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(See also “Fellowship for the Christian Introvert.”)

The typical image of “Christian service” is of someone preaching to a crowd, teaching Sunday school, or serving meals in a food pantry. In other words, someone sharing the love of Christ with a good-sized group of people and radiating high energy throughout.

Which makes it tough on those of us who want to be faithful Christian servants, but freeze up talking to groups and find it draining to socialize for long.

The Bible says God created us all for good works He planned in advance (Ephesians 2:10), so every believer is made for Christian service. What we sometimes forget is that God creates each of us uniquely and doesn’t expect the exact same form of service from every  individual. To paraphrase Paul’s analogy on the human body and the body of Christ: if the whole congregation was made up of Sunday school teachers, who would clean the church restrooms? And if the whole congregation was made up of food-pantry workers, who would keep the church website up to date?

If you’re a Christian introvert who can’t see yourself dealing with groups of strangers and semi-strangers on any regular basis, be assured God isn’t disappointed in you. In fact, He created you with just the temperament you have so you could serve the Body and the world in your own ideal ways.

Here are some areas of Christian service that typically suit introverts. Consider which ones appeal to your natural passions: then ask God, your church staff, and discerning Christian friends to recommend appropriate needs you can fill.

Writing

• Could your church’s website use a weekly blog? Or help with a blog/newsletter/website/emailing that’s being irregularly produced and poorly written? Or even a full-length book for fundraising sales?
• Are there shut-ins, or people on the church’s prayer list, who’d appreciate regular (perhaps handwritten) notes of encouragement?
• Can you send spontaneous notes to your pastor/church staff? Often it’s the people with the full-time work of serving fellow believers, who get taken for granted and their struggles ignored.
• Does your church or denomination have a “pen pal” program where you can regularly write to missionaries, or other Christian workers, or ordinary Christians living in largely unchurched regions?

Art

Could you contribute:

• paintings or a mural to decorate your church’s welcome center;
• graphic design or calligraphy to church publications;
• craft projects to sell at a church fair or fundraiser?

“Helps“

Many introverts find special joy in the sort of background service unfairly labeled “dirty work”:

• Cleaning up after the crowds have left
• Delivering meals to shut-ins, or just dropping in to visit (often, the introvert who “hates crowds” can talk for hours with a couple of friends–or with one lonely individual)
• Landscaping or gardening
• Construction or repair work

Prayer

Of course every believer should pray for the Church and for others’ needs; but some Christians are specially gifted for the sort of lengthy private prayers that move mountains. Famous pioneer missionary William Carey credited much of his success to the fervent prayer support of his home-bound sister in England.

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And after you’ve found your place of service, consider praying that God will send you a few fellow introverts to team with. If they were feeling discouraged about not being suited for large-group-style Christian service, you can render additional service by encouraging them through example!