Moses objected; and a second time God responded with an "I will" empowerment. Listen to this one:
Exodus 4:1-9
All of the literature on personality types says that the introvert is naturally pessimistic. He worries about all the what if's: what if it rains, and what if it doesn't rain? What if they don't like me and send me home? What if they do like me too much and they overwhelm me with attention? The introvert always asks the question, "What if? Am I able? Will they accept me?"
"But suppose", says Moses, suppose … what if ... they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, 'the Lord did not appear to you'?" To this concern God responds in a fascinating way. He helps Moses turn his staff into a snake and then back into a staff. Then he turns Moses' hand into a filthy diseased leprous thing, and just as quickly heals it again. What is the meaning of all of this?
God is saying to the introvert Moses, if you need tangible, visible signs, all right. Use them. If it helps you to do something tangible and visible to prove to them you are somebody, all right. That's fine. Do it. If it helps you build your confidence, do it. Just remember, I the Lord am the one who is really doing it, but if you need a crutch, use it.
Friends, you and I as a church of quiet people need to have some successes. We need some tangible, concrete accomplishments to prove to ourselves and to the community that we are OK people. In the process we will have to remember that it is God who is doing it and not we alone, but He is saying to us as to Moses, "If you need the visible signs, go ahead. It's all right."
That is one way of looking at what we are trying to do with our building and with our properties. It is not just renovating to make ourselves more comfortable. And it certainly won't be building a senior adult facility, if we get the chance to do that, just to be doing something. It will be a matter, first, of equipping ourselves to do God's redemptive work in this community; and it will be a matter of proving to ourselves and to the community that we can do something, that we can do it right and we can do it well.
Think of building as creating self-confidence. That's all right. It is how God has gifted us as an introverted people. Those extrovert types, three quarters of humanity, by the way ... they just optimistically plunge ahead and do things, they ask no questions, they just do. They are like Lord Ronald, who leapt on his horse and rode off in all directions at once. But we, we introverts, we are gifted by God to be careful and cautious and do it right. Yes, we need tangible, visible signs. But God, the great "I will", can work steadily and surely through us to achieve His purpose.
He will so that we can.
III
But ... but ... but.
Moses is not quite finished. There is one more "but" he will raise to God. And how introverted he is, how much we will recognize ourselves in him.
Exodus 4:10-16
Lord, you asked me to do all of these things, and they are so out of character. They are so out of touch with who I really am. And this speaking business, this bearing witness business. I'm not good at this. I'd rather not handle this.
It's kind of pitiful, isn't it? "Lord, I have never been eloquent ... I am slow of speech." And God says, "I will ... I will be with your mouth." Poor old Moses is pitiful, just about to come unglued, "O my Lord, please send someone else". Anybody but me, Lord. But, but, but.
Do you recognize yourself in this Moses? Of course you do! Someone said to me, "Don't talk to the folks at Takoma about evangelism; they don't want to do evangelism". I'll wager that if I asked you this afternoon to go visit this person or that to present the gospel, nearly all of us would find some reason why we can't or we wouldn't feel comfortable. And you know what, I don't feel comfortable either. That's just the way we introverted people are. We're scared we'll get our tangs tungled up, we think we'll be embarrassed and rejected ... O Lord, please send somebody else.
But our great "I will" God says, you can, because I will. I will not only be with your mouth, I will give you a partner. Moses, I will give you your brother Aaron, and he will help you frame the words to say to Pharaoh. Introvert, I will give you a Christian fellowship, and in that fellowship you will find people who are just as scared as you are, just as shy and quiet and retiring and all the rest as you are, but when you come together and learn from each other, you can do it. I will and you can.
And once again, you see, being an introvert is an advantage. Extroverts go it alone. Extroverts need other people, but they need them for themselves, not for the task to be done. Extroverts use others for their own needs. We introverts are gifted by God to need others for God's uses!
Our kind of personality is a resource for the future of our church. Like Moses, we protest: but, but, but.
However, to every “but" God has an "I will" answer To Moses' every objection, God had an empowering reply. To every complaint raised by the introverted personality, a loving God, who made us that way, offers an enabling response.
He will so that we can. And we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
I can hardly hear you, fellow introverts. But I pray that your quiet whisper will, in the providence of God, resound majestically through these streets to claim it for our Christ. You are but, but, but and all, a resource for our future.
