In our first talk we saw from 1 Corinthians 14:26 that one of the features to be expected when Christians meet together is the power of the Holy Spirit manifested in the use of supernatural gifts which are given as the Holy Spirit determines to individual Christians for the benefit of the church.
In this talk we’ll be considering 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and its bearing on those words in 14:26 where Paul says every one of you has. His clear intention is that they should all actively participate in the worship of the church, but they needed to do so in a spirit of unity and love. Their lack of love was evident from the serious divisions in the church (chapters 1-4), their need to consider others in the way they exercised their freedom (chapters 8-10), and their selfish behaviour at the Lord’s Supper described in chapter 11.
In the light of all this, it’s easy to understand why Paul felt the need to address the question of unity in chapter 12, of the importance of love in chapter 13, and of the need to put other people first in chapter 14. Keeping all this in mind will help us to understand more clearly the passage in 12:12-31.
We also need to remember that in the first part of the chapter Paul has been dealing with supernatural gifts. This is the immediate context of the passage we are about to consider. In verse 12 Paul says:
For the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
The use of the word for shows that there is a link between what Paul has just said in verse 11 with what he’s about to say in verse 12, and this indicates that supernatural gifts are still very much in mind. However, the subject is now broader and Paul’s teaching applies, not just to supernatural gifts, but to every function of the body, by which Paul clearly means the church, the body of Christ. He is drawing a parallel between the church and the human body. Just as each human being has one body which is made up of many parts, so too the church, which is the body of Christ, is one body with many parts.
Paul goes on to develop this theme in the following verses where the major theme is unity and interdependence in the midst of diversity. He shows that all the members of the body are different (diversity) but are united by the fact that they are all part of the same body and empowered by the same Spirit (unity). Each part of the body is dependent on each of the other parts. Everyone is needed (interdependence). Just as the parts of the human body all need each other, so the individual members of the church all need each other.
The table below outlines the verse references for each of these themes:
Diversity: 4, 5, 6, 8-11, 12, 14, 20, 28.
Unity: One Spirit: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13.
One Body: 12, 13, 20, 24-25.
Interdependence: 21, 25, 26.
We will now consider this in more detail under the following headings:
· The illustration of the human body (14-26)
· The illustration applied to the church (27-31).
The illustration of the human body (14-26)
Paul’s use of the human body as an illustration of the church and its members is easy enough for even a child to understand. He reminds us that our body is not made up of one part but of many (14). He then mentions different parts of the body – feet, hands, ears, and eyes – to point out that every part of the body is needed. Just because a foot is not a hand, it does not mean that it’s not part of the body (15) and just because an ear is not an eye, it does not mean that it’s not part of the body (16). In fact,
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? (17).
Paul then goes on to say that God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be (18). And because it is God who has done so, it follows that every part is necessary. No part can say to another, I don’t need you (20-21). Even the weaker and unpresentable parts are indispensable (22-23).
And that’s why there should be no division in the body. Its unity is expressed in all the parts having equal concern for each other (25) and the fact that,
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it (26).
Now it should be clear that in this passage Paul has been reminding the Corinthians of things they already know about their own physical bodies. But by telling them at the beginning (12) that the church is the body he is really concerned with, he knows that the Corinthians will have a pretty good idea of what he is getting at.
And so should we. The key lessons are as follows:
· The church is the body of Christ (12, 27)
· The parts (or members) of that body are individual Christians (27).
· Every member is different from all the others, but every member needs all the others (21).
· Every member is needed because God has put them just where he wants them to be (18, 24). Everyone is indispensable (22). Everyone is special (23).
· No member should ever say of themselves, I am not a part of the body (15-17). We mustn’t think of ourselves as useless. Whether we believe it or not, like it or not, we belong to the body.
· No member should ever say of another member, They are not a part of the body. We mustn’t think of anyone as useless (21-24).
· All the members should have equal concern for each other (25).
We’ll consider how all this affects our understanding of 14:26 after we have examined verses 27-31.
The illustration applied to the church (27-31)
In verse 27 Paul says:
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Paul now begins to apply to the church the principles he has been teaching in verses 12-26, and it’s important at this stage to remind ourselves of something we have mentioned already. What Paul is saying is not only applicable to when we gather together for worship – though that, of course, is our main focus in this book – but to the wider ministry of the church. The body of Christ is at work 24/7, not just for an hour or so on Sundays! This is reflected in verse 28, where Paul says:
And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
Here Paul lists some of the different gifts and ministries that function within the body of Christ. These are not intended as an exhaustive list, but as representative samples of how different parts of the body are at work, whether in a church meeting or outside it.
It is not my intention to discuss in detail the precise nature of each of these gifts. I have already done so at length in my book Body Builders – Gifts to make God’s people grow, (where, incidentally, I suggest that the Greek translated by NIV as those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, might be better understood to refer to the roles of deacons and elders).
But what’s important here is to notice that Paul begins by saying GOD has appointed. This reemphasises what he has already said in verses 18 and 24:
GOD has arranged (18) and GOD has combined (24).
We are what we are because that’s what GOD has made us, and that’s why every member of the body is important. Whether we are an Ephesians 4:11 gift, like apostle, prophet, or teacher, or whether we have supernatural gifts like working miracles, or healing, or speaking in tongues, we need to understand that it is by the grace of God that we are what we are and have what we have. As Paul later says of himself,
by the grace of God I am what I am (15:10).
