Intro
The human body really is pretty incredible and complex. A few things you might not know, however: since you’re constantly shedding skin cells, you get an entirely new layer of skin roughly every month. Which means you’ll have about 1000 layers of skin in your lifetime. Here’s another one: apparently there are between 60-70 different varieties of bacteria in the average belly button. I already thought belly buttons were gross, but that puts it on another level. Here’s a cool one I had no idea about: human bodies are luminescent! They actually give off light, even though the eye isn’t able to perceive it. You are glow in the dark! I also knew that small parts of the body can be disproportionately strong or important, but I did not know that the pinky finger contributes 50% of your hand’s strength. Or that a full quarter of the bones in your body are found in your feet. And then there’s this one that I still find hard to fathom: if you took all the blood vessels in your body and laid them out end to end, they would encircle the earth multiple times. That’s what’s inside your body! 100,000km of blood vessels!
And here’s something else you may not have known about the human body: it is one of the best and most vivid pictures of the nature of the church. You see what I did there? Got you hooked with Ripley’s Believe It Or Not factoids and bam! Here comes the Bible! The human body is a phenomenal metaphor for who we are as a church.
We’re talking about spiritual gifts here at The Bridge and going through 1 Corinthians 12-14 piece by piece to do it. In the second half of chapter 12, Paul gets into the body metaphor, because he wants to correct some of the flawed mindsets the Corinthians have fallen into, especially around this topic. This is some great stuff and I’m excited about getting into it with you!
1. Overview: 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
This is Paul’s intro to the metaphor, and there are a few things I think it’s important to notice.
First, there’s a really close connection between Jesus and his people. In verse 12, Paul says that the body image refers to Jesus: just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. But then, at the very end of the section in verse 27, he says this: now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. So does the body image refer to Jesus or his people? The answer is yes. It’s both.
Jesus identifies himself with the church. Church is the word Paul uses in verse 28 to talk about the group of Christians in Corinth. Church is not a building, which is why I make a habit of calling the place our church meets as our church home. Church is not a worship service, which is why I have to catch myself when I say “I’m going to church”. Church is not an institution or organization. Church is not even the sum total of all the people at a worship service in a church home. It is the network of followers of Jesus, either globally or locally. It is the fellowship of believers worshiping, growing, serving together. And it is with this group that Jesus identifies himself. Paul grasped that from the moment he met Jesus. When he was struck by the blinding light of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus, the first thing Jesus said to him was: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul was persecuting the church. But Jesus says, why are you persecuting me? He says me because Jesus identifies that closely with the church.
What that means is that whatever you do to the church- to the community of followers of Jesus- you in some sense do to him. If you honor the church and treat it with love and respect, you are honoring and loving Christ. Conversely, If you disconnect yourself from the church, you disconnect yourself from Christ. If you try to damage the church, you are trying to damage Christ. If you exalt yourself above the church, you are exalting yourself above Christ. And this has everything to do with spiritual gifts, which is why Paul starts off this section in this way. However you use the gifts the Spirit has given you in the church, Jesus receives that. Serve the church with them, you are serving Christ. Denigrate others because they don’t have the same gift as you, you are denigrating Christ.
This identification theme also means that the church is the very manifestation of the presence of Jesus on earth. The primary way Jesus is made known to the world is as followers of Jesus love one another, worship and grow together, and serve others together. Paul would say that if people want to meet Jesus, if they want to know what he’s like, then they should spend time with the church, since the church is his body. You’ve probably realized this by now, but as a church, we are all about Jesus! We need to be, because Jesus has saved us to make him known to this world that needs him. I caught myself this week slipping up right here. I was chatting with a neighbour and revealed that I was a pastor. He had undergone some bad experiences with faith growing up in a very traditional, strict kind of setting. In response, I found myself emphasizing how our services at The Bridge were like a rock concert and TED talk, and how I wear jeans while preaching, and so on. Nothing like the churches of his youth! But then I caught myself. Who cares about any of that! Seriously, where’s life in that? Hopefully not too late, I corrected myself. I told him, actually what we’re really all about is not the form or the rules or being approved by others. We just want people to know Jesus because he is the best thing we have going for us. That’s what we’re all about.
