1 Corinthians 12:12-31 - Complementary by Design

Introduction

At the beginning of Part Two of the Pilgrim’s Progress, we learn that Christiana (the wife of Christian, who is the main character of Part One)… that she also became a pilgrim on the right path toward the Celestial City. Christiana gathered up her sons (Matthew, Samuel, Joseph, and James) and began her journey with them. The family went along the same path as Christian had done before them, entering through the Narrow Gate, though they went around the Slough of Despond (but Christian had fallen straight into it for a time).

Along the way, just as Christian had done, Christiana picked up some companions and met many characters (some good and some quite bad). Unlike Christian, Christiana and her sons enjoyed the company of a man named Great-heart and another named Valiant-for-Truth. Mr. Great-heart explained the gospel, became a guide to the weaker pilgrims, and even warned and fought to protect them along the way. Mr. Valiant-for-Truth was very much like Mr. Great-heart, but he served as a rear guard for the group, the two strong and capable men working to ensure that the whole company persevered and made it to the end. And yet each member of the group all contributed, making the whole understand more of God’s character, more of Christ’s salvation, more of Christian witness, of sin’s depth and deception, of the sorrow of loss, and of the joy in victory.

Today we are continuing our study of 1 Corinthians, and we are going to read through the end of chapter 12. Our passage today is quite similar to last Sunday, but today we will see a greater emphasis on the symbiotic relationship that Christians have when they church together… we are different, and our differences are by design… and God intends our differences to be complementary so that we will all progress and mature and learn and persevere together.

May God help us…

Let’s stand together as I read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 12:12–31 (ESV)

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Main Idea:

God’s design of the local church body is real unity and complementary diversity, so that all members will necessarily experience gains and losses together.

Sermon

1. One Body Reality (v12-17)

Our passage this morning begins with the word “For” (v12). This is a word that indicates purpose or cause. The Apostle Paul is continuing an argument or rationale here that began in the previous passage (the one we studied last Sunday, v1-11). It seems to me that our passage today is especially double-clicking on v11, “All these [i.e., all the spiritual gifts, services, and activities among the church members] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:11).

As a matter of fact, this statement (in v11) is at the core of the way I’m summarizing the main idea of v12-31… “God’s intentional design of the local church body is real unity and complementary diversity, so that all members will necessarily experience gains and losses together.”

The emphasis in our passage last Sunday was on the diversityof spiritual gifts among the church, which God intended to be a source of unity (and not division). The church of Corinth ought to have been united in practice, since they were united in reality… in their shared experience of spiritual life (or regeneration) and in their shared experience of God’s ongoing work among them… specifically giving them various gifts and skills and opportunities and interests that were intended to be used for the common good of all the church members.

There’s a lot of overlap today, but the emphasis before us nowis more focused on the reality that the local church is united(whether the members realize it or not), and the local church will necessarily“suffer” or “rejoice” together (v26)… depending on how (or whether) the members “care for one another” (v25).

Four explicit times in our passage this morning, we read similar phrases that all point to the reality that there is one united body of members among a local church, and the whole passage is explaining how and why God has “arranged” or “composed” the one integrated body the way He has.

The first of these phrases appears in v13. Paul used, in v12, the analogy of a physical body, one that “has many members” though remains a singular “body” (v12). And he said, “so it is with Christ” (v12). “For,” v13, “in one Spirit we were allbaptized into one body [i.e., the body of Christ] – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (v13).

The Scripture repeats this same idea elsewhere, and Galatians 3 says, “There is neither Jewnor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). The point is not that we lose all of our identifying marks or differing perspectives when we become Christians, but that we bring all of these differences along with us into a new social and economic and political reality… a new reality that supersedes or stands above all others.

When I first became a Christian, I was a lower-middle-class white man living as an American citizen in Texas. When I was saved, none of that stuff changed… but now I am also a Christian! And that means I’ve got a unity with other Christians who may or may not have any reason to associate with me other than our shared faith in Christ and our shared commitment to follow Him as Lord.

Conversion to Christianity does not ignoresocial and economic and political differences; rather, it displaces all of these worldly distinctions as the chief defining characteristic of who I am and where my deepest connections are found. My age, my skin color, my geography, my family background, my education, and a host of other things are not unimportant to the description of who I am, but these are far less important than the all-pervasive reality that I am a Christian! And this cuts against the grain of a lot of our modern American sensibilities.

