Paul has been talking to the Corinthians about spiritual gifts and their diversity in the beginning of Chapter 12. Some have the gift of teaching, some have helps, some have the gift of giving, some have the gift of ruling. Now beginning in verse 12 he begins to talk about the unity of the body of Christ. Within the body of Christ there is great diversity and yet there is unity. To help us understand this Paul uses the analogy of a human body. He stands before us a human body and draws lessons from it through the rest of the chapter as to its parallel to the functioning of the Body of Christ.
The human body is an amazing organic creation of God. It is marvelously complex yet unified, with unparalleled harmony and interrelatedness. When the members of the human body do not function in harmony it is due to disease. It is a sad sight to see a body that because of disease will not respond to its head. For example Muscular dystrophy is a group of inherited diseases: gradual wasting away of certain limb and trunk muscles, marked by increasing limitation of normal motor activity. Cerebral palsy is a disorder in which muscular control and coordination are impaired, where speech, hearing problems and mental retardation may occur. Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic degenerative disease of the central NERVOUS SYSTEM in which patches of the myelin sheath around nerve fibers are lost. The cause is unknown. Symptoms include disturbances in vision, speech, balance, and coordination, as well as numbness and tremors.
When we do not function in unity as the body of Christ we look like a human body with one of these diseases. Without unity we are as productive for Christ as a human body is that has one of these diseases. In verse 12 Paul gives an illustration of unity using the human body.
1 Corinthians 12:12 (NKJV) For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
There are many members to the body, there are arms, feet, eyes, lungs, and all these members make up one body. There are many different parts but only one body.
So also is Christ—lit., "the Christ," i.e., the whole Christ, the head and the body. The head and body comprise one person, here called "the Christ." As such, the church (as body and head) is the corporate Christ, the composite Christ. It is more than a mere figure of speech to say that the church is the Body of Christ. We can no more separate Christ from His church than we can separate a body from its head.
This is an amazing statement that we are part of Christ. That is what Paul is saying. We constitute the means by which Christ functions within the world, and it is very important that you hold that concept clearly in your mind if you want to understand how the church works. It is a body with many members, and yet it is only one body. It is not many bodies, i.e. many denominations. They are all tied together by sharing the same life, and they are tied with the Head so that they function as his means of expressing his life in this world. You, Paul says, are the body of Christ.
Christ is no longer in his earthly body; therefore if he wants a task done within the world he has to find a man to do it. If he wants a child taught, he has to find a teacher to teach him; if he wants a hurting person comforted, he has to find a person to comfort him. We, Christians, are literally the body of Christ, hands to do his work, feet to run his errands, a voice to speak for him. For an illustration of this solidarity look at:
Matthew 18:5-6 (NKJV) "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. 6 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Whatever you do to someone who believes in Christ you do to Christ. We are one with Christ. We became one with Christ through the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
We studied this verse last week so if you weren't here and you have questions about the baptism with the Holy Spirit get the tape from last week. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is a positional work that takes place at salvation. Look at:
John 14:16-20 (NKJV) "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; 17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
Jesus said that the relationship we would have would be this, "You in me and I in you." That is what you find fulfilled here in regard to the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit baptizes us into the Body of Christ he puts us into Christ, "you in me." He joins our life with his; he becomes our source of existence and strength; we are part of him.
The Apostle goes on in the next few verses to make this crystal clear by explaining to us how it works. Paul imagines parts of the human body talking to each other.
1 Corinthians 12:14-16 (NKJV) For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?
Two wrong attitudes develop when we don't see the church as a body. Paul attempts to correct both attitudes in this section. Most likely you will find yourself having to deal with one of these attitudes.
The first wrong attitude is that of inferiority, or a feeling of insignificance. Paul deals with this attitude in verses 15-20. It is obvious in these verses that the members are very discontented. Behind verses 15 & 16 you can hear the grumbling. They feel inferior. Their gift was not prominent and therefore they were discontent, they felt insignificant.
The Corinthians may have been discontent with the nature of their gift, they may have wanted the gift of exhortation instead of giving. Or maybe it was the quality of their gift, they may have had the gift of teaching, but there were others in the church who were much more gifted at teaching. They may have been discontented because of their position in the church, because of the gift they had they were not very prominent in the church. Discontentment on the part of such a person is a very serious thing because it will invariably lead to envy and strife. Paul, aware of this problem, addresses himself to these members of the body. Paul tells them that he has some principles from body life that he wants to give to them. He tells them that in a body every member, no matter what its function, is a vital part of the body.
