Luke 10:40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me."

Ministry is basically service and service involves work that is usually not convenient. It takes sacrifice. However, in this excerpt on ministry, I would want to emphasize not being distracted because of our service but keeping our focus on the main things.

In the scripture above, Jesus and his disciples were on their way and came to a village where Martha opened her home to Him. As they got into the house, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to him while Martha was making preparations. After some time, Martha came to them complaining that Mary wasn’t helping her.

Jesus described what Mary was doing as better than what Martha was doing. I thought making those preparations for Jesus and the disciples was a good thing (service) but Jesus said that Mary had chosen what was better. Sometimes in our service to God, we may get distracted and lose focus of the things that really matter.

While Martha was engulfed in doing for Jesus, Mary was engrossed with being for Jesus.

What this teaches me is that who you are is more important to God than what you do. There are many who do things for God but are not ‘God people’. In other words, they are more interested in looking spiritual than being spiritual in reality.

Mary was listening to Jesus. The main focus of the Christian faith is establishing a relationship with God. And we do that through prayer and the word. Acts 6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. This is what would shape our ministry. The more we get to know God for ourselves through His Word and prayer, the better we become at serving Him. The truth is that you can’t serve God beyond the level of your worth of Him. Our worth of God is based on our knowledge of Him. The way you serve Him is greatly influenced by how you view Him. So what we really need to focus on is getting our view and perception of God right, then we can do ministry right.

Service without true love for who you claim to serve would just be a waste of time. There are a lot of people who are busy with the Lord’s work, but whose hearts are really not with Him. For instance, if someone sends me on an errand, I may decide to go even though it irritates me. I may decide to go because I want people to see me as respectful but on my way, I may be grumbling and complaining. There’s no way you can be blessed by serving that way.

The problem with Martha was that she was serving to please them. The question is: Who asked her to go make preparations? No one. She did so by herself so I don’t see why she came back complaining. Service is a good thing but we must be mindful of the most important things. Most people usually complain when serving God because others are not recognizing them. They are mostly seeking attention and want to be noticed and it shows that the service is not coming from a good heart. This was what Martha was doing.

Oftentimes, we are zealous without knowledge. Romans 10:2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. You could be doing a lot for God but outside of the knowledge of Him.

In Philippians 1:9-10, Paul said to the people of God: And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.  Looking at the words in bold, we see that these people had love but Paul said their love needed to abound in knowledge. Before this, he said in verse 3 that He thanked God for them because of their partnership in the gospel. They were doing great things for God and it was commendable but they still needed something else.

And what would be the result of their love abounding in knowledge? They would discern what is best. It means that we may be doing a good thing but not doing it the best way. Another result is to be blameless for the day of Christ because you could do all that for God and lose your reward. Surprised? The Bible says it explicitly. In Matthew 7:22, the Bible says that on the last day, many will say they prophesied, performed miracles, etc. for the Kingdom but God will say he doesn’t know them. And in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, every man’s work will be tested with fire and if that work is burned, they suffer loss. So even though the person is saved, they have no crown or rewards in eternity.

I’m very sure some people would say they sang in the choir, headed the women’s department, played instruments, preached, and led prayers. 2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed rightly handling the word of truth. We need the help of God in ministry or service. And so knowing Him is key to fulfilling our ministry. As you serve, get to know God on a personal level. You can’t bribe God with your service if you have no personal relationship with the God you claim to serve.

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