The world is supposed to look to us to see what Jesus is like. And when we fail to adequately display the glory of Christ, as we inevitably do, we have to turn our eyes to Christ and hear what he says about us. We need to hear our identity again. That’s what Paul does with the Corinthians, who had their fair share of mess-ups. You are the body of Christ. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are holy and righteous because of what he has done for you. Be who you already are. You are his body.
The second thing to notice here is what holds the church together. What is it that holds the human body together? This is ridiculously cool and I just found this out a couple of days ago. The connective tissue that holds our bodies together, which is present in most of our organs, muscles, blood vessels, ligaments, and joints is apparently called laminin. If you look it up on Wikipedia, this is the schematic diagram they give for laminin.
Seriously, look at that! We are held together by the shape of a cross! Any biologists right now are thinking, seriously, this guy is way over his head. So let’s step away from biology and get back to 1 Corinthians. The church, the body of Christ, is of course held together by the cross. We are held together by the common faith in Jesus and by the forgiveness of sins that comes through his name. But that’s not what Paul emphasizes here. He says we are held together by the Holy Spirit. He says we have all been baptized in (or by, or with) the Holy Spirit, and that we have been given the one Spirit to drink. Both of these are ways of saying that every member of the church, every true follower of Jesus, has received the Holy Spirit. They have been indwelled by the Spirit of God. They have been given new life by the Holy Spirit. Paul says this is true about every part, whether slave or free, Jew or Gentile.
These four terms were fundamental human identity markers in the first century. They formed the basis for community. Generally, at least in equal peer relationships, you didn’t cross these lines. They were the means of unity for people who shared the same status, and division from those who didn’t. Identity markers like those continue to loom large in our day. People identify themselves, and unite themselves to others, on the basis of socio-economic status. Or on the basis of age or generation. Or on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Or on the basis of ethnicity or culture. However, here is an identity that supersedes all that and relativizes every other identity- you can read Philippians 3 if you want to dig into that more. Here is an identity that unites us across every other human barrier, a unity based on the common sharing of the Spirit, who unites us to Jesus. We are the body of Christ.
And the third and final thing to notice is the main point of comparison between the human body and the church. The main point of comparison is that the body is one and yet is made up of many parts. There is unity in diversity. And this is the piece that Paul is going to spend the rest of the chapter exploring, so let’s keep going!
2. Inferiority Complex: 1 Cor. 12:15-20
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placedthe parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
1 Corinthians 12:15-20
This section gets at the attitude of inferiority by emphasizing the diversity in the body. In verses 15-16, Paul exercises his vivid imagination and has us listening to talking body parts. Imagine the foot saying, I’m not a hand, therefore I must not be part of the body! Or imagine the ear saying, I’m not an eye, therefore I must not be part of the body! How ridiculous would that be! Not only because feet and ears don’t talk, but because it’s immediately obvious that ears and feet are crucial for a fully functioning body.
But you can also understand why Paul evokes this scenario. Let’s say ears and feet were independently sentient. What gets more attention, ears or eyes? You look people in the eye, you comment on their eyes, you notice their eye color. When’s the last time you heard someone say, “you have the most beautiful ears I’ve ever seen”? That’s just weird! For the most part, you notice ears when there’s something very strange or off-putting about them! When it comes to feet, we cover those things up because let’s be honest, most feet aren’t that presentable!
Paul is not saying those parts actually are inferior, only that they believe it or feel it. And because of that, in Paul’s hypothetical situation, they have resigned themselves to not belonging to the body at all.
Throughout this image, we’re going to bring it back to spiritual gifts, because that’s Paul’s main concern. There are some gifts that are public. They’re noticeable. Gifts like preaching. Leadership. Prophecy. Tongues, (even if it’s often public for the wrong reasons). There are other gifts that aren’t as public or noticeable. Gifts like mercy. Serving. Giving (at least, if it’s done the Jesus way). And if you have one of those latter gifts, you might find yourself wishing people did notice. Or you might feel that you don’t really have a part to play, because you’re not up front speaking to the church. You’re not serving as an elder or on the board. You don’t have a more “extraordinary” gift that really stands out. That’s understandable. But to actually believe that your gift is worth less and so to deprive the body of this gift, or to even disconnect yourself from the body? That’s as tragic as a foot or ear cutting themselves off from the body because they’re not an eye or a hand.