The phrase at the end of verse 15 & 16 is better translated by the NAS Bible, it puts it as a statement rather than a question. It reads "it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body." The point is very obvious: here is a member that is very discontent with its status or ability or position and is beginning to conclude that it is not part of the body.
Paul says that if your foot should say, "Well I can't do all the things a hand does. It's so flexible, so versatile. It can grasp and lift a heavy object, or it can preform a delicate surgery. I just can't do what the hand can do, therefore I really don't belong in this body," it would be ridiculous, wouldn't it? That does not make the foot any less a part of the body. The foot is deceiving itself. If the ear says, "Because I can't see like an eye, I am not part of the body," the ear is deceiving itself. It is part of the body.
The Apostle is saying that if you are a member of the church, the Body of Christ, and you say to yourself, "Well, because I can't stand up and preach or teach or lead a meeting, there is really nothing I can do in the Body of Christ," you are deceiving yourself. You have not changed reality. You are still a part of the body. You have shut your eyes to truth. You need to open them to see the part God has given you.
I wonder how many people here this morning have said to themselves at one time, "I don't feel there is anything I can do in the church." I can't contribute to the work of the church because I don't have any abilities." I know that some of you feel that way. I can tell by your attendance. The fact that you come spasmodic says that you feel it doesn't matter if you are here or not, because you really feel you are of no value.
But it should be obvious that all members are part of the body. If you are a Christian then you are part of the body. For example, if you have chosen to identify with this local manifestation of the body of Christ, BBC, then you are part of BBC. Now you may not be an eye or a hand but if you are a member here then you are part of BBC, a vital part. To function properly, the body needs ALL of its members.
This attitude of inferiority is not one of humility; it is not humility to question God's word. It is a selfish, self-centered attitude that feels that you are not needed because you don't have a more prominent gift. There are no insignificant members in the body. Part of the reason for this kind of thinking is that we have the wrong idea of what is the work of the church. There is a widespread concept today that the real work of the church is getting together and having a great meeting on Sunday morning where we enjoy learning from the Scriptures and singing praises with one another. And, this concept goes, people who lead these meetings have certain gifts. They have to keep everything in order, etc. Others in the congregation look at them and say, "That is the work of the church. I can't do any of those things and, therefore, I really have no part to play in the church."
But that is not all there is to the work of the church. The work of the church is to do what Christ did when he was here! What did He do? He taught large crowds on occasion but for the most part he spent his time ministering to individuals, caring for people, one on one.
That is what the Body of Christ has come into the world to do---to minister to individuals. To encourage, strengthen and help people, to teach them the truth of God's word, to disciple them.
That is the work of the church. And it does not just go on here on Sunday morning. It goes on out there all week. This is merely part of the training program. We do not come to church to fulfill the work of the church. We come here to get ready to fulfill it out there. If you have that in mind, then there is definitely a part for every member, without exception. That is what Paul is arguing here. You are only kidding yourself if you say that because you cannot lead, or teach, or preach, you are not a part of the body and do not have a function within it. This is an important word of encouragement for all of us. We are all needed.
He goes on in verse 17 to say that every part of your body, no matter how insignificant or inferior it may seem, has a distinctive and important function to fulfill.
1 Corinthians 12:17 (NKJV) If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?
With the help of a ludicrous illustration, Paul drives home the point of unity and mutual dependence. The human body which consists of many parts can never be only an eye. (Bring out the eye.) What good is the eye by itself? A body could not function if it were all the same part. It can't go any where, it can't talk or hear or smell. What good is an eye by itself? None! It would be a ridiculous body if every member did the same thing. The members of the church need each other. Each has received some spiritual gift on which the others depend. Your gifts are needed!
Paul goes on to encourage them even further by saying that every member has their place by divine appointment.
1 Corinthians 12:18 (NKJV) But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
Momentarily he leaves the world of hypothetical illustrations and returns to reality. God is the subject of this verse. The eye does not decide that it is going to see, God gives it that ability. The ear does not develop its own ability to hear, it was given that ability by God and placed on the side of the head to function in that position.
