Effective Activity: Why Busyness Isn’t the Same as Faithfulness

The Honest Answer About Busy

I want to start with a quick show of hands. How many of you have said the words “I’m so busy” sometime in the last week?

That’s pretty much the whole room.

Here’s a follow-up, and this one’s a little more honest. How many of you said it as a complaint? And how many of you said it a little bit proud?

Because if we’re honest, it’s usually both. Busy is exhausting. We’re tired. But busy also makes us feel important. When somebody asks, “How are you doing?” and we say, “Oh, man, I’m just so busy,” part of what we’re really saying is, “I’m needed. People depend on me. What I am doing matters.”

Gallup has been asking Americans the same question for decades. Do you have enough time to do what you want to do? A lot of people say no. And the number has barely moved over all those years. This is not anything new.

Then Barna, a research group that studies churches, asked a question I think is even more interesting. They talked to Christians who aren’t growing in their faith and they asked them why. What’s keeping you from it? You’d think the number one answer would be, “I just don’t have the time.” Only 7 percent said lack of time.

Here’s what I think that tells us. Our problem usually isn’t the number of hours in the day. It’s where our attention goes with the hours we do have.

This morning we’re covering one of our core values. We call it Effective Activity. Here’s what we mean: busyness is not the same as faithfulness. We want everything we do at CCC to be connected to a real purpose, aimed at real people, and measured against the mission God has given us.

We have a mighty big toolbox here at CCC. A ton of volunteers. Ministry leaders who love Jesus. Programs and events and teams. But it raises a question. If our toolbox is so large, which tools are the right tools for the job in front of us?

The tool that works in urban Chicago is a different tool from what works in suburban Atlanta. And that’s a different tool than what works here in Colfax. You can’t just grab whatever’s shiny and assume it’ll fit.

A Living Room in Bethany

Open your Bibles to Luke 10:38-42. A woman named Martha is having one of the busiest afternoons of her life. And Jesus is sitting right there in her house.

Luke 10:38-40: “As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.’”

Before we go any further, I want to say something nice about Martha. She gets kind of a bad rap. Verse 38 says, “Martha welcomed him into her home.” She opened the door. Jesus didn’t have to knock twice. Welcoming Jesus is a good thing. Martha starts in the right place.

But Jesus didn’t show up by himself. Verse 38 says, “Jesus and the disciples.” That’s not one guest for dinner. That’s a crowd. On short notice. No grocery pickup. No DoorDash. If twelve people showed up at your house unannounced at 4:30 this afternoon, you’d be stressed too.

Martha isn’t the villain of this story. Every church that has ever fed a funeral dinner runs on Marthas. Some of you are Marthas. You’re the reason the coffee is hot. You’re the reason the tables are set up. Thank you. We need you.

But something happens to Martha.

Pulled in Different Directions

Verse 40: “Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.”

That word “distracted” is fascinating in the Greek. It’s periespato, and it means to be pulled around, dragged off in different directions. Picture a dog on a leash that sees three squirrels at the same time.

And it’s passive. It’s not something Martha is doing. It’s something being done to her. The tasks are pulling on her. The bread is pulling. The fish is pulling. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, “You know what? Today I think I’ll get distracted from Jesus.” It happens to good people doing good things.

Here’s a detail that makes this even more striking. Houses in villages like this were very small. Martha wasn’t off in some kitchen wing on the other side of a mansion. She could probably hear Jesus from where she was working.

Which means you can be in the same house as Jesus and still miss him. You can be at church every Sunday. You can serve on a team. You can be in this building every time the doors are open. And still miss him if you are too busy.

And then distraction turns into something else. “My sister just sits here. I do all the work. Help me.” Her focus has shifted from her guest to herself. The whole point of hospitality was to honor Jesus. And now she’s asking Jesus to fix her problem.

The NLT says, “Doesn’t it seem unfair to you?” But in the Greek, it’s literally, “Don’t you care?” Do you know where else we hear those words? The disciples shout them at Jesus in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee: “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” Martha’s in a storm of her own. Hers is just made of pots and pans.

She calls him “Lord.” And then, in the very same breath, she starts giving him orders. How often do we do the same thing? The music I like. The schedule that works for me. The way we’ve always done it.

