The Intellectual Introvert's Dilemma

I’m an introvert. For those of you who know me, this isn’t a surprise. I also judge others by their abilities and accomplishments. I know, we aren’t supposed to judge others, but every one of us does. Another thing, name-dropping doesn’t impress me. I couldn’t care less if you have Bono on speed-dial, had lunch with President Obama on Tuesday, and are on a first-name basis with Bill Gates. If I needed one of those individuals’ ears, I might ask you to help deliver a message I had already sent their way, but if that’s how we’re evaluating you, you don’t even register on the dial. You’d probably impress my wife, but in many cases, name-dropping does the exact opposite for me.

If you want to impress me, then you have to show me what you’ve done, what you know, and what you can do. I want direct results. As a result, I also evaluate myself based on my accomplishments and intellectual knowledge. As a result, I have very little desire to extend my social reach. Because of that, networking makes me shut down completely. Small talk just makes me think about all the books I could be reading or tasks I could be completing, or wishing for meaningful topics of conversation.

Just imagine…

Now, imagine what happens when a person with my personality encounters the gospel. You see, our salvation has absolutely nothing to do with our abilities, our knowledge, our accomplishment, or our work. It has everything to do with who you know. You can’t work your way into God’s grace. You can’t earn your salvation. It was given to you by God as a result of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for us so that we could have a relationship with Him. Your eternity is completely dependent on your spiritual networking. And guess what? You have to “schmooze up to boss’ son” before you can bridge the gorge-dug-by-sin and reach The Big Man.

Yes, God can see all those good deeds, and he has heard about you through the grapevine. He is the grapevine. You might be a hot up-and-comer in the Changing the World department at Life, Corp., but without that relationship with Christ you can’t truly reach your potential no matter how hard you work. The boss’ executive suite will always be out of reach. No amount of work you do can make up for neglecting your relationship with Christ. No amount of time spent doing good can make up for the time that Christ was displaced from your life. You can not work hard enough or long enough to overcome Christ’s absence.

My salvation is completely dependent on my faith and relationship with Christ. Now, I’ll admit that it’s a long-standing relationship and is nothing like schmoozing to get ahead in life. But if I hadn’t accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, and had to do so today, I’d probably be stuck on a good deeds treadmill.

If you’re someone trying to earn your way into Heaven, please stop what you’re doing for a second and seek out the guy you really need to know. Trust me, you’re only going to work yourself to death otherwise.