Exodus 4:11 (NKJV) So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
The analogy is obvious to us. God has placed the members in the body as it has pleased Him. He is the one who gives us our abilities and positions. We are who we are, and where we are by divine appointment.
For a Christian to be envious of another's gifts or position is to question God's goodness and wisdom by implying that He made a mistake. The Corinthians did not see their gifts right because they did not see the sovereignty of God right. Questioning our spiritual gifts is questioning God.
Romans 9:20-21 (KJV) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
God not only sovereignly gave you the gift you have but he also placed you in the local assembly where He wanted you.
This is Paul's word of encouragement to those in the body with an attitude of inferiority. He is telling them that they have a distinctive part to fill as members of the body and that function is God ordained. There should be no discontentment as to where God has placed you or how he has ordained you to function.
1 Corinthians 12:19-20 (KJV) And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
I hope that is clear, because that should forever settle the question of feeling insignificant as part of the body. You cannot say to yourself, "There is no place for me," for there definitely is. The body of Christ needs feet and ears.
There is another side of the issue. And beginning in verse 21 he addresses himself to those with an attitude of pride, an independent spirit. They were considering others of little value. So Paul gives them some principles of body life to rebuke their attitude of arrogance. The first principle is in verse 21, all members in the body are actually dependant upon other members.
1 Corinthians 12:21 (NKJV) And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
The first individual says, "They don't need me,"; this individual says, "I don't need them." Individualism is appealing because the natural man does not like depending on or obeying others. The philosophy that we are basically self-sufficient and do not need anyone else is the opposite of God's will for man. The well known line from Invictus- "I am the captain of my fate; I am the master of my soul"- expresses the heart of fallen man, his great desire is to be his own god.
In a body the greater members are dependant upon the lesser members. The eye may be able to read theology but it cannot get to the book without the rest of the body. It needs the hand, and the foot. This is a great principle to learn because it makes us appreciative of those who are working with us in the ministry.
The picture that Paul draws portrays the absurdity of independence. The individual parts of the body all aid each other in the total functioning of the whole. There is no such thing as a free lance Christian. What happens to a member if you remove it from the body? It dies. What happens to the body if you remove a member? It is either crippled or it dies depending on which member you remove. When some of the members don't do their part others have to compensate for them. I met a man named Jeff, who was born with no arms and his legs were deformed. Jeff learned to feed himself with his feet. Joni Erickson who was paralyzed in an accident learned to paint with her mouth. The body can compensate for the members that do not function properly but it will never function to its potential without every member doing their part. I receive e-mail from all over the country from people who get the tapes, and they often thank me for my teaching, but they would never get those tapes if it weren't for those people who do the recording and copying and mailing. That is how a body functions, it is dependant upon all the members.
Those who think they are the greater members must realize that those they consider as lesser members are absolutely indispensable.
It is amazing that in many congregations people get the idea that they do not need the rest of the body, that they can function on their own, that they have their own abilities, their own ministry, and they can do things quite apart from others. They see themselves as pro golfers; golfers are by nature independent. A golf tournament is a struggle of independent egos pitted against each other. The golfers all rely on their own abilities to try to beat out the other man. That is the nature of golf. But the church is more like a football game than a golf game. In football each one plays his own position but is dependant on the other team members. What happens when a quarterback thinks he doesn't need the other teem members? He gets hurt! And he is very ineffective.
I am afraid that many congregations become more like golfers, with everybody going out on their own and paying no attention to and not valuing what others are doing.
In Paul's day there was a well-known fable spoken by Menenius Agrippa (Livy, 2.32), in which the rest of the body thinks it is unfair that they have to work so hard to feed the stomach, which did nothing but enjoy what they gave it. When they stopped feeding it, however, the other parts became weak, and they realized that the stomach fed them all as well as itself. Paul teaches that just as each part in the body has its own specific function, so every Christian should realize that he is needed to take his place and make his contribution to the body of Christ. You would be in a terrible state if the members of your physical body followed the example in the parable. What would happen if the eye said, "I don't need the rest of the body. I'll just roll around seeing things and let the rest of the body go." Why, you would instantly go blind, and the rest of the body would bump into everything. No, we all need one another. So Paul argues:
1 Corinthians 12:22-23 (NKJV) No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,
He is still talking about our physical body. He says we must remember that the parts which seem to be weaker are actually indispensable. There is a certain part of my body that is absolutely essential to me as a preacher. I do not even think about it when I am preaching, and yet without it I could not do what I am doing. Do you know what it is? No it's not my mouth. It's my big toe. Did you know that if I didn't have a big toe on each foot I could not even stand up to preach? It is the toe that has the ability to sense when your body begins to lean, or get out of balance, or fall, and it immediately strengthens you so that you can stand up. I need that big toe; it is an essential part of my ministry.
Paul is saying here that this is true in the Body of Christ. The members that seem weaker are indispensable. Paul here talks about three parts of the body, the less honorable ones, the unpresentable ones and our presentable parts.
The word bestow is the Greek word peritithemi, (per-ee-tith'-ay-mee) which means "to place around". It suggests the idea of clothing the body in general. Paul talks about giving honor to those parts of the body by clothing them. The more you cloth a body and adorn a body the more honor you give it. For example fashionable shoes hide unsightly feet. People with skinny legs and knobby knees wear long pants to cover them up. There is this inbuilt tendency in human life to try to augment those parts that are less honorable. Notice how the Apostle puts it, "parts we think less honorable." They are not, really. It is just our idea of them that makes them appear that way. The Greek word for unpresentable is askemon, (as-kay'-mone) it means shameful, indecent, or unpresentable, and here refers to those parts of the body we call our "private" parts (They are not so private anymore.) But we treat these with great modesty. Paul simply draws the analogy with the Body of Christ. He says there are hidden, secret functions within the body, that are nevertheless exceedingly important.
1 Corinthians 12:24 (NKJV) but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,
The alla "but" in the middle of verse 24 brings the argument back to God's sovereign purpose. By saying that God "has given greater honor to the part which lacks it." Paul seems to be saying that God has caused us to protect our unpresentable parts from exploitation by properly covering them. It is normal and natural for the body to look out for its weaker parts, to protect and care for them. This should also be true in the body of Christ. Instead of looking down on those whom we think are weaker, we should be watching out for them.
1 Corinthians 12:25 (NKJV) that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
When you begin to understand what the church is, as God sees it to be, this will be the result. You will begin to have the same care for one another. You will stop saying that teachers and rulers are all-important. You will see that God works the whole body together in a beautifully articulated and coordinated way.
In using the word schisma (skhis'-mah) division , Paul reminds the Corinthians of the discussion in 1:10-17. Concern for one another ought to be the hallmark of the Christian community. This is certainly true of the physical body. All the members work together to protect and care for one another. If you try to punch me in the face my arm will respond and attempt to stop you, because my arm cares about what happens to my face. If my arm is unable to stop the punch my whole body will weep with my face.
1 Corinthians 12:26 (NKJV) And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
This describes the effect that care can have on the members in the Christian church. A stubbed toe impairs one's ability to walk and thus affects the entire body.
You do not have to be aware of the suffering or dishonor of another brother or sister to be affected by it. You are affected by it. So the responsibility for the reputation of the body rests with every one of us, and how we act is going to govern how other people see the Body of Christ at work in the world today. We belong together and we suffer together. It is difficult for people to weep or rejoice with those whom they do not feel close to.
1 Corinthians 12:27 (NKJV) Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
Paul reminded the Corinthians that, individually and collectively, they were Christ's very body, the church for whom he died. Every local church is a microcosm of the entire church, fully equipped to serve the Lord, to carry on the ministry he began. BBC is to be a local picture of the body of Christ. There is no place in the body for discontentment, or envy, or jealousy. And there is no place in the body for pride or arrogance. The sovereign God has given you the gift he wants you to have and placed you where he wants you to use it.
We here at BBC have all the members we need to serve the Lord effectively but if those members don't work in harmony with the head or if they simply refuse to work the body is crippled and frustrated. A man named Robert used to attend our church, Robert had Cerebral palsy; he had all his members but they would not work, they would not carry out his will. His mind was fine but his body would not work with his mind. Because of this he had to be in a motorized wheel chair. He had a pointer attached to his head to spell out words on a desk top board. Robert was very limited in what he could do. Many local churches are like Robert, they are very limited in what they can do because the members will not submit to the will of the head, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you see yourself as a God ordained member of this local body? Are you functioning to your full capacity or are you crippling the body? May God help us all to see that every member is vital to the effective functioning of the body of Christ. And may we do our part using the gifts and talents that God has given us to build up the body of Christ.
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