How Transparent Can We Get?

In my Bible class at church we are listening to tapes of a well known speaker.  This speaker was saying that she asks God all the time “why me?” in the sense of why she was given the ministry she was.

In discussing it with a classmate, I said I think it is because she is so transparent.  She tells everything, and women feel they can relate to that.  In this age of being mad if our privacy is violated but getting online and telling everything, someone who is so honest and open about his/her struggles, needs, defeats, victories is a desirable person.

While I understand the value of transparency, is that necessary for ministry?  Are we prizing this looking at our inner selves through clear glass more than anything?  Transparency is never just about yourself.  If I say I was abused as a child (I wasn’t), am I talking about myself or my parents who allowed it or were clueless to it?  If I tell stories about my husband on this blog, am I invading his privacy?  If I go on about the trials of raising my son (there weren’t any, truly—he was a very easy child to raise), am I reflecting on me or him? 

We want honesty but honesty depends on where you are looking.  And too much honest looking may become dishonest and become an ego-exploration.  At the very least, we should not bring others, such as family members, into our honest revelations until they consent to it.