The Omnibus

Issue date: 4/15/04 Section: The Gallery

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In her book "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World," published in 2000, Joanna Weaver encourages women to examine themselves and find a balance between worshipping God and serving others. She claims women today rarely have time for intimacy with God because of their busy schedules, but she emphasizes the importance of that intimacy. According to Weaver, women must understand six things to achieve a heart like Mary's: Satan's attacks, the importance of intimacy, the importance of service, responding to God, gratefulness and the process of balancing worship and service.

Satan attacks with his "Three Deadly D's of Destruction." They are distraction, discouragement and doubt. Satan easily distracts women by getting their focus off God and onto themselves. This distraction will lead to discouragement. When Christians are not focused on God, they become weary and are likely to give up. 

Discouragement then leads to doubt. Doubt causes them to pull away from God and do things on their own. "Does God care?" According to Weaver, a woman must answer that question to overcome Satan's attacks. "Until you settle that question once and for all, you will never get past doubt to true belief," she said.

If a woman does not trust Christ, she cannot be intimate with him. According to Weaver, God enjoys fellowship with his children so much that he misses them when they do not spend time with him. She calls it "living room intimacy."

True intimacy requires a lot of a Christian, though. Weaver writes that getting close to Jesus means they can no longer hide their inadequacies. In the Gospel of Luke, the doctor tells the story of Christ's visit to the home of Mary and Martha. While Martha was busy making preparations for the guests, Mary sat beside Christ, listening to his teachings. When Martha asked Christ to tell Mary to help her with the work, Christ responded, "There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her." Mary was being intimate with God, but she had to give up service work for a while. Martha, on the other hand, gave up intimacy for service.

Weaver claims "kitchen service" also has its place in a Christian woman's life. After intimacy with Christ, love should pour out of her through service. She should not have to work at gaining the fruits of the spirit. "You get connected to the vine and pretty soon you've got zucchini," Weaver writes. 

Christians should minister as Christ ministered. Weaver offers three principles of ministry according to Christ's life on Earth:  Jesus ministered as he went on his way, as he went out of his way and in all kinds of ways. Jesus made himself available while going about his daily business, but he also put aside his daily plans to meet others' needs, and he ministered in a variety of ways-not just teaching but also healing, washing feet, encouraging, etc. Women should look for ministry opportunities in their daily lives but should also think of other opportunities to minister and in other ways. 

According to Weaver's book, a woman needs to learn how to respond to God's will and his discipline. His infinite plan is hard for finite minds to understand.  "[I]t may not follow human logic. In fact, it may often seem to go directly against what we believe about God," Weaver writes.

Another thing a woman must know before she can have a heart for intimacy is gratitude. She should be grateful for Christ's love instead of greedy for what He can do for her. "The secret to happiness lies not in getting what you want, but in wanting what you have," Weaver states. A woman seeking deeper intimacy with Christ must realize and be grateful for the blessings Christ has already bestowed on her. 

Weaver dedicates a chapter on the art of balancing living room intimacy and kitchen service. Christians are commanded to love both God and their neighbors, but a balance must be found. Weaver suggests women should say no to certain ministries, so they can say yes to God when He calls them to something. God gives Christians two principles that help keep the weight balanced:  keeping the Sabbath and practicing hospitality.  Sabbath rest ensures Christians take special time out of their hectic lives for rest, worship and intimacy with God. Hospitality ensures they take time to serve others and fellowship. They need both living room intimacy and kitchen service to maintain a healthy Christian walk.

To wrap up the book, Weaver emphasizes that developing intimacy and service and finding a balance between the two is a process. "It takes a process to make a product," she writes.  But she encourages readers to persevere-focus on Christ and surrender their lives.              The book has a conversational tone and is therefore a quick read. Weaver also includes study guides for each chapter in the back of the book.

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