Want to be on Jesus' side?

My religion professor pointed out something very interesting in class this week. We were talking about Mary and Martha and their famous story about when Jesus comes into Martha's home and is all over the place trying to serve while Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha, exasperated, asks Jesus to tell Mary to come help her and to stop being idle. Jesus says in response, "Mary hath chosen that good part." Or, in other words, sorry, Martha, but Mary is just fine where she is, she is doing a good thing.

I have always been bothered when people use this story to teach the importance of sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening (which I believe is a fantastic thing, and should not be diminished.) However, I have often been able to place myself in Martha's shoes. I serve. I take care of people. If Jesus were to come into my house, my first instinct (if I were in Martha's day) would have been to take care of him, get him something to drink or eat, etc. I have never seen that as a bad thing, and that is what bothered me. This story made that seem like a bad thing.

However, my professor changed all of that thinking. He pointed out that people have different personalities. In this case, Martha is a do-er, a go-getter, a server. Mary is a listener, calm, and quiet. They were both acting according to their personalities, and they were both doing good. The problem came when Martha asked Jesus to help her change Mary's personality. She wanted Mary to be more like her. As my professor pointed out, Jesus will never take the side of the person who is pointing the finger, but rather come between the pointer and the one being pointed at. So, by coming between them, he had to help Martha see that Mary was not in the wrong, but that she was different from her.

Who you are does not make you a bad person. Martha was not doing anything wrong. But we are in the wrong when we wish that someone were more like us. Being Christlike is accepting people for who they are, and not trying to change bits of their personality that would make them more like us.

So, how about we all agree to judge a little less, and accept a little more? I know this is something that I need to work on. No one is perfect, right?

May we all be a little more Christlike and loving towards those around us.