I think we may have to guard some, but this is the norm not the exception. Most people that we encounter in our Christian faith will just become passive acquaintices that we give a Olsteen smile (not a know on Olsteen he just has the signature smile) and speak a little Christianese to and go on our way.

Ya know… It makes me think of comments I have heard from many people, including several in my own family, where they have articulated a very similar approach to Clooney’s character, when it comes to their understanding of fellowship. They insist that this kind of “guardedness” is normal, and that you can’t just open up to people that you haven’t spent years building trust with. They have little handfuls of people in their smallgroups that they will talk to, to some degree, and then pretty much everyone else is a Christian aquaintance. These are not necessarily “mega church people” either, just coming from pretty average-sized churches. It’s amazing to have known people for years and years, who are supposedly your brothers and sisters in Christ, and feel like you really don’t know much about them at all (at least not much that relates to their actual relationship with God)…

The real irony however is that most of those folks probably see us as the “Clooneys”, and think we don’t go to church because we are trying to isolate ourselves! In reality, we couldn’t continue going to church and keep experiencing that disconnected “airplane syndrome” over and over again…