Extros need intros and vice versa!

I'm an alien. I'm a legal alien. I'm an Englishman in New York. In German: I am a stranger. I am a legitimate stranger. I am an Englishman in New York. This well-known song expresses the feeling of being of feeling like a stranger.

The elder son seems to have felt alienated in his father's in his father's agricultural business in his homeland. His heart has not found a home. Significantly, his abode was not with his father, but with the servants (Luke 15:11ff).

The congregation is also called a "spiritual home". Recently I recently read the book "The Quiet World Changers" by Debora Sommer on the subject of introversion. introversion. In it I read - and this is not unfamiliar to me from personal experience personal experience - that there are many people who feel alienated in their congregation. in their community. Sommer describes herself as an introvert. About half of humanity is an introvert. about half of humanity belong to the circle of introverts. She writes: "While I admire in others their distinctive gift and ability to live out community and hospitality, the view of my own contribution in this regard is extremely sobering. I find my own contribution in this respect extremely sobering. Gifts such as sociability and hospitality, which are prototypically considered the the hallmark of a devout Christian, seem to have been somehow forgotten in my case. been forgotten in my case. In an unpleasant way, I feel I have to deal with these (what I perceive to be) deficits. I feel that these deficits (as I perceive them) do not correspond to the Christian norm. Feeling insufficiently qualified to contribute my part to the community. It costs It costs me a lot of effort and a great deal of overcoming to approach other people at all. people at all."

Introverts have many strengths: they live more out of silence, they reflect better, they strive for wisdom, they live a deep longing for God, they have the gift of listening and are often artistically gifted. It is a great concern for us to create spaces in our congregation where introverts and extroverts build the kingdom of God together. Extros need intros and vice versa! The comparison of a Christian community with the human body illustrates this impressively (Romans 12:4-8).

Foreword from the seetal chile poscht 02/2019