Society and media tell us so many things, projected by so many voices. We in the Christian bubble (and yes, it is a bubble) may hear things different than the mainstream, but I do not think that this has done us much good. The Christian society has created our own versions of mainstream, what is good to post and what isn’t. Selfies with Bible verse captions, pictures of the Bible passages we’re studying, all of those posts about short term missions trips. Let me be clear, I am not bashing these in the slightest! I am as guilty as anyone else! But I think there are things that we hear in Christian societies that are becoming outdated, biased, and inaccurate.

In Luke 10, we hear the story of when Jesus goes to Martha and Mary’s house. You might know this part. Mary is found sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to his teaching when Martha comes and reprimands her, asking Jesus to tell Mary to assist Martha in serving those they had welcomed into the house. Jesus then says that Martha is worrying too much and that Mary has chosen correctly in her placement. He will not send her away. I think this passage is then pointed at the women of the church. Women are told to be Mary rather than Martha, sit at the feet of Jesus and all that great stuff. Yes, that is wonderful. I love the image in my mind of Jesus surrounded by women, teaching and praying. I love the thought that I can go through life constantly at the feet of Jesus, being taught and loved and prayed over. But sometimes, that is not what is needed. Sometimes, that wouldn’t be best for my heart. Sometimes I need to be Martha.

I feel that sometimes we brush Martha off a little bit too much. We shoo her into her little corner as the anxious busy woman who does as she is told, works too much, and is the servant to a fault. And then we raise Mary up as the proper woman of God, sitting at the feet of Jesus like a little angel. Now, this may be a shock, but what if I told you, you can be both? That’s right. Be both a Mary and a Martha. Oh, the chaos! Oh, the humanity! What is the world coming to?

Martha is a woman of God, that much is clear in our experience of her in the Bible. She is also a woman who lives in an incredibly harsh and patriarchal society, a woman who is constantly living up to expectations and norms that we can hardly imagine today. In the times of Jesus, a woman’s place was in the kitchen. And the bedroom. Never parties, never meetings, rarely were they allowed to go to church or other social gatherings. The life of a woman was simple and outlined for them before they were even born. A girl was born, rarely as celebrated as a baby boy. Then she was raised, mostly confined in her father’s home, being taught how to cook and keep house. Once she reached adolescence, she was married off, most likely to a man much older than she. She then was confined to her husband’s house, living largely as a housekeeper, caretaker, and child bearer. The purpose of women was to have children. That much was clear. Once this was established, they found that women need not be educated; not in the ways of the world or of the church. That is the world Mary and Martha lived in.

I think Martha is incredible. I think she is relatable, admirable, and just plain great. She is a servant. That is where her heart is, that is where she goes when she’s anxious -- into servant mode. I do not see anything wrong with that. She is a caretaker, housekeeper, and a servant in the best ways possible. She was anxious, and who wouldn’t be with the Son of God sitting in your house? She had things that needed to get done, things that she wanted to be perfect. Martha was going the extra mile for the Lord and the others they likely welcomed into their home with him. She courageously stood up and did what she was taught to do. And she did it well. And then she had the audacious courage to confront her sister and Jesus about it. She knew the place of women in that society, she knew that women were not to be taught. She knew that what women could do was serve, and it was her responsibility to do it to the best of her abilities. She served Jesus with all her heart, and isn’t that what we all need to do?

I think Mary is amazing too. I think she is relatable, admirable, and just plain great. She saw the opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear the words of God and took it. She lived in a world where she wasn’t considered worth educating, where it was assumed that Jesus’s words would fall on deaf ears. She saw a man who loved her and who taught truth, and she sat. She had the audacious courage to dare to learn. She had the guts to sit at the feet of a man and listen, to disobey cultural norms (as well as her sister’s orders, most likely), all to hear truth. She listened to Jesus with all her heart -- isn’t that what we all need to do?

Both Mary and Martha were women who loved and were loved by Jesus. They were unique and different. They are both brilliant images of who a woman of the Lord is to be. They are both incredible role models. Mary and Martha are who I aspire to be. I want to sit at the feet of Jesus. I want to be audacious enough to go where I am forbidden to hear the Word of God. I want to serve the Lord. I want to have the might to exceed my expectations and serve with my whole heart. I want to be a woman of the Lord, and I think that means balance. Balance between cultural roles and defiance, between quiet courage and loud audacity, between listening and serving, between Mary and Martha. I want to be a woman of the Lord, and I want as many role models as I can find. I want to be a woman of the Lord, not as a replica of Mary, or Martha, or some other person that Christian society approves. I want to be a woman of the Lord as myself, a woman who loves Jesus.