Isolation's Double Bind

Scripture

(Proverbs 18:1 ESV) Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

Observation

This text seems to warn people against isolating themselves. Indeed, psychologists view a person's isolation with suspicion: it's part of depression's slippery slope, it's a chapter from domestic abusers' strategy book, it's a placebo in paranoid schizophrenia's pharmacy. Yet Jesus Himself demonstrated that isolation is a necessary part of health and wholeness:

• And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”(Luke 9:18).
• So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed (Luke 5:16).

Historically, this proverb has stumped many translators. Adam Clarke said its original Hebrew version is difficult and obscure, and he provided examples of how others have translated it:

• "He who wishes to break with his friend, and seeks occasions or pretences, shall at all times be worthy of blame" (Vulgate, Septuagint, and Arabic)
• "Who so hath pleasure to sowe discorde, piketh a quarrel in every thinge" (Coverdale).
• "Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom" (King James Version).

Adam Clarke's decision of how this verse is best translated is as follows:

"He who is separated shall seek the desired thing, (i.e., the object of his desire,) and shall intermeddle (mingle himself) with all realities or all essential knowledge." He finds that he can make little progress in the investigation of Divine and natural things, if he have much to do with secular or trifling matters: he therefore separates himself as well from unprofitable pursuits as from frivolous company, and then enters into the spirit of his pursuit; is not satisfied with superficial observances, but examines the substance and essence, as far as possible, of those things which have been the objects of his desire.

Application (Personal)
Yea, Mr. Clarke! Sometimes life's pressures demand making space for isolation., for private rest. It's healthy if both motive and method are pure--to withdraw from ... (whatever), for the purpose of drawing closer to something better. Therefore, here are my decisions:

1. Although the privilege of enjoying God's ever-available presence is a gift I frequently neglect, I set myself to share David's experience of God (from Psalm 91:1,2): "I will dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' "
2. Although the necessary routines and responsibilities of life are ever present and although they come in an unending variety, I will take a season to extract myself from all of these that I can responsbily leave so I can focus wholeheartedly on being fully attentive to the instructions my God would have for me.

Application (Psychological)
The tension is real--it's a double bind. Some people are extroverts--energized by social interactions and external mental processing; others are introverts--energized by privacy and internal mental processing. In 1949, Raymond Cattell published the first edition of his 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). The 16PF is a self-report assessment instrument that measures the 16 normal adult personality dimensions. Imbedded in this measurement are scales of extroversion (social boldness) and introversion (privateness). These are the Cattell’s 16 personality scales he obtained through factor analysis:

1. Warmth
2. Reasoning
3. Emotional Stability
4. Dominance
5. Liveliness
6. Rule-Consciousnes
7. Social Boldness
8. Sensitivity
9. Vigilance
10. Abstractedness
11. Privateness
12. Apprehensiveness
13. Openness to Change
14. Self-Reliance
15. Perfectionism
16. Tension

Contempory churches tend to promote extroversion as normal and best. That is the preferred dimension of God, as Adam Hugh quotes Richard Halverson: "The extravert God of John 3:16 does not beget and introvert people.." Adam Hugh (finally) brings balance to that trend in his book Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. Here are particularly salient quotes he included in his book:

• "The healthy Christian is not necessaryily the extrovert, ebullient Christian, but the Christian who has a sense of God's presence stamped deep on his soul, who trembles at God's Word, who lets it dwell in him richly by constant meditaiton upon it, and who tests and reforms his life daily in response to it" (J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life).
• "Without knowldege of self there is not knowledge of God. Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self" (John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion).
• "The question I put to myself is not 'How many people have you spoken to about Christ this week?' but 'How many people have youlistened to in Christ this week?' " (Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor).

Prayer
(Quoted from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions; edited by Arthur Bennett. pages 32-33):

Christ Is All

O Lover to the Uttermost,

May I read the meltings of thy heart to me

     in the manger of thy birth,

     in the garden of thy agony,

     in the cross of thy suffering,

     in the tomb of thy resurrection,

     in the heaven of thy intercession.

Bold in this thought I defy my adversary,

     tread down his temptations,

     resist his schemings,

     renounce the world,
     am valiant for truth.
Deepen in me a sense of my holy relationships to thee,
     as spiritual Bridegroom,
     as Jehovah's Fellow,
     as sinner's Friend.
I think of thy glory and my vileness,
     thy majesty and my meanness,

     thy beauty and my deformity,

     thy purity and my filth,

     thy righteousness and my iniquity.

Thou hast loved me everlastingly, unchangeably,

     may I love thee as I am loved.

Thou has given thyself for me,

     may I give myself to thee.

Thou has died for me,

     may I live to thee,

     in every moment of my time,

     in every movement of my mind,

     in every pulse of my heart.

May I never dally with the world and its allurements,
     but walk by thy side,
     listen to thy voice,
     be clothed with thy graces,
     and be adorned with thy righteousness.