We tend to have permanently casual relationships that never grow into real intimacy.  There are things we know about each other, but they fool us into thinking that we know the human beings who live within the borders of those details.  So we fail to pursue them with good questions.  This sets the stage for all kinds of misunderstandings.  Our effectiveness as ambassadors is blunted because we don’t know others well enough to know where change is needed or where God is actively at work.

Think about it.  Most of the conversations you had today were mundane and rather self-protective.  We spend most of our time talking about things that are of little personal consequence — the weather, politics, sports, and entertainment.  There is nothing wrong with this except that it allows us to hide who we really are. . . . We are all skilled at newsy but personally protective conversations (Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands 163).