We like to think that we are far more advanced than the humans who have lived before us, but we’re not all that different from the people of ancient Corinth. Corinthian society was stratified by gender, social class, economic means, political affiliation, and sentimental traditions. We don’t use the same labels as they did for our various divisions, but we too are divided in the same sorts of ways. Our social and political and economic connections are often deeply influenced by our gender, our age, our geography, our ethnicity, our family ties, and/or our life experiences.

But when we hear the gospel of Christ, and when we first begin to believe that Jesus is the Savior of sinners and that He is worthy of all our praise, our love, our obedience, and our lives… these other characteristics of ours are overcome… they are edged out of center focus… they are set aside as far less important.

Let me be clear that our various characteristics are not obliterated (We still carry with us a lot of what we were before), but when we are “in” or “with” Christ (v12), these individual characteristics are superseded or displacedby a new and more meaningful reality. And that’s what Paul was saying in v13, “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (v13).

This spiritual baptism (which physical or water baptism symbolizes) is what God does when we hear the gospel and believe. We hear that Christ died for sinners, and we respond by turning away from sin and toward a life of knowing and following and clinging to Christ… and we are brought into a new kind of affiliation (a new spiritual family, a new spiritual politic, and a new spiritual economy) alongside other believers.

And this new “body” (to which the individual believer is connected) is comprised “not… of one member but of many” (v14). And each one can be quite different from the others… though noneare “any less part of the body” (v15-16). In fact, the “whole body” is made up of different “members” by design (v17).

Brothers and sisters, this first section is especially for those of us who sometimes feel that we are not useful or not effectiveor not necessary among the church body because we are not as “good” or “skilled” or “noticeable” as others. But the “foot” or the “ear” are just as much part of the body as the “eye” (v15-17).

We are not all the same, and we will notall be the same. But if God brought us into the body of Christ, then we are a necessary part of what God intends for the whole. And those among us who are less mature or spiritually weak or doctrinally ignorant are not only tolerated among a healthy church, they are welcomedand valued as genuine members of the whole body… We really are one body together.

If you want to talk more about the gospel, about the shared beliefs of all Christians, or about what it means to be part of a local church (that visible and meaningful expression of Christ’s body in the world), then let’s talk after the service today.

2. Divine Design (v18-26)

As I’ve already pointed out, God’s intentional connectionor joining together of the whole body is the major emphasis of our passage today. Two of the four phrases that explicitly speak to this emphasis appear in v18-26. And the concluding implication is also found in this section. Let me summarize this section, and then we will walk through it together: God has arranged the body of joined members, composing them as a diverse group with various strengths, weaknesses, skills, and responsibilities, so that the whole body will (inevitably) suffer and rejoice together.

Look at v18 with me. The teaching of v12-17 is that there really is one united body of Christians among a local church, and then v18 begins with “But,” which means we are headed into a contrast. “But,” Paul said, “as it is, God arranged [here’s the second of the four explicit phrases] the members of the body, each one of them, as he chose” (v18). It is true that there really is one united body, but it is also true that the various individual members of that body are “arranged” or “placed” (NASB) or “set” (KJV) as God “chose” (v18) or “desired” (NASB) or “as it hath pleased him” (KJV). All of this is by divine design! And therefore, v21, “the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again [can] the head [say] to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’” (v21).

If the first several verses were especially aimed at those Christians who might feel lesser or weaker, then this section is especially aimed at those who might feel greater or stronger than the rest. Paul says, in v22, “On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require” (v22-24).

As sometimes happens when you read through the Bible, we have come here to a text that is somewhat crude. It doesn’t take much imagination for us to recognize that we spend a lot of time and effort on cleaning, using, and generally tending to those parts of our bodies that we don’t want most people to see. And yet, these “unpresentable” and “weaker” and “less honorable” parts are “indispensable” to the function and wellbeing of our whole bodies. We can deal with an injured arm, a deaf ear, or missing tooth… we can even still work without a finger or two… but a kidney stone can stop the earth from spinning.

I could go on with analogies, but I think we all get the point…

And we may complain about the trouble we have to go through in order to maintain our “unpresentable” or “weaker” parts, but we would never think of disconnecting them from the rest of the body. These are “indispensable,” and we need them… troublesome as they are sometimes… we need them.

