From the ministry archive
On Righteousness
"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Lk. 10:38-42). I'm certain I've written on this subject before on this venue, but I believe it's time to write about it again. What we see manifested here are two kinds of minds that believers in Christ have. Martha and Mary, along with their brother Lazarus, were some of the most beloved people of Jesus in the world. Both of theses sisters were righteous women who loved Jesus dearly, but their was a slight difference in the way they thought; and Jesus made it clear which of these women had the preferred mindset, and why. It's really very simple, and Jesus made no effort to complicate the matter. First of all, Jesus did not say that there was anything wrong with what Martha was doing. In fact I'm sure he was glad that she was getting something together for he and the disciples to have to eat and drink, as most likely they were weary from traveling and ministering. What Martha was doing was in fact very, very good. How could it not be a very good thing that she was directly ministering necessities of life to Jesus and his apostles? Of course it was good, and anyone with a right mind would love to have been in the position to do exactly that. The only problem Martha had was that she did not recognize that what her sister was doing was EVEN BETTER than what she was doing. Martha was ministering to Jesus and the apostles, but Mary was letting Jesus minister to her. So it comes down to who was ministering what to who, and which was more important to Jesus.
That brings to mind a saying of Jesus in another circumstance that had a lot of similarity to this one: "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you" (Jn. 6:26,27). Jesus was making the same point in both scenarios, and that point is that the 'bread of life' that comes from heaven is more important than the bread we eat to sustain our bodies. Jesus made this point yet another time, that being when he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness: "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Mat. 4:2-4). So the simple truth about Mary and Martha is that Martha was more mindful of people being fed the "meat that perisheth," but Mary was only mindful of being fed by Jesus with the "meat that endures unto everlasting life." When we see this situation through that lens it is very easy to see why Jesus let Martha know that what Mary was doing was better than what she was doing. Not only so, but Jesus would rather have sat there somewhat hungry and thirsty, ministering the bread that comes from heaven to a willing and open heart, than to have the present needs of his flesh immediately satisfied. I've seen these two mindsets at work in believers the entire time I've been in Christ. Those who are maybe a bit more concerned with the things of this life just can't help but complain about and find fault with those who are putting more into being closer to God. The truth is that you have to give up a little of the one side of these things in order to have a little more of the other side. And the fact of the matter is that absolutely nothing has changed since that day that Jesus spent with Martha and Mary.
Those who are putting more into seeking God with all diligence, always appear to the people with Martha's mindset to 'not be doing enough.' It's interesting as well that those who are putting more of themselves directly into living closer to God in the Spirit, never seem to have much complaint about those who are doing a little more for this life. I wonder why that is? Maybe it's because their closer to the heart of God. I can tell you one thing for sure, and it's what Jesus told Martha in fact. Jesus is not complaining about any of his people who are sitting or kneeling before him as their preference, as is clearly shown in our text passage. It's true that there are people who don't want to be productive in their lives with things like working and so forth, who will use the Mary mindset as an excuse to be a slacker. But that is someone that is lying. Mary, and those who are like her today, aren't saying much of anything about what they're doing, but rather they're just doing it. It is also true that there are those who get themselves overloaded with the things of this life, and say that their doing more for God that way; which is also an excuse for their error, and a lie. But there are also genuine people like Martha who ARE actually doing more with the things of this life, and are doing so for the sake of Jesus in some way. But those people are not neglecting the things of God, but rather are called and gifted in a particular capacity that involves more of the things of this life. One of the finest women I've ever known was so Martha that she practically drove me crazy with it when I was around her, yet she was just minded of being helpful in that way. As I said, Martha was a righteous woman and beloved of Jesus. Jesus did not reprove what Martha was DOING, but rather how she was thinking about her sister. But there can be no legitimate argument against the fact that what Mary chose to do was better than what Martha chose to do. Jesus plainly said that it was, so that closes that case pretty tight I'd say. So while what Mary was NOT doing appeared to be selfish on her part to Martha, what Mary WAS doing gained her the preferred favor of Jesus.
So as children of God, and brethren in Christ, we should always recognize the good that exists in both of these mindsets; and not be annoyed by either, as long as they are genuine. Whether they are genuine or not is going to show up in the results they are gaining for the kingdom of God's sake, or the lack thereof. Anyone who is helping to provide necessities of this life for God's children is doing well. By the same token, anyone who is providing spiritual necessities for God's children is doing better. The apostle Paul said the same thing about the issue of marriage: "But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better" (I Cor. 7:32,33,38). Was he saying that God's people shouldn't marry? Of course not. He in fact was saying that marriage is a good thing, but if someone remained single for the actual sake of being closer to Jesus, that's a better thing. By the way, we can be of the Mary mindset if we're married, but in that case we should either be married to a believer who is of the Mary mindset; or someone who is understanding and compliant with our being of that mindset. Otherwise we will be in a locked in circumstance with someone who is going to be seeing us the way Martha saw Mary, and that will most assuredly cause problems. The bottom line here is the same bottom line as with most issues with people, and that is that God knows the hearts, and he knows why people are the way they are. The woman I knew who was more Martha than Martha was, was doing what she was doing with a genuine motivation of being helpful, like Martha. We as followers of Christ need to know enough about the hearts of men to appreciate the qualities in both of these kinds of believers, for it's certain that they are both very helpful in their calling and capacity. We should also be slow to criticize someone in either of these kinds of capacities, but we should also be able to see when someone is being less than genuine in either direction, and be able to help them right the ship. Amen.
