1 Corinthians 12:12-20

                                                         1 Corinthians 12:12-20

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.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Spiritual gifts are best understood in the context of the body.  The church is called the body of Christ and like a physical body, it has many parts that work in harmony for the good of the one single body.  There is no room for a lack of cooperation in the church and there is no room for an insistence upon uniformity in the church.  We are called to work together as one unit while performing a variety of different tasks.

 

THE UNITY OF THE BODY: Just as the body is one unit, the church is to be unified as members of one another.  We are all inhabited by the same Spirt and He has baptized us into the body of Christ.  It does not matter what race we are or what kind of economic status we have.  All of us from all races and walks of life are members together of the very same body.  There is no room for any kind of discrimination against people from different races or backgrounds.  Our membership in the church is far more defining than any other designation.

 

THE DIVERSITY OF THE BODY: Just as the body has many different parts with many different functions, the church is made up an extremely diverse group of people.  It is ridiculous to think of a person who is only made up of an eye or a foot.  The beauty in functionality of the body comes from the extreme diversity of its makeup. The same is true of the church.  It is impossible for us to think that all should be alike.  If all were teachers, there would be no diversity in the church, and it would not function.  We must appreciate every member of the church, especially those who are different than we are.

 

APPLICATION: Appreciate every type of believing person as an equal and important member of the church. Do not allow prejudice to enter our hearts against those who might be different.  Honor all members of the church and learn to appreciate the diversity.  Seek to understand how vital those who are different are to us in practical terms.

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