Why does our body have an appendix? It doesn’t seem to do anything. Unlike our other organs, it has no grand function. Yet it exists and can cause serious problems if it gets infected. Like it or not, the appendix is a part of our body. This is something to remember as Paul uses the many parts of our body to address another Corinthian controversy.
This controversy is born of pride and division. It seems the Corinthians valued some individuals’ gifts or acts of service more than others. To one degree or another, we all do that. In 1st Corinthians 12:12-31, Paul uses the metaphor of the human body to correct their attitudes about spiritual gifts, offices, and service. “For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12, NASB 2020)
Paul looks at this metaphor from several different angles. The first is, “For the body is not one part, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.” (1 Corinthians 12:14–16, NASB 2020) Sometimes, we disqualify ourselves from being part of Christ’s body because we are not like someone else. The first attitude we must deal with is our own. God made us the way we are, yet we often strive to be something or someone else. We may not understand how we fit in the whole, but we do fit.
Another angle Paul examined was trying to make everyone the same. “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired.” (1 Corinthians 12:17–18, NASB 2020) We need the various parts with their unique abilities. If we were all the same, we wouldn’t function as a body. In the body of Christ there is unity, the body functions together. However, unity is often confused with uniformity and alikeness. We are not alike, and yet we’re unified into a greater whole.
The final wrong attitude Paul addresses is this – “But now there are many parts, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”” (1 Corinthians 12:20–21, NASB 2020) This is where we say to one another because you’re different, you don’t belong. But the eye does need the hand since an eye can’t grasp or lift. The hand needs the eye to coordinate its movements.
Paul’s point is that there is value in every part of the body. Yet, our valuation of the diverse parts is often at odds with God’s value of them. Paul explains, “On the contrary, it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor, and our less presentable parts become much more presentable,” (1 Corinthians 12:22–23, NASB 2020) This is something we all need to grasp. So often, the upfront folks, the preacher and leaders, are honored. But in the body, it is the folks behind the scenes who are given honor by God.
The point is that we need one another, perhaps more than we know. You may have a title, but that doesn’t make you more important; it simply identifies the responsibility God has given you. A Senior Pastor is no more important to the body than the person who cleans the building, prays for folks, or provides meals to the sick. The difference is in responsibility, not a person’s value to the body.
Before Paul discusses offices and service areas, he concludes, “so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another. And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:25–26, NASB 2020) This caring for one another is not limited to the local body of Christ or your particular congregation. We are all a part of the body of Christ. We should celebrate the growth and success of other parts of the body. We should also recognize the sufferings of other parts of the greater body of Christ.
During Covid, the mantra was “We’re all in this together.” Honestly, it got a bit old hearing that all the time. But the truth is that in the body of Christ, we are literally all in this together regardless of the many things we divide over. There are parts of the body that I don’t understand, but we need them. And probably somewhere, someone thinks the same about you and me. But the truth is that we really do need one another. How this all works together is the next Corinthian Controversy.
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