So let me ask you. What’s your big dinner? What’s the good thing in your life right now that’s pulling you in different directions? It’s probably not a sin. That’s what makes it tricky.

And a second question. This one might sting. Who’s the last person you resented for not helping? Because that resentment is often the first sign we’ve drifted from Jesus.

What Mary Saw

Verse 39: “Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.”

Luke sets two positions right next to each other. Mary sits down beside Jesus, right at his feet. Then Martha “came to Jesus.” The word Luke uses there has the idea of coming up and standing over somebody. Mary’s on the floor, looking up. Martha’s standing over Jesus with her hands on her hips. One is the posture of a learner. The other is the posture of somebody bringing a demand.

In that culture, sitting at someone’s feet meant something specific. It meant you were their student. When the apostle Paul talks about his background in Acts 22, he says he was trained “at the feet of Gamaliel.”

And in that culture, that was usually a man’s seat. Women typically learned at home. But Mary took that seat anyway. And Jesus let her stay.

The Voice of a Friend

Verses 41-42: “But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

In the Greek, it’s actually, “Martha, Martha.” Jesus says her name twice. The night before he dies, he looks at Peter and says, “Simon, Simon.” It’s the voice of a friend who loves you and is about to tell you the truth.

This isn’t Jesus rolling his eyes. This is Jesus leaning in to teach.

Notice what Jesus doesn’t do. He won’t take sides in the sibling fight. He talks to Martha about Martha and Mary about Mary. He cares more about her heart than about who does the dishes.

The dinner gets eaten and forgotten. Be honest. Can you remember what you had for dinner last Tuesday? But what Mary heard stays.

There are plenty of good things we can be doing. But what’s the best thing? Mary’s one thing was Jesus.

Keeping the One Thing the One Thing

How does that work for a whole church?

Ephesians 5:15-16: “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.”

That word “opportunity” isn’t about cramming more stuff into your calendar. It’s about recognizing the right moment, the right tool, and using it well.

A church can be Martha. A church can have a full calendar, tired volunteers, and a quiet resentment toward the people who aren’t helping. We can do a lot of good things and miss the main thing.

So there are two questions we ask of every ministry and everything we do here at CCC.

Question 1: Are we keeping this biblical? Does this help people hear Jesus, or does it keep us too busy to? Martha’s dinner was a good thing. But it was keeping her from hearing him.

Question 2: Are we being the best shepherds we can be? While this thing is good, is there a tool that can accomplish the job better? Something can be good and still not be the best tool for this job, in this town, with these people. A program that was the perfect fit twenty years ago might not be the right tool today. And something brand new from a conference in Atlanta might not be the right tool for Colfax.

How Martha’s Story Ends

Luke doesn’t tell us what happened next in that living room. But John’s Gospel picks up Martha’s story later. Martha and Mary had a brother named Lazarus. Lazarus gets sick. By the time Jesus gets there, Lazarus has been dead for days.

And guess who runs out to meet Jesus. Martha’s still Martha. She’s still the one on the move. And she’s honest with him. She says, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She doesn’t put on a church face. She tells Jesus exactly how she feels.

And Jesus doesn’t scold her. He tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” And he asks her, “Do you believe this, Martha?”

John 11:27: “Yes, Lord, I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

That’s Martha. The same Martha who stood over Jesus with her hands on her hips. Jesus’ correction in Luke 10 didn’t push Martha away. It drew her closer. The woman who got gently corrected for being distracted ended up making one of the greatest statements of faith in the New Testament.

That’s what Jesus does with Marthas. He doesn’t throw them out. He draws them in.

The Empty Chair

Luke never tells us whether Martha put down the dish towel and sat down that afternoon. Luke leaves the chair empty at the feet of Jesus.

I don’t think that’s an accident. Because the seat at Jesus’ feet is still open.

Before CCC decides what to do, we take that seat together. Before we plan the calendar. Before we launch the next program. We sit at Jesus’ feet and we listen first. And then we ask our two questions about everything we do.

Church, that seat isn’t just for us as a church. Jesus is saving that seat for you.

