5 Confessions of a Shy Christian

I have discussed this topic before, but I like to revisit it often because it’s not talked about much in church. Too often, shy churchgoers and members are labeled and forgotten.

Although I share my thoughts somewhat liberally online, I am a rather shy and reserved person in my day-to-day life. This presents many challenges as a Christian. Christ was intentional about His relationships, so even in my shyness, He calls me to love and seek people.

Here are a few confessions of a shy Christian.

1. Evangelism is anything but natural. It doesn’t happen organically for me. I’m often focused on the task at hand. I rarely look to my right or left and wonder how I can engage those around me in gospel conversations. In many ways, my shyness has made me an ineffective evangelist.
2. Church interactions can be somewhat awkward. It takes people a while to get a read on me. As a result, I’ve had numerous clunky and rather un-fluid conversations.
3. My spiritual growth has stagnated at times. This is a result of failure to be honest about my questions and qualms about/with God. Recently, I have learned the value of letting some people in on my thought patterns.
4. Ministry is an uphill battle. Ministry is an uphill battle anyways, but shyness can add other challenges as well. Simply engaging a church newcomer in conversation can be difficult.
5. I’ve missed opportunities to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Either in evangelism or being encouraged by another Christian, I have reaped the less than positive results of relying on my introversion instead of God too many times.

I would guess there are many shy Christians who identify with the things written above. If you do, ask God to grow you in these challenging areas. I have found prayer to be the perfect start to overcoming some of my personality pitfalls.