Relationships...

Jonathan and I have been talking about this for more than a year and it's just heavy on my heart. We've been talking about friendships. It seems over the last year or two we've had a difficult time building strong relationships with other Christians. I feel like we were just beginning to build those relationships again in Charlotte before we moved, but it took A LONG time. It took less time to build strong, real relationships with people we didn't go to church with. Those friends were more willing to be honest with us about their lives. They were quick to tell us when things were not good, quick to tell us when they were fighting with their spouse, quick to tell us when their mother was sick, quick to tell us...well, everything. Why is this? Here's my theory: I think Christians are less willing to "lay it all out there". I think we are afraid of being judged by our peers, other Christians. Shouldn't this be the group we feel most safe with, not the most reserved? How do we change this? Or has this not been your experience? Thoughts?