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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 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, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body.
1 Corinthians 12:21-25a
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The church is one body made up of many parts. Every single Christian within is special to the Lord and purposed in unique ways so His work can be carried out by the body as a whole, each member (or part) of the church using the gifts the Lord has given for the common good. This is a key theme found in the twelfth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Corinth, a theme that has been at the heart of this series of messages.
As we turn to today’s passage, we continue to see how the many parts of the church are to function with one another and again we find the Apostle Paul using the human body and its numerous parts as an effective illustration to show how the Lord expects the church to operate. Concerned about possible divisions within the body of Christ due to a possible development of a hierarchy where some roles were deemed more significant than other, Paul shows how parts of the body can’t divorce themselves from others. Look again at these words:
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!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 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, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body. 1 Corinthians 12:21-25a
A person who had both eyes wouldn’t be able to function well if they had no hands. Ditto for someone who had a head with a powerful brain but no feet by which to walk. Within the human body, all parts are needed to work together for the common good which is the good health of the person living within the body. No one part can be seen as more important than another and those parts of the body potentially seen as weaker, those who may seem to be less significant, are actually indispensible.
And while we give attention to the parts of our body that are exposed and presentable, we honorably cover and conceal parts of our body that are unpresentable, treating them with special modesty. These parts of our body might not be seen as more significant as other parts that people can see but they are parts we honor, just as we should see people filling what are seen as less noteworthy positions in the church as being as honorable as those holding down more key positions.
Using this view on the church and its many members, we would see the janitor as being just as important as the pastor, the kitchen worker as being just as vital as the church administrator, the greeter as significant as the musician and singer leading worship. In the Lord’s view, they all are equally important to carry out the work He wants done. No one part is greater than another.
With this, how do you see your role within your church? How does you church view its members?
Do you see yourself as vital to the work of the church, just as vital as anyone else? Or do you see your role as less important than others, maybe because the church creates the atmosphere for it?
The truth we find in God’s word today is the body of Christ, a body consisting of many parts, is a body where every single person is essential and valued. The Lord sees it that way and if He does, then we need to as well.
I hope you’ll come back to read part 4 in this series tomorrow.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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