I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram the other day (bad habit, I know), when I saw an ad for a shirt praising Biblical women and their notable attributes. It was cute. It said,

Sacrifice like Esther

Love like Ruth

Serve like Martha

Believe like Mary

Dance like Miriam

I got a little tripped up on “Serve like Martha.” I had to read it twice. Yep, it said what I thought it said. Then I had to check my own heart. Was I right to have a problem with this? After all, some company making Bible t-shirts would surely know better than me what makes for a Biblical woman, right? Serving is a good thing! Martha worked hard. That’s good, right? 

     No, I reminded myself. I know my Bible. And I know that story well. You can find it in Luke 10:38-41. I use the Complete Jewish Bible, which uses the Jewish names: Yeshua for Jesus, Marta for Martha, and Miryam for Mary. The story is the same no matter which version you read from 😉

    On their way, Yeshua and his talmidim came to a village where a woman named Marta welcomed them into her home. She had a sister called Miryam who also sat at the Lord’s feet and heard what he had to say. But Marta was busy with all the work to be done, so, going up to him, she said, “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has been leaving me to do all the work by myself?” However, the Lord answered her, “Marta, Marta, you are fretting and worrying about so many things! But there is only one thing that is essential. Miryam has chosen the right thing, and it won’t be taken away from her.”

    That’s pretty clear. Martha wanted Mary to “Serve like Martha,” but Jesus corrected her. “Only one thing is essential, and Mary has chosen the right thing,” Only one thing is essential, and it wasn’t what Martha was doing. 

    Serving like Martha means serving at the expense of your precious time with Jesus. It means prioritizing your position over His presence. It’s actually something I see a lot of in the church world. We know it is good to serve, and that Jesus wants us to be like Him and lead lives of service (Matt. 20:26-28). On top of that, it fits American culture pretty well to glorify those who work hard, even to the detriment of their own health. We’ve learned to recognize godly men and women by the amount of service they give. How many hours they commit to volunteer work. How many meals they bring to a struggling neighbor. 

    This is where it gets a little tricky. Serving is good. Godly men and women DO serve, and should. If you’re not involved in any ministries in your church, I have questions. Martha was not wrong to invite Jesus and his disciples into her home. She wasn’t wrong to want to serve. And there certainly was a lot of work to be done; hosting an extra 13+ people is a challenge! But her service was not what the moment called for.

    Jesus was there, in her home, teaching. She had access to His words and His heart, and she was too distracted by her to-do list to notice what she was missing out on. Only one thing was essential. It wasn’t the chores.

We face the same temptations today. Christ lives within us. His presence is accessible to us in all moments, and His words are right at our fingertips. Our distractions are real. Our to-do lists and responsibilities are real. Are we going to make them our priority and miss the one essential thing, or will we listen to Jesus and put His presence above it all?

Do serve. Please. But don’t Serve like Martha.