Do Less to Do More
The idea of doing less to do more sounds like a bit of an oxymoron and that’s because it is. Our fast-paced society believes that the key to productivity is finding ways to get more done. However, if we look to the Bible we can find that there is a key instance where doing less actually resulted in a better outcome than taking on more work.
In Luke 10:38-42, Luke recalls the story of Martha and Mary:
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
There are so many lessons that we can learn from the story of these two sisters. Martha and Mary had two different outlooks on life. Martha was focused on being a good hostess whereas Mary’s attention was purely on Christ. Martha was distracted. However, her distraction wasn’t anything bad or sinful. In the eyes of society and in accordance with the culture of the time, she was doing the right thing. She was serving her guests and of course, the guest of honour, Jesus. The text suggests that Martha was devastated that she wasn’t receiving praise for the blood, sweat and tears that she was putting into being a good hostess. This raises an important question, “Why was she doing it?’
Many have often shunned Martha and boldly proclaimed that if they were in the presence of Jesus at that very moment they wouldn’t be concerned with the earthly obligations, as Martha was. Rather, they claim they would just be sitting at the feet of Jesus taking in His good news. But how many times in our serving and ministries are we distracted from what the purpose of our service is? Or how many times do we sulk and whine when we aren’t given the attention we think we deserve for the hard work that we are putting in?
The truth is that we all have a bit of Martha in us. We take on all these responsibilities and do more but get less done. At the end of the day, our goal in our salvation is to be like Jesus and to get closer to Him. Getting closer to Jesus does not come from taking on more ministries and responsibilities, it comes from spending time in His presence. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and she gained more in that moment than Martha did in the kitchen. The saddest part in the story is that Jesus was in Martha’s house, yet she had no peace. So often as Christians, because we are doing so much and are anxious about who’s watching us and what praises we get, we’ll be in the house of God, with the presence of God moving so forcefully yet, like Martha, we have no peace. When you’re distracted, you no longer see Jesus, even if He’s right in front of you like He was in Martha’s house.
It is essential to note that when Jesus gently rebuked Martha in verse 41-42, He wasn’t saying that what she was doing wasn’t important, He was just trying to show her that He is more important. Your ministry and the service you provide is very important and we are called to serve (See 1 Peter 4:10-11) but Jesus is actually more important than that service. When you take on so many tasks and they become a distraction, that’s when you miss Jesus.
So how do we do less to do more, you ask? We simply become Marys. Jesus says to Martha, “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Mary did less than Martha, yet she gained more because the time she spent at the foot of Christ was more precious than the glory that Martha wanted to gain from being seen as a good hostess. Ultimately, we need to sit at the feet of Christ, hear His word and enjoy His presence like Mary did. This is how we do less to do more.