1 Corinthians 12:12-26
Unity and Diversity in the Body
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[c] 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.
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 placed the 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.
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.
Last night I was watching a BBC Drama about the rise of the far right in the UK. It was based on true events and showed how much anger and hate exists in different communities towards one another. At the end, there was a speech from Jo Cox, the MP that was murdered by terrorists. It was her first speech in parliament and she spoke about the conflict of race ad the differences between the different people in our communities. She finished with these words: “What unites us is far greater than what divides us.”
Paul’s message is the same to the church. He goes to great detail showing all the ways in which we are different. However, he describes us as being like different parts os a single body. While our differences are obvious and our functions are varied, we are profoundly one and only make sense when we operate in unity.
A lot of people coexist. They are one church and yet they keep their distance, living independently of one another. Or they treat church like a gym, turning up for a session and then going on with their lives. To do so is to cut yourself off from the life that you require.
Yesterday, my son was telling me about how Muslim communities will buy houses together so that they do not have to pay high bank fees. The house is bought outright and the cost and profit is shared by the community. The trust involved in that is extraordinary. However, the benefits are equally huge. They are a community who look after each other.
Paul is saying that church is not a meeting, it is a body that collaborates and supports and encourages one another through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is such a profound and challenging metaphor, in our generation of independence and individualism.
