A drama ensued at the weekend between my wife and our younger daughter. Normally, she would get the children to join us in the house chores every weekend. This particular weekend, she told my daughter to sweep. Her response was funny; “I don’t want to sweep. I just want to eat.” Her response describes a lot of Christians today.
Friend, what kind of Christian are you? Are you a Mary or a Martha (Luke 10:38-42)? Like my daughter, do you only like to eat and not like to sweep? Do you only enjoy fellowship or feeding with God’s word and not like to bend your back to serve? Being a Mary or a Martha can both be an extreme if not well balanced. God wants us to be both.
God wants us to be a Mary-Martha Christian. This means that we should both enjoy fellowship and service while prioritising fellowship. We have a lot of Christians who only like to sit in church enjoying the word without wanting to join in serving in church (Hebrews 5:12). Most parents will not be pleased with a child who only loves eating without joining in the house chores.
God is your Father, but He is not irresponsible. He also does not raise irresponsible children (John 5:17). Church is a family. We need responsible Christians. We need those who would take their share of responsibility in the church family. They must feed, and they must serve.
The purpose of feeding is service. The job of pastors is to feed or equip the saints so that the saints can discharge ministry (Jeremiah 3:15, Ephesians 5:11-12). A church where members only sit and enjoy sound teaching without doing anything to advance God’s kingdom will only raise pompous and overfed babies (1 Corinthians 8:1).
Service matures us. Service brings freshness. Service brings ownership and accountability. You have not yet fully owned the vision of a local church until you join in serving there (Acts 6:1-7, 13:1-2). You can only enjoy accountability in a church to the degree of your involvement in service in that church. While Mary represents word-conscious Christians, Martha represents the service-conscious ones. But we need to be a Mary-Martha Christian.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria