We need each other  -  1 Cor. 12.12-31

Good Morning!

Let’s hit the ‘pause’ button, and consider where we are . . .

in his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul has commended the young believers for some things, and also corrected time and again their propensity to divide into cliques.  He has taught them about honoring the Lord’s Table, and taken them into a teaching on the various gifts of the Holy Spirit.  And now, it seems as though Paul gathers in one hand all he has tried to say and wraps it up with a ribbon around it with this teaching.   ‘Come on, we’re all on the same team—I love you guys, but you gotta remember, we need each other!’ 

One Body with Many Parts – 1 Cor. 12.12-31, New Living Translation

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.  Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

  Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.   If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?   If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

  But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.   How strange a body would be if it had only one part!   Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.   The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

  In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.   And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen,  while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.   This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.  If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

  All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.  Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:

first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing,

those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.

 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles?   Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!   So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. 1 Cor. 12.12-31

And so Paul concludes chapter 12.  Combined with the former teaching on spiritual gifts, this is powerful and so important for both the individual believer and for the church or Christian community as a whole.  We are meant to work together; we are meant to complement one another in the ways God has uniquely gifted us. 

God’s word is so rich, Paul’s writing in these verses so clear . . . think on these things, my brothers.

Christine