Maybe you’ve been around church your whole life, and you’ve been a Martha for a long time. You’ve been serving, and serving, and serving, and somewhere along the way, you stopped listening. Jesus is saying your name twice this morning. Not to scold you. To invite you to sit down at his feet.

Or maybe you’ve never really been in the house at all. That’s okay. Mary sat close enough to ask questions. You can too.

The dinner gets eaten. What you hear at the feet of Jesus stays.

So when you walk out those doors and your week starts pulling on you again, remember this one thing. Busyness is not the same as faithfulness.

Small Group Questions

ICE BREAKER QUESTIONS

1. How often have you said “I’m so busy” in the last week? Be honest, when you said it, was it a complaint, a brag, or both? What does your answer reveal about how you view busyness?

2. If twelve people showed up at your house unannounced at 4:30 this afternoon, what would your first reaction be? Would you be more like Martha (go into overdrive to serve them) or more like Mary (just hang out and enjoy them)? Why?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Pastor Nate introduced the core value of Effective Activity: “Busyness is not the same as faithfulness. We want everything we do at CCC to be connected to a real purpose, aimed at real people, and measured against the mission God has given us.” Why is it so easy for churches and individuals to confuse busyness with faithfulness? Where in your own life have you been mistaking activity for actual spiritual progress?

2. Pastor Nate shared research from Barna: only 7% of Christians who aren’t growing in their faith blame lack of time. He said: “Our problem usually isn’t the number of hours in the day that we have available to us. It’s where our attention goes with the hours we do have.” If time isn’t your real problem, what is? Where is your attention going that’s keeping you from growing?

3. Pastor Nate spent time defending Martha: “Every church that has ever fed a funeral dinner runs on Marthas. Some of you are Marthas... Thank you. We need you.” Who are the “Marthas” in your life or in our church that you need to appreciate more? What’s the healthy version of being a Martha, serving faithfully without losing sight of Jesus?

4. The Greek word for “distracted” (periespato) in Luke 10:40 means “to be pulled around, dragged off in different directions.” Pastor Nate noted it’s passive, “something being done to her. The tasks are pulling on her.” What tasks are currently pulling at YOU in different directions? What would it look like to recognize distraction before it drags you off course?

5. Pastor Nate observed: “Houses in villages like this were very, very small... Martha could probably hear Jesus from where she was working.” He concluded: “You can be in the same house as Jesus and still miss him.” How is it possible to be at church every Sunday, serve on teams, be in the building constantly, and still miss Jesus? Where have you been “in the house” with Jesus but not actually listening?

6. Pastor Nate pointed out that Martha’s distraction turned into resentment: “My sister just sits here while I do all the work. Help me.” He said: “When I start keeping score of who’s working and who isn’t, it usually means I’ve stopped paying attention to Jesus.” Who’s the last person you resented for not helping? What might that resentment reveal about where your focus has drifted?

7. Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet”—a learner’s posture, a disciple’s seat. Pastor Nate noted this was culturally a man’s seat, “but Mary took that seat anyway. And Jesus let her stay.” What posture are you currently taking toward Jesus, sitting at His feet to learn, or standing over Him with demands? What would it look like this week to physically take the posture of a learner?

8. Jesus called her by name twice: “Martha, Martha.” Pastor Nate said: “When Jesus says somebody’s name twice in Luke’s Gospel, he’s speaking with care... This isn’t Jesus rolling his eyes. This is Jesus leaning in to teach.” How does hearing Jesus’ correction as loving (not scolding) change how you respond to conviction? Where might Jesus be lovingly saying your name twice this week?

9. Pastor Nate asked two questions the church uses for every ministry: (1) Are we keeping this biblical? Does this help people hear Jesus? (2) Are we being the best shepherds we can be? Is there a tool that can accomplish the job better? How could these two questions apply to your own calendar and commitments? What one commitment in your life needs to be evaluated against these questions this week?

10. Pastor Nate noted that Luke never tells us if Martha put down the dish towel and sat down: “Luke leaves the chair empty at the feet of Jesus. And I don’t think that’s an accident. Because the seat at Jesus’ feet is still open.” Will you take that seat this week? What specifically needs to be set down (even temporarily) to free you to actually sit at His feet and listen?