One of the reasons I ask my sponsees this question is because most newer members want to do their step work from the NA step working guide, and although I've done both the old-school worksheets and the SWG, that question was on the 1st step of the worksheets but isn't written the same in the SWG.
For me, just being abstinent (clean) was never enough because I always returned to what I knew best...using. It took me a long time to learn that being clean alone could never keep me clean. Sure...I could get clean plenty of times on sheer willpower, and swear I was okay. Yet, I'd eventually return to the same mindset and resulting behaviors (even after promising I wouldn't). I needed something more.
When I came to NA: meetings, home group, sponsor and got involved in step work, I found that drugs were only a symptom of my disease and since my disease involved more than the use of drugs, my recovery required more than abstinence. In order to recover I had to do more than just stay clean.
where do we draw the line of you're better enough to be considered in 'recovery'?
Actually, "we" don't. No one can gauge another's recovery or spiritual growth, from what I know. That's something that is done by each individual, for themselves. Yet, I don't believe recovery is something we get automatically or without continuous effort. Staying clean must come first, but there's more to do (like stepwork). NA says the steps are the solution and the principles that make recovery possible.