What Jesus Wants from the Overachiever

Among the pitfalls of which Christians should be wary, surely one of the most prevalent in our day is the trap of a performance-driven life. For certain high achievers, contentment is hard to come by. Nothing is ever finished, done, or good enough—and it never will be. And while that sort of approach may lead to apparent success in academics, business, and so on, when we try to adopt it in the Christian life, we quickly make our faith little more than a long list of activities to do, lacking in life or spiritual health. If we wish to have a vital faith, we need to think less in terms of achievement for Christ and more in terms of commitment to Christ. The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38–42 is helpful in this regard, challenging those of us who are overachievers to sit down and rethink our priorities. Looking at Martha Martha was an achiever, and for good reasons. She was a woman of hospitality. She loved the Lord Jesus and “welcomed him into her house” (v. 38). What a wonderful service to be involved in! This story reveals, though, that there is a point where the blessing of service becomes a liability without the proper attitude. Martha was, on the one hand, distracted: “Ma...