DAY 245

MANY PARTS – ONE BODY

Psalm 135 & 136 and 1 Corinthians 12

The Psalms sing out in praise as we come to the beginning of a wonderful teaching on what it means to “be church.”

You have read about the division within the church, you have read about the sinful activities within the church, and if you are like me, you have possibly even winced a bit at Paul’s admonishment of them! The root of the issue seems to be that people have not embraced the idea of true fellowship. They seem to be comparing and competing. One person is a good teacher, another is a good administrator. Some seem to have the really flashy spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues. The sense I have gotten from the letter is that some people think they are either special, or more important, or something along those lines, as compared to others. Some apparently have even used their giftedness as justification for not sharing Holy Communion with others and worse, living lives of freely sinning.

So what is the solution? First as to all those spiritual gifts (I will talk about some of the gifts, such as tongues and few others when we read Ephesians at the end of September) we read the critical principle: “To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Our gifts are for the common good – we are to serve each other. You might say that the more impressive your gift is – the more responsibility you have in serving others!

Second, beyond the gifts, there is the mere nature of what it means to be part of the church, part of the Body of Christ. Paul’s metaphor here is brilliant. He makes two basic points. First you are part of the Body whether you like it or not! The foot cannot say I do not belong to the body! Next we need all the parts. Can the eye say to the hand I have no need of you? Then he even refines his teaching by speaking about the weaker parts of the body, but how in reality they are indispensable!

For all those times we hare scratched our head with Paul, enjoy this one, it is pretty straightforward. And Now—we are Christ’s Body! Take a moment and think about all the “body parts” of your church…and then give thanks for them.