Patterns of Behavior Versus Incidents of Behavior Most people do not like being judged by one action, behavior, or attitude. For example, a coworker is generally easy going and cooperative with others in her department. One day she had a huge argument with her husband, and it happened to be hurtful enough that she carried her anger over into the work environment. On that particular day a new assistant manager comes in, observes the attitude and brands her a difficult and angry employee. Is that a fair and accurate assessment? Does it do justice to this person’s character and integrity? For example, I think Martha often gets a bad review because of the one incident where Jesus scolded her for her attitude towards her sister Mary (John 10:40 English Standard Version). However, to go back to the beginning of the story, it was Martha who invited Jesus into her house (Luke 10:38). In John 11:5 as the story of Lazarus's illness and pursuant death was being introduced, the Scriptures state, "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Martha was mentioned first and by name, and Mary was the only one not mentioned by name. I will not venture as to the implications of that, except to say that Martha had a close relationship with Jesus, as did Mary and Lazarus. As the story continues, when Martha heard that Jesus was coming after Lazarus’s death, she went out to meet Jesus, while Mary stayed at home (John 11:20). This time Martha had to go get Mary at Jesus's request (John 11:28). Clearly, in this incident Martha is the one who is drawing close to the Lord, while Mary in her grief and disappointment is withdrawing and shutting herself away. The next time the two are mentioned is at a dinner before Passover. The Scriptures succinctly state that Martha served (John 12:2), and Mary is back to focusing on the Lord as she anoints Jesus's feet (John 12:3). From this, it seems to me, that Martha had an incident of neuroticism in the Luke 10 incident; however, as a pattern of life, Martha was a servant and seems to rate higher on the conscientiousness scale. Mary, with her "on again, off again" pattern seems to me to rank higher on the neuroticism scale.