Which Is the Priority in Relation to Jesus – Service or Worship?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Grace in Focus

Episode Title: Which Is the Priority in Relation to Jesus – Service or Worship?
Host(s): Katherine Wright and Ken Yates (with insights from Bob Wilkin)
Podcast: Grace Evangelical Society
Release Date: June 2, 2025
Length: ~13 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the biblical account of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38–42) to address a crucial question: In our relationship with Jesus, should we prioritize service or worship? Hosts Katherine Wright and Ken Yates, referencing a prior discussion with Bob Wilkin, analyze how this passage applies, especially in ministry and church contexts. They consider the balance between serving (like Martha) and sitting at Jesus’ feet (like Mary), examine common misinterpretations, and discuss practical applications for contemporary Christians, particularly women in church life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Setting: Mary and Martha’s Story

• Scripture Reference: Luke 10:38–42
  • Jesus visits Mary and Martha’s home; Martha is busy serving, Mary sits listening to Him.
  • Martha is frustrated and asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her; Jesus affirms Mary’s choice: “Mary has chosen the good thing.”

(02:00–02:44)

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Service in the Church: Honoring All Work

• Affirmation of Service:

  • Katherine emphasizes empathy for Martha: her desire to serve is relatable, common, and valuable.
  • Ken notes that "servant" roles, exemplified by deacons in Acts 6, are essential in the church, not inferior to teaching or preaching roles.

• Devaluation Misconception:

  • Bob Wilkin’s point is echoed: behind-the-scenes service is often undervalued, yet likely to be richly rewarded by God (04:27–05:04).
  • “If anything, I think those works will be the most rewarded.” – Katherine Wright (04:01)

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Misapplications and Dangers of Extremes

• Counterbalance:
  • Ken warns against interpreting the passage as a license for laziness or spiritualizing inactivity: "If that happened, the place would fall apart if we didn't have those services." (05:04–05:33)
  • He points to Luke 14, where Jesus upholds serving as highly honored in the Kingdom.

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What Does the Passage Actually Teach?

• A Unique Opportunity:

  • Katherine underscores the singularity of the moment: "This is a very unique moment in literally mankind's history. The Savior was there in her home." (07:52)
  • Jesus’ miraculous ability (multiplying bread) means Martha need not be anxious about practicalities.

• Issue of Distraction:

  • The passage centers on Martha’s distraction by excessive service, not the acts of service themselves:
    • “She was so doing so many things that she was not doing the most important thing.” – Ken Yates (09:33)
    • The “good part” is to sit and learn from Jesus, keeping intimacy with Him the priority.

• Broader Application:

  • Although often shared in women’s ministry, this lesson is universal:
    • “I think there's a lot... that we as believers can get so distracted by... busy work.” – Katherine Wright (10:03)
    • Burnout in ministry/service stems from neglecting devotion or study in pursuit of endless tasks.

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Bitterness and Burnout

• Root Issue Identified:
  • Good works can lead to pride and resentment if done from obligation or a desire for recognition rather than worship:
    • “We can become distracted like Martha and dare I even say, puffed up in our good work sometimes.” – Katherine Wright (10:28)
    • “Why aren't they helping me?... that's problematic, for sure.” – Ken Yates (11:08)

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Application for Women—and All Believers

• Encouragement to Study:
  • Katherine laments the view that Bible study isn’t “for women” or is less valuable than practical service:
    • “That women do need to draw near to him in his Word and study it.” – Katherine Wright (11:59)
  • Ken adds, “Obviously, that’s one of the lessons here. No, Mary was doing the right thing—listening.”

