"i'm ok"

i've been thinking about our level of honesty in fellowship.
i'm not about to drag out the old "let's just be real with each other" and turn every "how are you?" into a conversation about your struggles.

but it's interesting the more christian people i talk to, and the deeper we get into friendship and fellowship, and when we start to share how we are really doing and what is really bothering us, most people are on the same page. it's not the page we all talk about but it's more a place of confusion and problems.

most of us know more intellectually than we're living out.
most of us struggle to have a warm heart.
most of us are fighting off some kind of inappropriate lust.
most of us think that the people 'of the world' have more 'life' in them.
most of us find it really hard to read and pray regularly for a decent amount of time.
most of us are scared to admit that we're fallible and vincible.

and i'm not advocating what Jonathan calls "spiritual strip tease" whereby we bear all our flaws to everyone every sunday. but i'm completely convinced that within our smaller circles of fellowship it's essential to have this honesty. because before long we'll be convinced that Jesus came to call the righteous, not sinners and The Doctor came for the healthy, not the sick. and if we spend all our time talking as if we are the (perfect) people we want to be, then we'll never be helped to actually grow into those people.