START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
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OBSERVE:
Paul elaborates on the diversity that exists within the unity of the church.
There is unity at the core of the church that derives from unity in Christ. Paul uses the simple yet elegant metaphor of the body to describe the church:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
Paul also demonstrates that this unity is due to the work of the Spirit that he has introduced earlier in 1 Corinthians:
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16).
Paul points to one, and perhaps two, key symbols that illustrate the unity of the church:
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Baptism is viewed not only as a sign of the entrance into faith, but as a unifying symbol. And it may be speculative, but he may also allude to the common cup of the Lord’s Supper:
and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
What is not symbolic or metaphorical are the walls of division that are destroyed by unity in the Holy Spirit. These socio-economic, cultural and ethnic divisions were very real in the first century A.D., between Jews or Greeks, slaves or free.
This is a recurring theme in Paul’s writing, that the divisions of Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, male and female, rich and poor, have been removed in the church. This community he describes is to be without classicism, without elitism, and without division.
Paul illustrates the unique interdependence of the church with the metaphor of the body. The body is a complex system of organs and members that all cooperate together so that the whole body may function.
Foot and hand cannot secede from the body, or the ear from the eye. There is a sense of integrity in the body when all the parts of the body function in harmony.
But he also points out that each part of the body of Christ is of equal value. In fact, those parts of the body that seem inferior or less respectable, he says, are of great value:
On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect (1 Corinthians 12:22-23).
This is in keeping with another core Biblical theme — that the humble are lifted up and that God is not partial to the rich or powerful or most gifted. However, there is no sense that anyone is diminished. Rather, the point he is making is that just as in the body, if one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers; and if one part of the body is honored the whole body is honored:
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
The body of Christ, like the human body, is organically and systemically connected and interdependent. Every part of the body is needed and valued.
Paul then turns more specifically to the various roles and offices of the church:
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.
We do get a hint here that there is a kind of hierarchy even though every member of the church is of equal value— first apostles, second prophets, and so on. But he is also clear that this is distinction of function, not value. Not all are called to be prophets, and not all are given the gift of tongues. But the gift of the Spirit is the source of all the gifts that enable the church to function properly.
APPLY:
It has been said that Christianity is not a solitary religion. This passage from 1 Corinthians 12 strongly confirms that this is true.
As the body functions most effectively when all its parts work in harmony for the health and well-being of the whole body, so the same is true of the church.
The church is the body of Christ. As the body of Christ, we view the hopes and hurts of the world through the compassionate eyes of Christ. As the body of Christ, we proclaim the Gospel through the words of Christ. As the body of Christ, we heal and feed and comfort as the hands of Christ. As the body of Christ, we walk in the slums and hospitals and prisons and nursing homes and board rooms and everywhere Christ walks.
Our unity is not merely represented by the organic unity of the body, however. At our best, Christianity transcends socio-economic, racial, ethnic, and even historic denominational divisions.
Sadly, in many ways this is still an ideal that is not yet fulfilled. But when the Spirit is truly present and given complete authority, we recognize that:
. . . in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
RESPOND:
Several years ago, I had surgery on my knee. The surgeon removed bone fragments that had chipped off and were floating around my knee joint. Recovering at home that same day, my head was swimming from the effects of the anesthetic. My wife had kindly turned on the radio to a news channel that she knows I enjoy so that I could listen while I convalesced in bed.
The problem was that I was unable to concentrate. So, I decided to turn off the radio. I reached for the radio knob with my left hand and that’s when things got complicated. I have a “trick” shoulder that occasionally dislocates at awkward moments. This was one of those awkward moments.
Now not only was my knee sore and unable to sustain my weight, and my head swimming, but my shoulder was dislocated! I lay there helplessly, realizing that all of this was because of a small bone that broke off in my knee!
When a small part of the body of Christ suffers, it affects the whole body. And when a small part of the body of Christ works effectively, it contributes to the well-being of the entire body.
Lord, my role in the body of Christ may be small, but that doesn’t mean that I’m unimportant in your eyes. Thank you that you have a role for all Christians to play in the body of Christ. May we be faithful, whether we preach, teach, heal, help, or pray. Amen.
PHOTO:
“1 Corinthians 12 verse 27” uses this photo: “Sinop beneath my arms” by M.G. Kafkas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
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