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Final Thoughts: Balance, Not Either-Or

• Balancing Service and Worship:
  • Ken suggests Mary probably did help prepare but wasn’t “distracted” by it, emphasizing balance (12:10–12:31).
  • The core message: serve faithfully, but don’t let even good service substitute for worship and learning at Jesus’ feet.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Unsung Service:

  "The service that is done behind the scenes by women like Martha is diminished and seen as inferior. Obviously, we would greatly disagree with that. If anything, I think those works will be the most rewarded."
  – Katherine Wright (04:00–04:13)

• On Burnout:

  "People who go into ministry and then they're only in for a couple years because they get burnt out, because they just get so overloaded... they forget the most important thing."
  – Katherine Wright (10:07–10:21)

• On True Focus:

  "We don’t look at the commands, we look at the commander."
  – Quoting Johnny Amela, related by Katherine (10:44)

• On Application to Women Today:

  “Women do need to draw near to Him in His Word and study it. If we wanted to apply it to women today.”
  – Katherine Wright (11:59)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Mary & Martha Passage Introduced: 01:55–02:44
• Role of Service in the Church: 03:45–04:27
• The Devaluation of Service—A Mistake: 04:27–05:04
• Service vs. Worship Misapplications: 05:04–05:33
• The True Message: Distraction & Focus: 09:13–09:48
• Burnout & Bitterness from Service: 10:56–11:26
• Application for Women & All Believers: 11:51–12:05
• Balanced View (Mary likely helped too): 12:10–12:31

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Conclusion

The episode concludes that both serving and worshiping are necessary, but intimate devotion—sitting at Jesus’ feet—must never be eclipsed by good, even essential, works. The challenge for all believers is to avoid distraction and resentment, pursue service gladly, and maintain a heart of worship and learning.

Final Thought:
Keep grace in focus—embrace both service and worship, but never let service crowd out the joy and nourishment of being with Christ.

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For more Free Grace resources and articles, visit faithalone.org.

Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry.

[B]

From the Grace Evangelical Society.

[C]

Jesus paid a visit one day to Mary and Martha's house and you remember what he found between them, A disagreement about the different priorities of serving the Lord and worshiping Him. So is it possible to overdo our good works of service? We will discuss it just ahead. Thank you for joining us here on Grace in Focus. Grace in Focus is the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Gracie Evangelical Society. There's lots to learn about us on our website faithalone.org we have hundreds of articles related to theology and grace that are free to you. And I would also like to point you toward our free subscription magazine, also called Grace in Focus. It is a full size magazine published six times per year. You would enjoy reading it and it would look good on your coffee table. Free means free. All except if you live outside of the 48 lower United States. You do have to pay the postage. Find out more, Get Subscribed sign [e-mail] now with today's discussion, here are Katherine Wright and Ken Yates.

[B]

Just recently the two of us had a conversation with Bob Wilkin, our boss at ges, and it was over a very fascinating topic, one that Katherine especially has a lot of dealings with. She has a lot of ministry with ges, with some of the women, some of the Zoom classes and stuff like that. And it deals with Mary and Martha.

[A]

That's right. Any woman who's listening to this podcast is like, oh yeah, Mary and Martha, I know that passage.

[B]

So why don't you summarize for us what the discussion is about?

[A]

Well, there's a lot to cover there. So talking about this account. So it's in Luke chapter 10. And I mean, I think most of our listeners know it, but just in case you don't, the Lord comes to Mary and Martha's house, the Sisters of Lazarus, and they're having a meal and Martha gets all busy taking care of the food, making sure everything is arranged. But Mary, her sister, is at the feet of the Lord, listening to him teach. And Martha, I think pretty relatably gets irritated and comes to the Lord and says, lord, tell her to help me. And the Lord, in my opinion, rebukes her and says, you're worried and troubled about all these things. But Mary has chosen the good thing here and I'm not going to take it from her.

[B]

And this is found in Luke chapter 10. That's right, verses 38 through 40. And of course this is a very famous passage. I mean, how many times have we Heard Martha. Martha. The rebuke of the Lord here. And so. Okay, I just wanted to let our listeners know where they could find it.

[A]

Yeah. And part of the discussion with Bob was, which I think is a common take on Martha, which is that I think we all feel pretty sympathetic towards her, you know, for someone who is serving and that, you know, she's doing a good thing. She's. She's bringing the Lord in and she's making sure everybody's getting fed, and so she's serving. And so when we think about.

