All the voices around you tell you to deliver, excel, perform.
The voices in your head say the same.
Two widespread, fundamental misunderstandings of what church is feed these voices.
The first is that church is just another platform, another facet, where you can perform and shine. Either to compensate for failure in another part of your life. Or to enhance success elsewhere—many churches offer opportunities for glory through a different route entirely. Sacred success in contrast to secular success.
The second is that church is a scaffold for gaining success or making progress in another area. Many churches headline with “Come here to be transformed.” or “Experience true change in Jesus.” This is not dissimilar to the way my atheist friends view religion: as something that can provide psychological benefits, which help you get ahead in other, more important, areas of life.
But both of these concepts of church—as a platform for success, or a pill for success—are antithetical to what Jesus taught and said.
One small, often overlooked, event in Jesus’ life started in this way:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. (Luke 10:38)
Then we’re introduced to a second character:
And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. (Luke 10:39-40)
Martha is frustrated, because she’s trying to deliver, excel and perform, but her sister isn’t buying into the same narrative. So, Martha intervenes to try and take control:
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.” (Luke 10:40)
So much of the time, this is how the performance trap manifests in our lives: trying to control things—and even (as in Martha’s case) control others.
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)
Martha pressed Jesus. But Jesus pressed back. Not because he was some kind of Zen Buddhist, or against activity or anything—but because Jesus believed his own message.
Jesus doesn’t tell Martha to try harder. In fact—the complete opposite—he exposes the problem: she’s living as if everything depends on her.
Later, when defending why he came to eat at the house of a thief and traitor, Jesus will say when challenged:
Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:9-10)
Jesus didn’t wait for this man to change. He declares who he is: “a son of Abraham.”
Jesus affirms the value of active service of others. Immediately before this event with Martha he had told the famous Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus certainly calls us to serve others. But what he teaches Martha here is that God has already decided who you are—before you lift a finger.
That was what Mary understood—and Martha had yet to learn:
I serve because I’m already loved.
Not: I serve to become loved.
All the voices around you tell you to deliver, to excel, to perform. The voices in your head say the same.
But the voice of Jesus says: Stop trying harder.
Sit. Listen. Receive.
That confidence—that God has given you worth already—doesn’t just spring out of nowhere. God gives it to us through his Word. And so, he gave you a sure and certain place you can receive that word—the Church. Come along in person any Sunday, or log in on Wednesday from anywhere online:
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