Why do we need to be vulnerable? Because we need to be free!
Stop and think about what controls you, hangups and habits that consume your time and money, while alienating you from others, God, and even yourself. Need some help? Here's a bunch:
Anger
Coffee
Finger drumming
Ice cream
Pets
Self-improvement
Approval
Comparisons
Fishing
Images of God
Pimple squeezing
Sex
Attractiveness
Competence
Food
Intimacy
Pistachio nuts
Shoplifting
Art
Competition
Friends
Jealousy
Pizza
Sleeping
Being good
Computers
Furniture
Knowledge
Politics
Soft drinks
Being helpful
Contests
Gambling
Lying
Popcorn
Sports
Being loved
Death
Gardening
Marriage
Popularity
Status
Being nice
Depression
Golf
Meeting expectations
Potato chips
Stock market
Being taken care of
Dreams
Gossiping
Memories
Power
Stress
Calendars
Drinking
Groups
Messiness
Psychotherapy
Sunbathing
Candy
Drugs
Guilt
Money
Punctuality
Suspiciousness
Cars
Eating
Hair twisting
Movies
Reading
Talking
Causes
Envy
Happiness
Music
Relationships
Television
Chewing gum
Exercise
Hobbies
Nail biting
Responsibility
Time
Children
Fame
Housekeeping
Neatness
Revenge
Tobacco
Chocolate
Family
Humor
Parents
Scab picking
Weight
Cleanliness
Fantasies
Hunting
Performance
Seductiveness
Winning
Self-image
Work
Worthiness
Need more? Maybe you've got ones that you deathly try to avoid:
Airplanes
Boredom
Dirt
Intimacy
People who are addicted
Slimy creatures
Anchovies
Bridges
Disapproval
Mice
People who are competent
Snakes
Anger
Bugs
Doctors
Needles
People who are fat / thin
Spiders
Animals
Cats
Embarrassment
Open spaces
People who are ignorant
Storms
Being abnormal
Closed-in spaces
Evil spirits
Pain
People who are neat / messy
Strangers
Being alone
Commitment
Failure
People of different beliefs
People who are rich / poor
Success
Being discounted
Conflict
Fire
People of different class
Public speaking
Tests
Being fat
Crowds
Germs
People of different culture
Rats
Traffic
Being judged
Darkness
Guilt
People of different politics
Rejection
Tunnels
Being overwhelmed
Death
High places
People of different race
Responsibility
Vulnerability
Being thin
Dentists
Illness
People of different religion
Sex
Water
Being tricked
Dependence
Independence
People of different sex
Sharp instruments
Writing
Birds
Blood
If any of these inhibit human freedom (yours or others), they are stopping you from loving in the way that God commands, not suggests but COMMANDS. Why do we need to get vulnerable? To be free from these addictions and be able to give real attention to truly important things, like the things that are killing our marriages, our kids, our communities, and even our nation. There is so much time and money wasted on things that rob us of real life, love, and family. Worst of all, addictions are directly related to depression. And when we're depressed, we aren't able to connect - the very thing for which we're hard wired for. What would life be like if people were free from those deleterious attachments which stops them from daring to love greatly for the betterment of mankind?
Where will liberation come from? Those who follow in the steps of Jesus Christ, those who humbly deny themselves, courageously take up vulnerability (the cross), and follow Jesus to empathetically redeem those lost in shame and despair, ie. addictions. By the cross, Jesus said to the despicable, "I get you and I love you. With Me, in Me, and through Me, you can be healed and strengthened to be all that My Father desires!" We need to be vulnerable to Jesus and the Father's will for us. Through embracing / owning our shame and despair with Christ, we get on the road to restoration and renewal. And even greater and more complete is our freedom and healing when we help others do the same.
Perfect love is God's destination for mankind. This life is a journey of choices which either free us towards that place or keeps us enslaved to imperfect love, which ultimately is not love at all but selfishness and evil. When we fail to be vulnerable, we are choosing to be slaves. When we courageously choose vulnerability, we are daring to fight for freedom which is actually a big part of being free.
Why do we need to be vulnerable? So we can deal with the stuff that God has shined the light on (check out the lists again) - the nongod things that control us and stop us from the freedom to love as He loves.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
That's great reason to be vulnerable and it also happens to be what empowers great coaching to happen!