[B]

And by the way, I mean, every church, not just church, but just all of us know women like that. They do everything, just do everything at the church. They get everything ready. They know everyone and how much we appreciate them and we love them.

[A]

Yeah, right.

[B]

And by the way, they're servants.

[A]

And they're servants. And that's usually. I mean, I. Not to stereotype, but I think a lot of women see that as their spiritual gifting. Not always, but, you know, they see their spiritual gifts as in service a lot of the time. And so what happens? And there has to be a statement made that, yes, serving is good. Right. This was Bob's point, that when you get to the deacons in Acts, for example, when it was, you know, when they needed to take care of the widows, the word deacon means servant.

[B]

And so, yeah, somebody had to. Yeah, apostles said it's not right for us to wait tables, but somebody needed to wait tables.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Somebody needed to do the work there for the widows there in Acts, chapter six.

[A]

Right. And so I think one of the things that Bob was trying to pull out here is that, you know, we can look at some acts of service and in many ways, see that is inferior work. That's also a common thing. You know, the preachers up there doing the big speaking and the missionaries going out on the missions field. And a lot of the times the service that is done behind the scenes by women like Martha is diminished and seen as inferior. And obviously, we would greatly disagree with that. If anything, I think those works will be the most rewarded in.

[B]

And the other thing we can say is, you know, some people will look at this and say, okay, what does Mary and Martha teach us? Mary and Martha teach us that we just need to sit at the feet of Jesus all day long and be lazy. And, you know, we don't need to do the grunt work, a military term. You know, we don't need to do the dirty work. We just need to just study the Bible, go to church. And we all know that if that happened, the place would fall apart if we didn't have those services.

[A]

And it's counter to the Lord's teaching. Later in Luke 14, he speaks to the he's invited to a Pharisee's home who I believe is a believer. And he talks about the importance of servanthood and that the last will be first and the first will be last, meaning those who are servants will be the most rewarded in the kingdom to come. So obviously it's not teaching that to be a servant is wrong. That's not what the passage is dealing with.

[B]

Well, let me ask you a question. Just as we're doing this discussion in your ministry with women, especially around ges, how do they see this account? How do they interpret what's going on with Mary and Martha when the Lord.

[C]

Rebukes Martha, we will rejoin in just a moment. But years ago, Zane Hodges wrote the Gospel Under Siege. Sadly, this is and GES president Bob Wilkin has recently written its sequel. Bob's new book, the Gospel is Still Under Siege is a book about theological clarity on the biblical teaching about eternal salvation. It is available now. Secure yours today at the Grace Evangelical Society's bookstore. Find [e-mail] store. That's faithalone.org store. Now back to today's content.

[A]

It's interesting. First, I want to say that not too long ago I was seeing this video of a very clearly left leaning woman who was speaking on this passage and she was when I say left lean, I'm just very liberal in thinking and I'm not even sure if she was a believer. But she was arguing that the Lord was wrong here, that Martha was rebuking him, that, you know, Martha comes to.

[B]

Him and says and Martha was right.

[A]

And Martha was right and that the Lord should.

[B]

We would disagree with that.

[A]

We would strongly disagree with that.

[B]

The Lord was not wrong.

[A]

But what's interesting to answer your question is I do think that as a general rule, whether women are going to say it or not, I think a lot of women do kind of favor Martha in this account. I think that they relate to her. They relate to her that I'm doing all this work and this lazy bum over there ain't helping me. Why ain't my sister helping me? I think that and even when we teach the passage and we walk away, it's there's still in practice. I do think that women look at this and like I still think Martha's probably right. Which you know, to our discussion with Bob earlier, I think what I told him is that two things can be true at the same time. That obviously, yes, servant, servanthood, serving in the body of Christ is extremely important. But I don't think that's what this passage is dealing with. I don't think that's the message here. First, I think we have to acknowledge that this is a very unique moment in literally mankind's history. That the Savior was there in her home, and that she had the opportunity to learn from him in that moment. This is the guy who can take just a couple pieces of bread and some fish and feed tens of thousands of people. So you really don't need to be that worried about the food.