In fact, the whole body – stronger parts and weaker ones, presentable parts and unpresentable ones – the whole body is composed in such a way so that all the individual parts depend upon one another. And Paul applies this analogy to the church. Look at the middle of v24. “But God has so composed the body [i.e., the local church body], giving greater honor to the part that lacked it [i.e., honoring in the church those members who receive little or no honor in the world], that [“so that” (NASB, NIV)] there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care [or “mutual concern” (NET)] for one another” (v24-25).

Verse 24 was the third explicit phrase that points to the reality that there is one united body of members among a local church, and now for the second time in this middle section here we are told that God is the one who “arranged” or “composed” that singular body… according to His choice and for His purpose.

But what is God’s purpose for arranging it this way? Well, the purpose statement is there in v25 – “[so] that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (v25). And then comes Paul’s concluding implication in v26 – “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (v26).

Friends, this strikes at what feels like an undeniable premise that modern Americans like us tend to simply assume. The thinking goes something like this: “(1) We are generally self-sufficient and responsible for ourselves; (2) because we are responsible for ourselves, we must be capable of handling most all of our problems or deficiencies by ourselves; (3) therefore, any ongoing or apparently unusual problem or deficiency or weakness I’ve got is embarrassing and shameful… and any ongoing or seemingly unusual problem or deficiency or weakness you’ve got is none of my business… unless it becomes too troublesome to be around you, in which case I may have to leave you behind.”

Now, we might not say it out loud, and we may not phrase it exactly like this, but many of us (if we’re honest) think like this more than we’d want to admit. Don’t get me wrong… we all certainly bear responsibility for our own decisions and actions… but this does not mean that any of us are self-sufficient or that we are necessarily capable of handling everything on our own. In fact, our passage this morning is describing a local church body as being composed by God’s design so that the problems and deficiencies and weaknesses of each individual member are absorbed and experienced and even remedied by the mutual care of the whole.

The phrase “care for one another” (in v25) indicates the idea of anxiety or concern. It’s like a mother “caring for” her infant child… she’s anxious about the baby eating and sleeping and regularly filling that diaper… she’s concerned for the baby’s digestion, for the baby’s skin, and for the baby’s development… and she literally lays down her own cares in order to take up care for the needy child.

Friends, if it never occurs to us (those of us who are Christians, and especially who are members of FBC Diana) that we are to have at least some of this kind of “care for one another,” then it’s likely that we simply don’t understand that we “all” (by divine design) “suffer together” and “rejoice together” (v26).

Those Christians who think of themselves as strong or smart or mature or theologically astute or experientially wise… or those Christians who have a more public gifting or service (like preaching, or teaching, or leading music, or organizing and administrating)… or those Christians who have seen what looks like better results from their efforts… these can sometimes look down on other Christians as weak or foolish or expendable or unproductive. But this betrays a superficial and individualized notion of the whole goal of Christianity.

It is true that individuals must hear the gospel… it is true that individuals must repent and believe in Christ… it is true that God’s Spirit comes to dwell within individual believers… it is true that God’s love and Christ’s work and the Spirit’s power is personal and intimate… and it is true that individual Christians will one day behold the risen Savior with their own resurrected and glorified eyes!

But it is also true that the good news of the gospel is not just for individuals… but for all who will repent and believe… It’s also true that God’s Spirit empowers and unites the whole church… and that God’s plan and Christ’s glory and the Spirit’s effective work will one day culminate in the gathering of one massive collection of all of the redeemed from all time and space!

And in the meantime, God has designed it so that we will walk this pilgrim path together… suffering and rejoicing together… growing and maturing together. Not only do we need each other, we especially need those who are not like us.

Friends, there are numerous applications we might make here, but let me offer a couple. If you know more Bible than most other Christians, then you should be looking for ways to teach it… at home, at work on your lunch-break, inviting others over to your house for dinner and Bible-time once a month or once a week. None of us can teach everyone, but if we know the Bible well enough to teach it with basic clarity, then we shouldn’t criticize others for their ignorance… we should help them learn.

If you have experience in wrestling with temptation and winning the victory over sin, then you should be looking for ways to help a sinning brother or sister. The Scripture teaches us that we should “restore” or “reorder” in “a spirit of gentleness” those Christians who are “caught” in sin (Gal. 6:1). Again, each one of us has limited time and emotional bandwidth, so none of us can bear the burdens of the whole church body… but many of us can share this load by each bearing some.

The point here is to recognize that the painful and messy and vulnerable relationships among church members who really care for one another… this is what we’re here for… this is God’s design for the local church. This is not a pathway to some future version of the church where all of our members are wonderfully mature, joyfully content, and perfectly capable of caring entirely for themselves. God has intentionally designed the local church such that the strong would minister to the weak(not condemn them and leave them behind)… that the wealthy would aid the poor (not belittle and avoid them)… that the wise would patiently instruct and disciple the ignorant (not despise and sneer at them).

In fact, God has designed it so that if we don’t operate this way, then we will all be the worse for it.

3. Complementary Members (v27-31)

So far, we’ve seen that the local church really is one unified body, and that God has designed the local church (according to His own will) such that the various members are truly connected with one another, even though they differ from one another. In this third section of our passage today, we see that the differences among church members are intended to be complementary.

The word complementary can be spelled in two ways, and each spelling makes a big difference. Complimentary (with an “i” in the middle) can mean flattering or approving (“His words were complimentary of me”), and it can also mean free (“Your water will be complimentary at the restaurant today”).

Complementary (with an “e” in the middle) means harmonizing, or reciprocal, or corresponding. This spelling of the word is most commonly used in the relationship between husband and wife – the two are different, but their differences are reciprocal or corresponding. In other words, they fit together, and when they work together, they are capable of far more than either one could achieve on their own… Their relationship is complementary.

In v27-31, the Apostle Paul describes “the body of Christ” in exactly this way. The “individual members” are complementary in relationship with one another because they are all “members” of “the body of Christ” (v27), and yet, “all” are not gifted in the same way by God’s Spirit (v29-30).

Of course, there are “higher” gifts that are to be sought by all, and the “greatest” gift is “love” (1 Cor. 13:13)… which we will study a lot more when we get into chapter 13. A sneak peek here though… the whole chapter is about the relationships between church members… not about marriage.

But staying within the boundaries of our text today (mostly), we want to notice that there is a list of spiritual gifts here at the end of chapter 12. These are various gifts which “God has appointed in the church” (v28).

Verse 28 is the fourth explicit phrase that tells us that there truly is one united body of members, but this time Paul drops the language of analogy. Previously, he’s been using the word “body,” but here he makes it clear that he’s been talking about the “church” all along (v28). The visible body of Christ, that family into which all the various members are baptized, that united whole to which Christians are joined is the “church” or the assembly or the gathering or the congregation(v28)… all of these words are synonymous.

And within that assembly of saints or “church,” God “has appointed” (v28) or “placed” (NET) or “set” (KJV) various kinds of members… some of whom are “apostles” (v28), some are “prophets” (v28), some are “teachers” (v28), some work “miracles” (v28), some possess the “gift of healing” (v28), some the gift of “helping” (v28), some “administrating” (v28), and some the gift of “tongues” [or languages] (v28).

And remember that this list of spiritual gifts is the second one we’ve seen in 1 Corinthians 12. We read the first list last Sunday, and it is found in v7-10. Paul wrote, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (v7). Then he listed “the utterance [or “word”] of wisdom” (v8), the “utterance [or “word”] of knowledge” (v8), “faith” (v9), “healing” (v9), the “working of miracles” (v10), “prophecy” (v10), the “ability to distinguish between spirits” (v10), and both the ability to speak in “tongues” [or “languages”] and the ability to interpret those “tongues” [or “languages”] (v10).

Some of you may know that there are three other lists in the NT of spiritual gifts. You can find them in Ephesians 4:11, Romans 12:6-8, and 1 Peter 4:10-11. None of these lists are intended to be exhaustive, nor is the combination of all five lists a complete numbering of all the gifts the Holy Spirit. These lists (each one) merely highlight various gifts that the reader is to understand are supernaturally given according to God’s prerogative and for God’s purpose… which is (of course) the upbuilding or edification or maturing of the whole body of the local church out of mutual love.

Now, when you read through these passages that speak to some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, some questions often arise – “Why don’t we still expect to see all of these gifts in operation today?” or “Are we supposed to expect to see them?” and “If so, does that mean that some Christians are more spiritual than others?”

I should note a few things in response to this line of questioning.

