Mindset of Worship
I have come to realize there are many kinds of churches in the world today. Most are nothing like Christ at all, but setting all that aside for a moment, I think there are two kinds of churches right now that are both passionate, productive, and love Jesus. One I'll call the Martha church. They are focused on people and their passionate about serving Christ. They are missional, desire to reach souls, and their involved in ministering to their community.
The second type I'll call the Mary church. They two are missional, desire to reach souls and serve their community, but their primary focus is on being with Jesus. They have a worship mindset rather than a people mindset. They are missional because they are so in love with the Lord, they actually live it out all the time. They have come to realize they do not have to focus on people. They just need to focus on Jesus.
I think Martha people are attracted to the Martha church and Mary people to the Mary churches. Most people would say they want to be a Mary because Jesus rebuked Martha for scolding Mary, but I think most people are Marthas in the kingdom because that thinking is more self focused and less Jesus focused. The Mary and Martha story is not about being a good hostess or a serving person, its about a contrast in the mind and heart. Martha loved the Lord and desired to serve Him, but maybe she was concerned about what Jesus and the others would think of her if she did not serve Jesus properly. That's Martha thinking and we do the same thing on a much bigger scale now in many of our churches. Mary paid a price to break tradition and do the scandalously unexpected thing, but she was rewarded. She had to make a real choice to set aside self and she chose Jesus instead. That's where I want to be.
The second type I'll call the Mary church. They two are missional, desire to reach souls and serve their community, but their primary focus is on being with Jesus. They have a worship mindset rather than a people mindset. They are missional because they are so in love with the Lord, they actually live it out all the time. They have come to realize they do not have to focus on people. They just need to focus on Jesus.
I think Martha people are attracted to the Martha church and Mary people to the Mary churches. Most people would say they want to be a Mary because Jesus rebuked Martha for scolding Mary, but I think most people are Marthas in the kingdom because that thinking is more self focused and less Jesus focused. The Mary and Martha story is not about being a good hostess or a serving person, its about a contrast in the mind and heart. Martha loved the Lord and desired to serve Him, but maybe she was concerned about what Jesus and the others would think of her if she did not serve Jesus properly. That's Martha thinking and we do the same thing on a much bigger scale now in many of our churches. Mary paid a price to break tradition and do the scandalously unexpected thing, but she was rewarded. She had to make a real choice to set aside self and she chose Jesus instead. That's where I want to be.