[B]

I think that's a really important point because here in Luke 10:41, he says you are worried and troubled about many things.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

He's not saying, hey, listen, don't worry about it. Don't worry that there's not toilet paper in the bathroom or something like that. But Martha was just doing all kinds of things.

[A]

Well, and I think even more interesting, or not more interesting, but also to that point, right before that, Luke says that she was distracted. And so I think that that's really the core of the issue that, by the way.

[B]

Distracted with much serving against.

[A]

Yes, much serving.

[B]

So there's an emphasis here on that she wasn't just a servant. She was. And I may be speaking out of turn as a guy, but it's. She was so doing so many things that she was not doing the most important thing.

[A]

That's exactly right.

[B]

Which is listening to the Lord.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

She could have made sure everything was acceptable and still listen to the Lord.

[A]

And I think you just said, you know, speaking out of turn as a guy. I think this is also applicable to men. You know, it's easy to cut. This is one of those passages that women hear all the time. But I think there's a lot. This is the universal thing that we as believers can get so distracted by the. I use the word busy work. Now, Bob didn't like that. But I do think there is such a thing as busy work that we can get so burdened. And we hear about burnout in the church. People who go into ministry and then they're only in for a couple years because they get burnt out, because they just get so overloaded with. With all of these things, and they. They forget the most important thing. And so if we wanted to make an application, which is true for both men and women, part of the thing for me is good works, obviously, we are to do them But Johnny Amela, a friend of ours, he often describes it like this. We don't look at the commands, we look at the commander. And I think we can become distracted like Martha and dare I even say, puffed up in our. In our good work sometimes. Right. That I do all these things and we can be like Martha and get bitter about it.

[B]

Resent that others aren't.

[A]

Yeah. Why aren't they helping me? And I think that's a problem, if I could say, for women, I do think that we tend to do that where we. We give ourselves all of these responsibilities that we have to do, take care of all these things, and then we become very bitter. And that's problematic, for sure.

[B]

And certainly the Lord is teaching here that women need to listen to the Lord too.

[A]

Yes. And. Yeah. And so you. Okay, now we're talking about application and where we take this. But I do think that I have run into this a good bit. Where women do feel like, well, studying the Bible, that's not as important as doing these other things.

[B]

Or they think that's not really for the women.

[A]

Right.

[B]

That's not right. Which is really sad.

[A]

It is sad.

[B]

Obviously, that's one of the lessons here. No, Mary was doing the right thing listening to.

[A]

Right. That women do need to draw near to him in his Word and study it. If we wanted to apply it to women today.

[B]

Can I make something that's not written, a comment about something that's not in the text?

[A]

Sure.

[B]

I'm guessing that Mary probably did do things to get the house ready before the Lord got there. I mean, I just don't think Mary. She just wasn't doing all the things that Martha was doing and wasn't distracted. She knew what was most important. But I have to think that Mary was cleaning before he got there to make it presentable.

[A]

But maybe I'm reading it. No, I think I favor that view as well, but. All right. Well, I think that this is a good stopping point. Right?

[B]

Yes. This was a great discussion. I hope that all of us benefited from it. And remember, keep grace.

[A]

Keep grace in focus.

[C]

Be sure to check out our daily [e-mail] they are short and full of great teaching, just like what you've heard today. Find [e-mail] resources blog. We would love to hear from you. Maybe you've got a question, comment or some feedback. If you do, please don't hesitate to send us a message. Here's our email address. It's radioaithalone.org that's radioaithalone.org and when you do very important. Please let us know your radio station call letters and the city of your location on our next episode, a discussion about John 3:36 the wrath of God abiding on the unbeliever. Please join us and in the meantime, let's keep Grace in focus.

[B]

The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.