(1) Good Christians can disagree about whether or not we should expect to see all of these gifts listed today. In fact, entire denominations have been formed on the basis of that disagreement. And even among those denominations who generally do not believe all of these gifts are in operation today, some members of those churches do believe they are.

(2) Disagreement on this point does not have to divide one church member from another. Our own confession of faith does not speak to this matter, because we do not want it to be an unnecessary hindrance to our unity or to our welcoming Christians who might have various opinions about this. So long as none of us demands that everyone hold our own view on it, then we are free to discuss it, free to study it, and free to describe what we believe and why.

(3) The vast majority of Christians throughout the centuries have believed that some of these gifts did not continue (long or at all) after the death of the last Apostle. Those Christians who believe that the commonly called “sign gifts” continue today (such as tongues or prophecy) are among the tiny minority of Christians from the beginning. In fact, it is a historical reality that when Christians or churches embrace a view that expects to see modern day Apostles or prophets or miracles or speaking in tongues, that expectation is almost always accompanied by a false gospel, a false understanding of God, and a false ethic for Christian living.

In short, there are some serious practical dangers to emphasizing at least some of these spiritual gifts. And many of the dangers are on display in what was happening in Corinth. Paul was chastising them for losing sight of the gospel, for being a disordered and sinful church, and for scandalizing the reputation of Christ and Christianity precisely because of their emphasis on certain spiritual gifts and because their divisions around notable church members who had those gifts.

But ultimately, it is not the practical implications or effects that should govern our doctrine. Sometimes the Bible teaches us to believe or do stuff that is practically dangerous or unpopular or even divisive. No matter where it leads us, we ought to aim to understand what the Bible teaches and aim to apply it wisely and faithfully in our lives.

And I think that Paul’s main point in this last section of our text today is not to define a list of gifts that we ought to expect to be in operation for all time… but rather to explicitly say that (even in Paul’s own day) these spiritual gifts were not universal. Look at v29 with me. Paul says, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” (v29-30).

The implied answer to these rhetorical questions is “No!” “No, all are not apostles.” “No, all are not prophets.” “No, all do not speak miraculously with other tongues or languages.” But what’s the point?! Why highlight this fact?!

Well, it seems to me that the point in highlighting all the spiritual gifts that many Corinthian Christians did not have was to bring home the reality… that each individual member of the church was insufficient on their own… that each member was designed by God with specific distinctions… and that each member had been joined with the other church members in real unity… so that their complementary strengths and weaknesses would produce harmony and growth… together.

In other words, the point is not to expect merely to have or to grow my own distinct spiritual gifts, but instead to use whatever I have in complementary service to others among my church.

When I first began my sermon, I referenced the story of Christiana in Pilgrim’s Progress, and I told you a little about Mr. Great-heart and Mr. Valiant-for-Truth… and how the whole group helped each other to pass through all the dangers that come upon those who travel the pilgrim way.

Well, when you get to the end of the story, the scene is a joyful gathering of various Christians just outside the Celestial City who are called (one-by-one) to make their way across the river of death and join all those who have gone before.

First, Christiana went over the river, though she had delayed so long at the beginning, once she decided to follow her husband in traveling the King’s Highway, she was faithful to the end.

Next, there was Mr. Ready-to-halt (whose travel was full of difficulty)… and then Mr. Despondency and his daughter Much-afraid (who both had to be delivered from Giant Despair by pilgrims stronger than themselves)… and then there was Mr. Feeble-mind (who could only crawl along the pilgrim’s way when he was on his own and who nearly died at the hands of Giant Slay-good).

All these after Christiana had to be called specifically by name by the shepherds of the Delectable Mountains because they were the most likely to draw back even so close to the end of their journey… but they were welcomed with kindness and gentleness, not chided for their infirmities.

In the end, all did enter the Celestial City… and all did receive their reward… and though they each had played a different role along the King’s Highway, they all helped one another to know the King of the journey far better than any could have known Him on their own.

This is our method and our goal as a church. We are joined together by God’s design, and we bring with us all sorts of differences, which God intends to use for the benefit of all… so that we will travel this road together and come to know God and one another better than we ever could alone.

May God make us to love one another more than we love comfort or efficiency, and may God help us to increasingly understand that the journey in relationship together is itself the goal of our Christianity in this world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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