One of the images of Church that we are probably more familiar with is the Body of Christ. It’s the Apostle Paul who really enjoys developing this picture (Rom.12:4-5; Eph.4:4, 12-16; Col.1:18) and usually in ways that stress our mutual interdependence on each other if we are to be all Christ has called us to be. It is important to remember that it is the Body of Christ that Paul has in mind (I Cor.12:12). Our belonging to His Body is by virtue of our Baptism by/with/in the Spirit (12:13). Whatever our background before our conversion, and whatever our cultural or spiritual context or socio-economic status we are together brought into the life and body of Christ.
There is a beautiful symmetry in Paul’s one/many language. We are unified without being reduced to uniformity; and diverse without becoming divided. Our distinctive contributions are celebrated and valued, but without allowing for any sense of superiority, or arrogance (12:15-20). Our positioning in that Body is at the discretion and wisdom of the Head (12:18). And yet there is no naïve egalitarianism: not all parts of the body are equally ‘strong’ or ‘honourable’ (12:22-23). That gives room for service for encouraging and building up one another. And our integration as the Body is so integral and profound that ‘if one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it’ (12:26). That makes for a complicated Church life, for often there are people suffering and being honoured at the same time!
Our unity as one body is not a rhetorical ideal, but a call to realise the spiritual truth we celebrate at Communion week by week. I Cor.10:17, Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. Our sharing the bread commits us to Spirit-led attitudes and patterns of behaviour that build that unity and protect it. Those whose behaviour threatens the unity of the Body are to be avoided (Rom.16:17-18; Titus 3:10 etc.). The failure to recognise the unity of the Body (i.e. the Church) is the reason why Corinthian worship does more harm than good (I Cor.11:17), and why ‘many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep’ (I Cor.11:30).
the Unity of the Body then, is not simply a pragmatic convenience... as if the total of Paul’s teaching would be that if we could all just work together we’d get so much more done – a kind of spiritual equivalent to ‘teamwork makes the dream work’. It is a far deeper reality than that.
Questions:
How has this term’s teaching on the Church changed your attitude, thinking or behaviour toward others at MIE?
Based on this passage, what does Paul mean when he talks about us being part of the body (12:15-16)? ... or even more suggestively, as ‘belonging’ to the body ((12:16)?
If someone in a congregation doesn’t fulfil their responsibilities (and that in itself could be part of the discussion), what damage does that do to the life and mission of the Church? How serious would that be?
Read 12:18 again... how does that make you feel? about your own involvement in Church life? ...and about others people’s?
When we strip away the analogy, why would anyone in the Church ever think or say that they didn’t need someone else, and their contribution?
What does Paul have in mind when he talks about the ‘unpresentable’ or ‘less honourable’ parts of the Body of Christ? What kind of Christian is Paul highlighting here? How should the rest of the Church relate to them?
and by contrast, what makes someone a ‘presentable part’ (12:24) of the Church? How should the rest of the congregation relate to them?
12:26 is a key verse in the ministry of Open Doors (one of our global mission partners). Do you really believe that we suffer with the persecuted Church? What does Paul mean here? How should we support other Christians elsewhere in the world?
Why – after everything he has said – does Paul rank differently gifted people in 12:28-30? How should these verses shape the life of a contemporary congregation ... if at all?
Why does Paul tell us to ‘eagerly desire the greater gifts’ (12:31)? Can we determine our gifting in some sense based on our desire?