Then in verses 17 and 19, Paul gives us another image, one that’s a bit unpleasant if you dwell on it too long. He says, can you imagine a whole body full of eyes? Can you imagine if that was the only body part? Think about Mr. Potato Head. You get some kids that want to make sure all the parts are in the right place. You get other kids that think it’s hilarious if the arm is sticking out of the nose or hat slot. Imagine a kid sticking eyes into every possible spot on Mr. Potato Head? Paul says if all you have is one part, where’s the whole body?
Translate this idea to spiritual gifts. What if we had 300 people gifted with preaching or other verbal gifts and were useless at just about everything else. You know, like me? How would anything get done? We’d all take a turn preaching once every 6 years or so and no practical needs would ever get met. What if there were 300 prophets? In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul appears to limit the number of prophets sharing in a corporate gathering, so that’s a lot of people out in the cold with their gift. What if there were 300 people who were gifted by the Spirit for administration, but nobody who could teach the Scriptures? You get the picture. There are some gifts that may appear, in human eyes, to be more desirable, but if everyone has one gift, we’ve got a monstrosity, not a body!
And it goes further than that. Right in the middle of this section, in verse 18, Paul says that God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. This is the crux of the matter. When it comes to spiritual gifts, when it comes to what God has empowered us to do, we can sometimes begin to think that this is about us. This is about my status, my pride, my being noticed and thanked and congratulated. And we should encourage one another. That’s clearly something God wants! But as I said in week one in this series, the gifts are not, they are never, about us! Every gift is given for the common good. Every gift is given, ultimately, to make Jesus known and to strengthen the body!
If you are going to argue with God about where He has placed you, if you are going to protest that you should deserve better, you are insulting God’s wisdom. When you say, I’m no good to anyone, I have nothing to offer, my gifts make no difference to the health of the church, that might sound humble. And it might be that there is no room given for your gifts. That’s a different matter. But if you are not using them because you don’t think it matters, or you’d just rather not put in the effort, or you wish you had some other gift, you are not depriving the body. You are in some sense depriving God of what He is due. Remember, you are a member of Christ’s body. What you do for the body you do for Him! He has given you these gifts and has placed you in the body in the position He has, according to His wisdom.
I should tell you a bit about how I can relate to this. It’s not just that we can feel inferior because we wish we had another gift. We can also feel inferior when we wish we had a gift to the same extent as someone else, or that we were given more prominence as someone else with the same gift. I have, in the past, struggled with this as a preacher. I wrote about this in a post recently. I was in Victoria with some other young-ish lead pastors from our denomination. Some of these guys were around my age and teaching classes at seminaries, writing published books, pastoring churches of thousands of people, exhibiting incredible thoughtfulness, and if you can believe it, some of them were even funnier than me! Mentally, I began stacking myself up against some of them and felt so small. So incompetent. I dwelt on that for a bit. But then I remembered that in Christ, I had died to myself. This isn’t about me. God has given me the gifts He has, to the extent He desires, and He will use me as He sees fit. God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
Paul, with the image of the body, deals with the issue of some feeling inferior to others, and shows that the diversity of gifts is critical for the healthy functioning of the church. In the next section, Paul uses the body imagery to confront those who felt that they were superior. He addresses those who thought that their gifts entitled them to special treatment and recognition.
3. Superiority Complex: 1 Cor. 12:21-26
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
1 Corinthians 12:21-26
In verse 21, Paul imagines some parts, like the eye or the head, announcing to other parts, “I don’t need you!” Can you imagine this happening in a church? Can you imagine a pastor or other leader becoming so high on themselves they treat others flippantly, as if they don’t really matter and aren’t really needed? Of course, that would never happen in a church culture where we have exalted leaders and put them on pedestals and excused any bad behavior because of their status in the church! Unfortunately, it happens all the time. It’s especially pastors and public Christian leaders who need to hear these verses.
There’s an interesting cultural piece here, by the way. There was a famous speech in Greek lore from a few centuries before Paul where the personified parts of a body revolted against the stomach because it did nothing for them. The stomach just consumes. But because of the revolt, because the rest of the body disowned the stomach, the body as a whole died of starvation. The speech was given as a defense of the existence of the Senate, so that all the other parts of the body- those poor peasants- would keep working to support the Senate. However, if Paul was aware of that speech and image, he had turned it upside down for the Corinthians. In these verses, Paul’s point is not to encourage the weak to keep supporting the strong, but for the strong to give more honor to the weak.
