How Pathological Introversion Hurts Introverts

And also everyone else

The sea. It gets me, man.

One of the highlights from that great American classic Wayne’s World — which I’m not sure my big-boy conscience would let me rewatch — occurs when Garth and Wayne obtain some backstage passes to an Alice Cooper show. After clearing various security checkpoints, they eventually find themselves face-to-face with the legend himself — who then promptly launches into a lecture on the history of Milwaukee.

Wayne: So, do you come to Milwaukee often?

Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers were coming here as early as the late 1600s to trade with the Native Americans.

Pete: In fact, isn't “Milwaukee” an Indian name?

Alice Cooper: Yes, Pete, it is. Actually, it's pronounced “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the good land.”

Wayne: I was not aware of that.

Gratuitous film history aside, it strikes me that the times we’re living in increasingly resembles Garth and Wayne’s insane pilgrimage to Cooper’s dressing room. As individuals and activist groups continue their steady infiltration of Western institutions, they need only hold up their intersectional “passes” to be granted free access. BIPOC? Come on in. Female? Have a managerial position. Dude wearing a dress? You should be the principal. Muslim? Here’s a political office. Christian? . . . Hold on a sec while we 7x this fiery furnace.

This, of course, is cultural marxism in action. Assign various groups “victim” status and observe as the weight of their combined grievances collapse whatever power structures you find “oppressive.”

But there’s another branch of identity-politicking which has become wildly popular within Eva Lite circles. I’m talking about “The Introvert.” Yessir, we’re long passed the simple acknowledgement of disposition; now introversion is a core identity feature. Books have been written, podcasts recorded, and whole pages dedicated to this quiet-yet-powerfully-authentic/introspective personality. And they’re not alone. Other potential identities today include woman, survivalist, homeschooler, fitness-enthusiast, pug-owner, transgenderist, homesteader, and Garth-Brooks impersonator. In fact, in the absence of transcendance, anything you own, do, eat, listen to, or wear on your head can become your identity.

Some features of the introvert-turned-pathological-introvert include:

An imagined inscrutability:

“All this alone time has made me an incredibly reflective and thoughtful person. At this point I’m worried that other people, especially extroverts, won’t be able to understand or appreciate the full gamut of my complexity. Nor can I bear to stoop to the asinine small-talk of the shallow masses. Bravely — boldly — I will nurse this cup of tea, while attempting to rationalize my early-onset social deprivation symptoms to instagram. Such has been the lonely lot of seers and sages from time immemorial. World without end. Amen.”

It’s true that still waters run deep. It’s also true that still waters tend to breed E. coli. Just because someone seems distant, it doesn’t follow that they’re automatically wise or healthy. In fact, it’s often the opposite.

But apart from this, should an attitude of affected superiority ever characterize Jesus’ disciples? Let’s recall their master, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:6–7). Consider that. The incomparably high and righteous King willingly became low. The only One who could ever claim legitimate uniqueness gave it all up to become an especially un-noteworthy one of us. 

Let this mind be in [us] which was also in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5).

A state of perpetual injury and propensity towards naval-gazing:

Pathological introverts tend to be keenly-attuned to their own needs and almost supernaturally stone-deaf to the needs of others. We don’t even have to guess at this, for lo, the internet has given us unique and unasked-for insight into their souls. Here’s one Redditor’s perfectly healthy experience as an introvert:

I've been increasingly annoyed by having to meet someone else's needs, obligations, and accountability . . . It's all a chore, it's annoying, and I don't care . . . I'm in the best moods when I'm alone in my own world and doing whatever I want without interruption. I'm never lonely. I just want a cat, some plants, my hobbies, and no one talking to me or asking me stupid questions. Can anyone else relate because I'm feeling like a super abnormal/bad person over it?

Anyone else relate? Going once . . .? Twice . . .?

Just kidding — we can all relate to some degree. The difference is where we go from the point of relatability. This individual clearly wants to garner empathy. But as Christians, instead of trying to rebrand disobedience as a personality affliction or making it someone else’s problem, we call sin for what it is. We give it a name, which in this case is selfishness. And then we repent of it.

A self-built prison of self-pity:

It’s one thing to have a drink. But there’s an ominous finality to accepting the label of “a drunk.” A similar thing happens in the case of introverts. Instead of addressing trials for what they are — particular challenges which, through Christ, can be overcome — they become the cage that shapes our reality. I am not a redeemed man or woman made in the image of God. I am not, fundamentally, a Christian. I’m a coward; I’m an abuse survivor; I’m single; I’m a minority; I’m an introvert.

Claiming such titles might seem like the perfect solution. It absolves us of personal responsibility, elicits sympathy from others, and gives us access to certain privileges. It also destroys agency, which destroys our humanity, which dishonours the one in whose image we’re made. Remember Moses?

Moses said to the LORD, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.’ (Ex. 4:10)

Here, Moses has built his own prison, which degrades him to the point of excusing himself from a task God explicitly said He would equip him for. If that’s not an instance of degradation, I don’t know what is.

False Premise, False Promise

Some people believe that, contrary to the old adage, there’s danger in numbers. There’s a part truth here, depending on how you define danger. It’s true that being around other people will most likely expose your selfishness, thoughtless opinions, and objective vices. It’s also true that being alone will allow you to continue under the delusion of wholeness. The question is — would you rather live in a delusion? Or the light of actual truth.

Ask Dom Cobb, he’ll tell you.

The reality for those who always and only prefer their own company is that there is no protection against sin’s deception. Sin will enter our mind, move into our affections, grip our love, and take away our life. All without us noticing. And all because we neglected our one job: “Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 3:3). The world says if we want to avoid problems, we start by avoiding other people. God says if we want to avoid problems, we start by acknowledging the real source of our problems, which is our own hearts.

So the next time you want to make like a bird and flee into the wilderness, let that Word above all earthly powers steady and anchor you. And remember — in heaven, there will be no introverts.