Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

— Luke 10:38-42

Have you ever caught yourself spun up in something that, in retrospect, has got you saying to yourself, “What a dummy!”? I have. In fact, I have lots of those moments. Thankfully, as I mature spiritually, the distance between my being spun up and my realizing my own folly has shrunken. In most cases nowadays, I’m able to catch myself even before I stumble. I’m more relaxed because my perspective on life has changed drastically - thanks be to God. My wife describes my younger, “pre-Biblical” days with the euphemism, “Ed was, ummm…intense.” That’s her kind way of saying I was uptight, overbearing at times, and not always the most fun to be around. Tough pill, but I swallow it wholly and willingly.

The world has given the “Marthas” among us a more palatable name; they are the so-called “Type A” personalities. Jesus cautioned Martha, revealing to her that Mary, her sister, had the proper perspective. We can all learn a lot from Mary here. While so many of us are out trying to “manage” the onslaught of life as it befalls us at ever-increasing velocity, others of us have figured out the secret to relaxing and enjoying each day for what it truly is - a gift.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

— Matthew 6:33-34

My point is that, with perspective, we all can be a lot more like Mary and less like Martha. And since perspective is free of charge, complements of the Lord God by grace through faith, we simply need to heed Jesus’ wisdom above.

If I were a betting man, I’d be willing to bet that Paul, certainly before his own conversion, was a Type A personality. He was what the world might also categorize as an “overachiever”, which, in many ways, is just another euphemism for someone whose life is dominated by things that have no real eternal value whatsoever, and everything to do with worldliness. One has to ask, “Who are these so-called overachievers aiming to please?” The answer should be obvious, but I’ll give you a hint.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

— 1 John 2:16

Many of us are trained to conquer at a young age, whether socially, intellectually, athletically, or financially. As a result, our perspectives have been stained by the doctrines of this world. They are Satan’s doctrines, after all, for he is “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Even if we are not naturally inclined to excel in areas of life esteemed by the world, we are pressed into service in such a way that if we don’t excel, at least in some way, we are considered failures. To avoid this “shame”, we must strive after the wind, as Solomon would say, “I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Type A folks (or overachievers, or whatever term suits your fancy) are often stuck in a vicious cycle of climbing and resting, climbing some more and resting…yet they never find true peace. In fact, their “rest” is actually within the confines of the world system, likely on some beach somewhere, as if geography were the answer to their unrest. The only “out” is a change of perspective. This is what Jesus was trying to teach Martha…and now us many years later.

Paul realized that the fruits of his personal achievements, especially prior to his own conversion, were essentially worthless garbage, even though the world celebrated them. Paul saw this plainly in his own life by looking back through the lens of righteousness. He was washed free from the bondage of the self-life, the one that the world encourages we strive tirelessly to improve. He saw it as a trap, peddled by a pack of liars, led along by the “father of lies”, Satan (John 8:44). As I like to say from the pulpit, trying to improve the self-life is like trying to dress up a pig - it’s a futile endeavor. The better idea is ejection from the mire, itself.

Being king of the hill in a pigsty does not make you clean…if anything, you’re all the more filthy for achieving such a thing.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.

— Philippians 3:7-8

Let us throw out the world’s concept of success and its ungodly methods for achieving it. Let us reexamine enticing human categorizations like “Type A” or “overachiever”, stepping back the way Paul did, the way Jesus encouraged Martha to. In doing so, may we loose ourselves from the bondage of poor perspective, embracing our Lord’s viewpoint - that is to say that true success on the eternal scale of values actually has nothing to do with how much man accomplishes oh so diligently on his own; rather, it has everything to do with what God accomplishes through him by grace.

Don’t be a Martha.

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

— 1 Corinthians 2:1-9

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins