In Romans 12:15 it says that we should 'rejoice with those who rejoice; and mourn with those who mourn'. Often it's easy to rejoice with those who have good news. But when we hear bad news in someones life often the easy thing is to say that we'll pray for them. And so we change Paul's message to 'rejoice with those who rejoice; and pray for those who mourn'!
Of course praying for people is good - and it is right that we should do that. But sometimes do we say that we'll pray for people because we don't want to get too involved ourselves? Our offer to pray keeps them at arms length.
Being a priest in the Old Testament was a messy business - you can't sacrifice a bull or a sheep or a goat without getting a bit messy. One thing I have found is that however clean and tidy a person's life may look on the surface - often those lives are quite messy under the surface. And if we're going to stand alongside people in their times of difficulty - if we're going to bring them to God - if we're going to allow God to reveal himself to them through us - then we need to be prepared to get messy. It will take time. It won't be easy. Messy Church has nothing to do with children's craft - church is messy because life is messy.
We can't do everything, and we can't be involved in everyone's life, otherwise we will simply burn out. But are there people that you're praying for, when really God wants you to get a bit more involved?
