Have We Made ‘Authenticity’ an Idol?

In so many small groups I’ve been part of, there’s this unspoken formula: share a few personal struggles, get a little vulnerable, maybe tear up a bit and everyone assumes healing is on its way. If we can just be “real” enough with each other, the pull toward sin should start to fade, right?Except it didn’t for me. I found myself bringing the same prayer requests over and over, like a bad loop I couldn’t turn off. I was doing what church culture told me to do—confess, open up, be honest—but noth