Here Paul is referring to his role as a church leader, an apostle, and it’s significant that, in the list we are now considering, he puts apostles first. And although it’s unlikely that he’s implying some form of hierarchy when he says, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, it’s clear from chapter 14 (and especially 14:37) that Paul understood that the use of spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and interpretation was subject to his apostolic authority.
Turning now to verses 29-30, we see that Paul repeats (in question form) the list of functions he has mentioned in verse 28 – though note the omission of those able to help others, and those with gifts of administration, which is probably because Paul felt it unnecessary to repeat all the functions listed in verse 28 to make his point. He says:
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?
The sense of these verses is very clear. The questions are rhetorical. The answer Paul clearly expects to each question is NO. Paul is reiterating his point that just as all the parts of our body are different and have different functions, so too all the members of the church are different and have different roles to play in the body of Christ.
It’s particularly important to understand this when we consider the implication of his question, Do all speak in tongues? which clearly indicates that all do not. This is sometimes used as an argument against the teaching that we should expect to speak in tongues when we are baptised in the Holy Spirit, but that argument is easily dismissed when we bear in mind the context of Paul’s question which, as we have seen, relates to functions within the church.
This is confirmed by his next question, Do all interpret? The purpose of the gift of interpretation of tongues is the edification of the church (14:5) and it is clear, therefore, that when Paul says Do all speak in tongues? he is referring to the use of tongues in church. However, in chapter 14 Paul distinguishes between the use of tongues in church and its use in private:
I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue (18-19).
This surely indicates that in private Paul valued highly his ability to speak in tongues.
This is how he could pray with his spirit (14:14-15) and was a valuable way of edifying himself spiritually (14:4), but in church his teaching gift would be of more benefit to other members of the body of Christ.
Once we have understood the clear distinction Paul makes between the use of tongues in church and its use in private, the meaning of his question in 12:30 becomes very clear.
Does everybody speak in tongues with a view to its being interpreted for the edification of the church? No.
That does not mean, however, that it would not be beneficial for every Christian to speak in tongues privately in order to pray with the spirit. And that ability, as we have seen from Acts, was imparted when new converts were baptised in the Holy Spirit.
But we must now turn our attention to how Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 affects our understanding of 14:26, where he says:
What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
1 Corinthians 14:26 in the light of chapter 12
In our first talk we identified three key principles in this verse – participation, variety, and edification. These principles may be seen as a summary of all that Paul is teaching in these chapters and all three are implicit in his teaching in chapter 12. In fact, what Paul says in chapter 12 enriches our understanding of what he means in 14:26.
With regard to participation, in 14:26 Paul says, When you come together, everyone has… or as later versions of NIV put it, each of you has. The implication is that every member of the body has the potential to bring something to the meeting that will be a blessing to others.
In chapter 12 we see examples of the kind of things that people might bring, and we’re told that in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work (6). The Spirit distributes his gifts to each one, just as he determines (11). And, as we have seen, the major emphasis of verses 12-26 is that every part of the body is needed. The head cannot say to the hand, I don’t need you (21). So, if everyone is needed, there must surely be room for them to participate.
With regard to the variety, in 14:26 Paul mentions a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. There are three main elements here – the musical, the doctrinal, and the supernatural. We will say more about these when we reach chapter 14, but it’s evident that Paul expected all these elements to be present when Christians meet in church.
It’s interesting that in chapter 12 Paul appears to say nothing about the musical, though it would undoubtedly be included in the different kinds of service he mentions in verse 5. He also says little in this chapter about the doctrinal, although its importance is strongly implied in verse 1 where he says that he does not want his readers to be ignorant, and he mentions teachers in verse 28. But we need have no doubt about Paul’s view of the importance of sound doctrine, which is evidently his major purpose in writing his letters and becomes very evident in his teaching in chapter 15 on the most important doctrine of all – the resurrection of Christ.
However, if in chapter 12 he has nothing to say directly about the musical, and relatively little to say about the doctrinal, he has plenty to say about the supernatural. We have already seen that the gifts he lists in verses 8-10 are supernatural gifts, that the supernatural is still in mind in his illustration of the human body as the body of Christ, the church, and that supernatural gifts are still very much in evidence towards the end of the chapter in verses 28 and 29. It seems likely, therefore, that the variety he has in mind in 14:26 would be far wider than the things he mentions there, and could well include any or all of the gifts and ministries he has talked about in chapter 12.
That brings us finally to the principle of edification of which Paul speaks in 14:26 when he says that all of these must be done for the strengthening (or edification) of the church. We will say much more about this when we come to chapter 14, where edification is the dominant theme of the chapter. For now it’s sufficient to note that it also underlies his teaching in chapter 12. The gifts of the Spirit are distributed for the good of all (7). We are baptised in the Spirit for the benefit of the church (13). And each part of the body has been placed there by God for the benefit of all the members because we all need each other (14-26).
So chapter 12 enhances our understanding of what Paul teaches in 14:26, but it also sets the context for our understanding of what he about to say about love in 1 Corinthians 13. But that’s the subject of our next talk.