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. 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. 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? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 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 honourable we treat with special honour. 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 honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
1 Corinthians 12:15-30 NIVUK
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13 NIVUK
I will never forget the conversation I had at a table at a former communist youth camp just outside of Budapest, Hungary. It was July 1996. I had been unwell for days with a stomach complaint that looked like it was going to end my time on short term mission. I had been on the edge of going home several times. But I'd pushed through it.
Now I was seated at a table, drinking a Sprite and discussing what I could contribute to the team with my team leader and his assistant.
‘What can you do?’ they asked me.
‘Anything but sing.’ I told them. ‘I’ll do anything, but I can't sing.’
My wife can definitely testify to that. During the Coronavirus pandemic, when church opened, but we had to attend in masks, the biggest blessing I think she got out of it was that she could stand next to her husband and he was banned by law from ‘making a joyful noise unto the Lord’.
Back in Budapest, that conversation lead to something happening that I could not and did not anticipate. You see, my team leader could sing. His assistant could interpret, and sing. The team musician could sing. The two Korean ladies in our team could sing. The Irish and English ladies in our team were great with kids.
But the one thing no-one in that team either could do or had the inclination to do was preach.
So within 48 hours of that meeting, still weak from illness and completely out of my depth in a country where I couldn’t speak the language, I preached my first sermon.
I found my place in the team. And it was not what I expected.
These verses are some of the most liberating in the whole Bible.
You see, in church we often find ourselves either feeling intimidated because someone else is so good at what they do, or intimidating other people because they are not like us. And believe me, I have seen it. I’ve seen it in more places than I care to think.
I’ve seen it in the Roma people forced out of worshipping God according to their culture.
I’ve seen it in a teenage girl berated for dying her hair.
I’ve seen it in a praise band forced to apologise because they made a motion that approximated to a dance while playing in a concert.
I’ve seen it in a church that enforced a dress code at their door.
I’ve seen it in a pastor who preached from the pulpit that you would only find the truth in his church and nowhere else.
I’ve seen it in the refusal of Christians from one denomination to work with those of another.
It’s petty. It’s divisive. It’s wrong.
And Paul points this out to the Corinthians.
He starts with talking about who we are.
He states that because who we are does not disqualify us from being part of the Body.
And he explains it beautifully. Every part of the Body is co-dependent on the other. So the reality is that even if you can’t do something, someone else can, and you can do something they can’t do.
Let me give you another example. I work on the technical team in our church. There are three of us: one on the sound desk, one operating the streaming cameras and someone operating the projection computer.
To me the projection is simple. I’ve been using PowerPoint for more than twenty years. I know it quite well.
But don’t ask me to operate the sound desk. It’s way too complex.
The streaming seems quite complicated too. Lots of buttons to press, and if you press the wrong one at the wrong time, the church’s YouTube stream could be affected.
But all three are needed for the broadcasted services to work well.
The church is the same. You might not be an amazing singer or a fantastic preacher or great with children or a technical genius. So what? You are just as much a part of the Body as everyone else.
Secondly, he talks about who we are not.
I am very grateful for a grace-filled pastor in Cernavodă. You see, when I went to Romania in 1996, I had no idea that I would be preaching, so I had no preaching clothes with me. But the pastor still allowed me to preach in a black t-shirt and black jeans. He accepted me for who I was despite the fact that I was not like his church members – not even in the way I dressed.
I wish church leaders everywhere could learn from the gentle acceptance of that man.
Because no-one, and I mean no-one, has the right to stop us from being part of the Body of Christ because we are different.
I stretched this when I was a teenager. I was a member of a small church at the time. I was into rock music and had quite a few rock t-shirts that I sometimes wore to church. I also grew my hair long.
But they didn't throw me out the church.
I have often been fascinated by the Lord’s message to Samuel when he was visiting Jesse’s sons to choose a man to become king:
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’
1 Samuel 16:6-7 NIVUK
You see, when Saul had been chosen, it had been very different:
They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. Samuel said to all the people, ‘Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no-one like him among all the people.’ Then the people shouted, ‘Long live the king!’
1 Samuel 10:23-24 NIVUK
The people wanted a king, so God gave them one: an archetypal king who looked good, but whose heart was rotten.
David, however, was the opposite. He did not fit the mould. But he was a way better leader than Saul.
It was said even of Jesus that:
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Isaiah 53:2 NIVUK
So we should never reject people who don’t fit our mould. David and Jesus certainly did not.
Thirdly, Paul talks about where we fit.
The appendix is a strange organ. No-one quote knows what it does. We know that removing it causes no problems at all. We know that if becomes inflamed and bursts, it can cause blood poisoning and potentially death. But its purpose remains a mystery.
There is no-one in the church who is an appendix. We each have our role. We each have our purpose. There were some of who are visible and up front: the preachers, pastors, teachers, musicians, praise leaders. There are those who have a quiet behind the scenes ministry in visitation, cleaning, technology, encouragement, even some specifically in intercession.
But every one of us is needed.
There are those that are wounded by life and in recovery. We guard them carefully. But once recovered, they will have a life-changing ministry to those who have suffered the same wounds.
The point is that we are a body, an organism, a team. Neither of these works if all parts of it are exactly the same. In fact, if you ever met someone who was all eye, or all hand, or all foot, you’d think you were having a nightmare.
It’s the same with the church. We are different because this is how God intends us to be (1 Corinthians 12:24, 27). God’s intention is for us to act like a body and to feel like a body – to care for the parts that are different (1 Corinthians 12:25-26) and to work for the common good.
There is a very challenging verse one chapter before these words. This verse concerns the Lord’s Supper, and it states the following:
For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
1 Corinthians 11:29 NIVUK
In these verses, Paul refers to the Body of Christ as not being the bread, but the people who eat the bread.
As we gather and share bread and wine, we must perceive that the people around us are part of the Body of Christ. We have a part to play in this body. So have they. But it will not be the same part.
And we must accept that difference.
Questions
What part do you play in the Body of Christ?
How does the idea of the church as the Body of Christ shape your approach to people who are different from you?
What can you do to make sure people who are different are accepted in your church?
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