The story of Mary and Martha is an excellent example of not only how different we are in our worship of the Lord but learning to have fellowship not only with the Lord but with each other in our differences.
We all know the story of their sibling rivalry. Well, Martha getting bent out of shape because her focus of why she was doing what she was doing was all wrong. Because of that she couldn't enter into to fellowship with Jesus and Mary enjoying that fellowship with Him bugged her to no end.
Martha may have started out with a heart of worship in doing what she was doing. Like most of us with the gift of service she more likely bit more than she could chew. She was drowning in her vision of serving Jesus. Soon it became a burden to her.
Mary on the other had was swept up in the fellowship of listening to Jesus' teachings. She sat at His feet and hung on every word that He said. Not wanting to miss out on a single word.
Two ways of worship, Martha with serving and Mary in taking every word in. Both are just as important as the other. Just when we get our focus off of why we do things that is when the differences really become a problem.
Martha lost the focus that she was doing what she was doing to serve the Lord. She lost the joy in the fellowship of serving. Most of all she lost the fellowship of being different from Mary. She wanted Mary to be like her and do what she was doing.
How this rings true in many of the churches today. I really love the way my pastor puts this. There are closed handed issue that the churches need to have in common: the virgin birth, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, salvation is only through Jesus... Then there are open handed things like: the use of instruments, lights, the type of songs, version of the Bible used....
It is the open handed ways of worship that we get hung up on. This is what has divided the Church over the years. We all cling to what we are comfortable with and if anyone should say otherwise we have nothing to do with them.
That is not at all what Jesus came to do. We can agree on the closed handed items and allow each other to worship with the open handed items. The group First Call did a song about our differences and finding fellowship in them called Undivided.