Beginning from the mid-third century onward, Christian writers have used Martha and Mary as models for the two main personalities in the church: the busy activists (the Marthas) and the quiet reflectives (the Marys).
As an observer of the passing parade, I don’t believe this caricature fits the biblical story. While I think it might describe Martha fairly well, it misses the mark when it comes to Mary.
Let me explain.
There is no question that Martha saw her service to Jesus as an act of love and worship. The fact that Jesus never belittled her service toward Him confirms this.
However, some Martha-types have a way of reducing a relationship with God to feverish activity. Such people obsess over how many lost people you’ve shared Christ with, what you’re doing to help the poor and oppressed, how involved you are in social justice and making the world a better place. In their minds, all of these things are the badges of being a “good Christian.”
But to my everlasting astonishment, most of the Marys I’ve met in my life used to be Marthas. They just burned out or bailed out.
Let’s talk about those who burned out. These former Marthas didn’t know how to say no when asked to participate in various church programs, activities, and ministries. They were constantly busy, serving every spare moment they had. In their eyes, serving at the church or staying busy with ministry activities was the equivalent of loving God.
Guilt, condemnation, religious duty, and obligation subtly motivated and governed their activities. They were trying to win brownie points with a God who stopped keeping score two thousand years ago.
There came a point, however, when the weight of Christian service simply crushed them. And burnout ensued.
Some Marthas went beyond burnout and bailed out. They felt they had served God with all they had. But when they observed others who were blessed by God, yet who weren’t as “faithful,” they grew bitter and abandoned the Lord.
“I’m doing all this for You, yet You’re blessing them instead,” was their bitter cry.
Some of these people later repented and returned to the Lord, acknowledging that their service to God was more about them instead of Him.
In both cases, these Marthas realized that they had confused service with a relationship with Jesus. They made the profound yet painful discovery that they had been serving the idol of “service” rather than God Himself.
They also discovered that the source of their service—the strength they relied upon to serve God—was not the life of Christ. The source was their own natural strength and energy.
What is more, they realized that their very identities and security were wrapped up in their service. That’s why they craved attention for their work. It’s also why they became a critic and a judge of the service (or non-service) of others.
The result: after slaving as Marthas for many years, they became Marys. That is, they learned to rest in Christ, hear His voice, and draw on His energy for ministry.
Again, Mary was not someone who lacked in service. Jesus had no word of rebuke or complaint for her. And as we’ve already seen, Mary helped Martha before Jesus moved into teaching mode.
The antidote, therefore, is not for Marys to move closer to being Marthas (to serve more). Nor is it for Marthas to move closer to being Marys (to worship more). This isn’t a question of balance. It’s a question of priority, orientation, and source.
All service must flow from communion with the Lord if it is to have lasting value. All service must find its source in the life of Christ so it won’t lead to burnout or bail-out.
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.22
All service must flow out of a razor-sharp desire to please God rather than a desire to get noticed by others. If it does not, it will lead to either complaint or criticism.
When God created the world, He worked for six days and then rested. Adam was created on the sixth day. So God’s seventh day—the Sabbath—was Adam’s first full day.
God works before He rests. Humans, however, rest before they work. This principle undergirds all Christian service. We rest in Christ before we work for Christ. Or in the language of Ephesians, we sit before we stand or walk.23
For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.24
Mary is our example in all of these things. And she has the defense of Jesus to confirm it.
In short, it’s a dangerous thing to be so busy for the Lord that you don’t have time to seek Him and wait on His direction. Acting “religious” is the fallen soul’s way of trying to duplicate the job of the Holy Spirit.
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There is room for all human temperaments in the body of Christ. The Lord uses the choleric, practical, outspoken, and assertive activists as well as the phlegmatic, calm, contemplative, timid, and docile pacifists.
But while God doesn’t do away with our unique temperaments and personalities, He wishes to adjust them so that they are in line with His character, directed by His will, and energized by His life.
Taken from God’s Favorite Place on Earth by Frank Viola Author