Marys and Marthas

I'm going to go straight up biblical today. I have the amazing opportunity of being in a New Testament class at school. That's right. twice a week I get to go to class at school and get closer to my Savior. Man, I love it here.

Anyways, this past week we discussed the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:

 38 ¶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.

 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.

 40 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.

 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

It seems like a simple story, but in class we dove further. At first glance, this story seems to paint Martha as the "bad guy" for not doing what her sister is doing. It may seem upon first inspection that Martha should have been sitting and listening to Jesus instead of being busy serving and preparing. But if we look closer at what Christ did, or rather what he didn't do, we see that he never once while Martha was working called her over or stopped her. That's because

Martha wasn't doing anything wrong. And neither was Mary.

Both Mary and Martha were engaged in good activities, as their individual personalities dictated. Martha served by preparing, possibly a meal for the Savior, who had just had a long journey. Mary served by sitting and heeding Christ's word. This is not where Martha erred. Jesus only rebuked Martha after she accused her sister of being in the wrong, after she put herself above her sister, after she tried to say that her way of serving was the only right way.

It is not our place to judge others. There are different ways to do what's right and every person serves God differently.

I believe that if Mary had said "Lord, dost thou not care that my sister is not listening like I am? Bid her therefore that she come and sit with me", she would have gotten a similar rebuke. It is not right to try and make someone be the same kind of servant as you. It is not right to judge someone's actions because they aren't the same as yours.

Christ is the only one who can make final judgments, who can discern the thoughts and intents of our hearts.

Maybe you're a Martha. Maybe your friend, sister, mother, enemy, is a Mary.

Let Marthas be Marthas and let Marys be Marys.

Be who you are. Don't let others turn you into someone you're not. Let others be who they are. Don't try to turn them into someone they're not.

Let me be clear: I am not condoning wrong actions. I am opposing the judgment of others because of their actions, be they right, wrong, or simply different.

Only Christ can judge others. You have no right to determine the righteousness of another. And no one has the right to determine the righteousness of you. Be us Marys or be us Marthas, God loves us and wants us to be the best we can, loving and helping His other children along the way.

Be confident in who you are and allow others to do the same. For that is "the part which shall not be taken away".