Martha Churches

3 Signs Your Church Needs to Call a “Time Out” . . .

“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’” (Luke 10:40).

The last thing I want to do is come across as judgmental, but the title of this article seems to suggest I’m headed in that direction.  The next to last thing I want to do is to create “straw men” or in this case “straw churches” just to tear them down.  There’s a lot to be said for a hard-working church that spends its money and time by serving others.

But what if much of that expenditure was the spiritual equivalent of Martha laboring on her own in the kitchen, overworked and overwhelmed?  Could it be that one woman’s determined yet misguided servant-hood could mark an entire congregation?  What would a Martha church look like anyway?

Martha churches are driven and hard-working, but frustrated.  We know two things about Martha, she was one hard-working woman and she was about to blow her top.  The Church has been full of hard-working women through the centuries; indeed churches could not have survived without them!

Martha was also frustrated, so frustrated in fact that she had no trouble getting in Jesus face and telling Him what He should do! Martha churches are likewise frustrated.  They assume that, if more fruit is desired, more work is required and people better get to it!  However, sometimes a lack of fruitfulness has less to do with not working hard enough and more to do with something God wants to say to your church.

Just as Martha learned a deeper lesson through Jesus’ gentle rebuke, so God may have a message for your church through its ministry frustration and pain.   At Blessing Point we’ve learned that Christ often speaks to churches through the ongoing frustrations they face.  The question is: Can we break out of our Martha-mindset long enough to sit at His feet and listen?

Martha churches often struggle with communication problems.  First, it seems Martha failed to communicate her expectations to Mary ahead of time, that her help would be needed in the kitchen. Then when Mary didn’t help, Martha became reactive and finally exploded and gave Jesus a piece of her mind she could ill afford to lose.  Moreover, Martha unloads her frustration on Jesus publicly: “Lord, don’t You care…? Tell her to help me!”

Think about your church for a moment. Do you find a lot of reactivity in your meetings as a church? Are there accusations, suspicions about what people are or aren’t doing? Are people commonly made to feel guilty for things they haven’t done, whether giving or serving?  If people are reacting in unhealthy ways, why might that be?  When did people in your church learn that behavior?  If you have meetings at any level where communication is reactive, then you are likely a Martha church.

To explore the reasons you are a Martha church you must ask questions like: are there any unhealed wounds in our church’s history that have created this kind of communication problem?  Is there a moment in our history where this kind of behavior started and now we see it as “normal” for us?  Consider a book like Healing the Heart of Your Church  by Dr. Kenneth Quick to explore answers to these questions.

Martha churches have stopped listening to Jesus. In a stunning reply to Martha’s outburst, Jesus responded: “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.”  Why did Jesus favor Mary in this dispute? The Bible tells us that Mary was seated at Jesus’ feet listening to his word. Luke intends us to see the great contrast here between Mary listening to Jesus and Martha busy, busy, busy and not listening at all.

Martha churches are so convinced they are doing the right things that they don’t need to listen to Jesus.  They replace waiting on God with problem-solving.  Leaders trade sitting at His feet with pragmatism and goal-setting and nose-to-the-grindstone pressure. Martha churches replace the “one thing necessary” with programs and policies and lots of activity.

That may describe most of America’s churches!  And it may also explain why our nation is in the state it is.  Sadly, many such churches need to call a “time out”: Stop the busy-ness and sit at Jesus’ feet until they hear His word for their congregation.

Hearing from Him afresh and responding to what He tells you may be the very thing that breathes a new spirit into your congregation, one that moves you away from a slavish, driven need to perform and toward a re-experience of the Divine Presence that can transform your church and your community.  How about it? Are you ready to take a “time out” and try sitting at Jesus’ feet?

How might God be speaking to your church through the frustrations it may be facing?

Rev. Mark Barnard serves as President of Blessing Point Ministries and is coauthor of the upcoming book, The Eighth Letter – Jesus Still Speaks! (Churchsmart 2014)

2 thoughts on “Martha Churches”

  1. Good words Mark. It’s so easy to get caught up in the “doing” and not the “listening” … for churches and people!

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