1 Corinthians: Not in Vainনমুনা

Both in life and in the church, we can easily slip into thinking it would be better if everyone just became a little bit more like us! Other people’s differences become faults, and the solution in our minds is for them to become clones of us. 

But Paul has a radical message for our self-centred tendencies: God has intentionally made us different, as part of his great master plan for every church. The powerful imagery he uses to make this point here is the human body: it is one body, but it has many different parts (vv. 12, 14).

As we’ve seen already, this variety is actually the Spirit’s work. Baptism by the Spirit (v. 13) refers to the spiritual rebirth of becoming a Christian, whilst drinking of the Spirit describes the blessing of enjoying God’s presence. These aren’t exclusive experiences for the spiritual few, but are true for every Christian, hence the repetition of ‘all’. 

It’s meant to be comic to think of different body parts either trying to act independently of others, or being concerned that they’re different to others (vv. 15–19). And yet maybe we miss the joke when it comes to our churches? Indeed, as Paul says, it’s the parts of a human that seem weaker which are often the most important, and it’s the parts that are unpresentable in public, that should be given special treatment (vv. 22–24). And ultimately when one part gets hurt or broken, the rest of us soon know about it (vv. 25–26). 

Just as the careful and creative hand of God has designed the variety and unity of the human body (vv. 18, 24), so he has also designed the body of Christ (v. 27). And while there have been particular gifts that have been historically critical for building up the church (v. 28), they are no more Spirit-filled than any other. We need to rejoice and be comfortable with the fact that we’re not all the same, hence Paul’s closing rhetorical questions (vv. 29–30).

Reflection

Are you conscious of the way God has intentionally made each of us different in order for the body to function fully? 

Are there ways we act like the body parts in today’s passage – perhaps thinking we’re not really needed, or that we don’t need others?