Paul writes about parts of the body that “seem to be weaker” but are actually indispensable. As one example, your cuticle is that layer of hard skin where your nail and finger meets. While barely visible and something you will almost never give thought to, the cuticle is essential for keeping dirt and bacteria from entering the body. How many people are like that in the church? People may not notice them, yet the way they serve contributes immeasurably to the health of the church.
Paul also points out that we actually give special attention to the parts of the body that are less honorable and less presentable. Commentators seem pretty agreed that Paul is referring to genitalia. Paul suggests a very different way of seeing those “private” parts. We usually associate them with shame, but they could actually be seen as having the highest status in the body. That’s because we give constant care to shielding them from trivializing and vulgarizing public exposure. We give special care to protecting them.
I had an interesting conversation with someone from our church this week. He said he was on board with all that I had said so far about spiritual gifts. However, he was troubled by the number of Christians, in his experience, who ask for the “flashy” gifts. Where are the people, he asked, seeking gifts that are less noticeable? Gifts like serving others behind the scenes? And maybe he’s right! We should be cautious about wanting gifts that will put us on a pedestal. We should be wary of gifts that will make us feel superior to others. Maybe we should be asking for gifts that are under-represented, that go unnoticed!
For now, here’s the point: if you think you’re strong, if you think you deserve special treatment because of the public aspect of your service, think again. Because that’s not the way God works. He gives greater honor to the parts that lack it. This was something Paul had to address over and over again in his letter to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul reminds the Corinthian believers that they themselves had been looked down on by others of higher status. But, Paul writes, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things- and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” (1:27-29) This is what we see God doing repeatedly in the Scriptures: lifting up the lowly, humbling the haughty.
And then Paul finishes this section by pointing to the fundamental unity of the church. He deals with the inferiority complex by pointing to the diversity and he deals with the superiority complex by pointing to the unity. He says when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. If one part is exalted, the whole body is exalted.
You see this in family life. One part suffers, all suffer. I met a dad yesterday who had a three week old. Another dad and I were reminiscing about the sleep habits of our babies. Our son Zachary, for the first two years of his life, would often scream inconsolably for a couple of hours every night. Those were extraordinarily difficult times! One person was suffering and it meant that we all suffered. Except Natalie. Miraculously, she would basically sleep through hours of a screaming child within earshot. Conversely, when something good happens to one person in the family, we’re all uplifted. Natalie had a track and field day at her school and she was the second fastest kid in her class, faster than all the girls and all the boys except one. That jacked me up! Now, I didn’t run that race. I didn’t even spend hours at the track training her, though I’m now tempted to become one of those fanatical dad coaches. She’s going to the Olympics, baby! When one part gets honored, the whole body rejoices. That’s because it’s not about this one part of the body versus another, it is about the body as a whole being healthy and strong. And we each have our God-given part to play in this.
Conclusion
When I reflect a bit on what Paul says in this section, here’s what I come to: the church in the modern West, in places like Canada and the US, is in many ways spiritually impoverished. The body is unhealthy. And this is one of the main reasons why: “church” has become a consumeristic show where one or two people receive all the attention and honor and everyone else just sits there taking it in. A small handful of people exercise their gifts and the rest atrophy. Imagine someone who sits on a couch and watches TV all day, and the only exercise they ever do is bicep curls. They’re horridly out of shape everywhere else, but hey, at least they’ve got pipes! That, in some ways, is the modern church. And what happens is that because the health of the church is so focused on one individual, the speaking pastor, all that needs to happen for the church to fall apart is for the pastor to leave. That can be true whether because of a scandal or even some more noble cause.
I say this and I realize that The Bridge is vulnerable here. I preach almost every week. Some people like how I preach, and they come to worship services at The Bridge because of it. Many people sit in the seats once a week and take it in but are not engaged in any kind of ministry or service for the rest of the week. Somehow, that’s got to change.
We are the body of Christ, and each one of us is a part of it. Each one has been given gifts, and the health of the body depends on each member using those gifts to build up the body and make Jesus known. I am confident of this: God wants to use you. He intends to bless others through you. He desires to do this not so that you will be exalted or will boast about your abilities, but so that the body as a whole can be built up and that He can be made known.
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