Though Martha is lovingly and tenderly rebuked by Jesus, her symptoms (anger, frustration, agitation, anxiety, fretting, complaining, etc) reveal something very deadly going on in her heart at the same time those symptoms are occurring. When we who are doing ministry have the same symptoms as Martha, the same danger in Martha's heart resides in our hearts as well. What is that danger? For one, the same symptoms we see revealed in Martha that are in us at times come from a heart which is "alienated from Christ.. fallen from grace" (Galatians 5;4, 19-21). When the gospel of Jesus Christ (i.e. His work done on my behalf as preeimenent in my heart) is replaced with a "another gospel" (i.e. ministry-driveness as preeminent) I have moved away from Christ and the gospel. In other words, when ministry (a good thing) takes preemenence in the heart over the gospel (evidenced by the symptoms) it becomes a form of works righteousness (a bad thing) that alienates me from Christ.
Two common results of doing pastoral ministry with a works righteousness heart condition are a sense of weariness/"burn out" (see Matthew 11; 28, 29) and complaining ("Lord, don't you care...", I Corinthians 10;10).
How do we do ministry by faith......?
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