Do I have to be an extrovert to share the gospel?

That’s a question I’ve heard many times. We watch the bold proclamation of the gospel in open-air preaching and see them reasoning with antagonistic unbelievers on the street. That leaves many Christian’s with the impression that you must be an extrovert to be an evangelist. But this is a very narrow view of the work of an evangelist and what God calls them to be and do. Yes, you DO have to love people enough to tell them the truth. The Bible gives various examples of personality, style, and approach to sharing the gospel message.

Consider the Apostle Peter in Acts 3-4 when he and John were brought before the Council to answer for healing a lame beggar. After their interrogation, they were reprimanded and beaten for healing the lame man and speaking in Jesus’ name. Peter’s response to the Council is recorded in Acts 4:19-20, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” In verse 29 they prayed to “speak with boldness.” When we truly understand what God has done for us, we cannot help but speak. Peter’s did not always express his personality with boldness. When he was confronted during Jesus’ arrest and trial, he denied him three times (Matthew 26:69-75). The Holy Spirit gives boldness and courage to God’s people to speak the message of the gospel.

Apollos was speaking boldly about Jesus in Acts 18:18-28. Priscilla and Aquilla, who were travelling with Paul, invited Apollos into their home and “explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:26). They did not confront him directly in public but invited him to a more private setting to further explain the gospel. Their approach stands in contrast with that of Paul and Apollos.

The Apostle Paul was known to reason with others in the synagogue and in many public places (Acts 17:2,17). He was a classic extrovert both before and after his conversion to Christ. Many evangelists take their inspiration from Paul to openly and publicly proclaim the kingdom of God. Paul was not exclusively about the public proclamation. Paul used other, less public situations to tell the good news of the gospel, including: to officials (Acts 22:30, Acts 24-26, Acts 28:23), in prison (Acts 16:29-31), and in homes (Acts 18:7, Acts 20:20-21, Acts 28:30-31).

If you are an introvert, you are likely more comfortable engaging in one on one conversation than in large groups. Your boldness and courage is received through the Holy Spirit through God’s word and your love of the truth of God. A simple tract can bring a bold proclamation of the gospel message that you can build upon when speaking to an unbeliever in a more personal dialog.

Your style and approach as a disciple-maker needs to match how God created you. All believers are called to make disciples, but it doesn’t all look the same. We have diversity of style, personality, knowledge, experience, and God uses his people to draw men to him. If we try to mimic something or someone because we think it’s how things are done, we can come across as insincere or awkward and detract from the message and our love for the unbeliever.

As disciples, we love God so much that we want to tell others about Him and we love our neighbor so much that we want to save them from God’s wrath. Introvert or extrovert, we can all share the gospel with an unbelieving world.