When was the last time you stopped to marvel at your hand? Have you ever stood in awe of the 27 bones and over 100 ligaments that God designed to work in complete harmony every second of every day to accomplish even the most simple of tasks? The intricate design of the hand is just a glimpse of the overall design of the human body, created by God for us to use for his glory. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul expounds upon how the human body reflects the body of Christ (the church) with a particular emphasis on how each member is gifted and relates to one another. 

Oftentimes today, the word “church” simply denotes a building or even a legal entity. However, in Scripture the original Greek word for church, ekklēsia, means a gathering, assembly, or congregation. So, quite literally, the church is the gathered body of believers and not the building they gather in. The church is both local (comprised of a local group of believers) and world-wide (made up of all believers regardless of location). As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 12:27-28, we are all members of the church and as such, we are Christ’s body and he is its head. To become a member of the body, we must be born again by the inward regeneration of the Holy Spirit. We then become adopted sons and daughters of God and a member of the body of Christ. 

A Body and a Family

There are two related metaphors at play in Scripture when describing Christians—a body and a family. The family metaphor helps us to understand the loving relationship between fellow believers. God the Father is the father of the family, and as his adopted sons and daughters, we are all spiritual brothers and sisters with one another. Whether you are eight years old or eighty, you are a brother or sister in Christ with every other Christian. No matter what your earthly family looks like, we all have an innate sense of what a loving, brotherly relationship should be and it is this type of relationship that is described throughout Scripture.

While the family metaphor addresses our Christian relationships, the body metaphor addresses our function as believers. We often hear our role described as the “hands and feet of Jesus”, carrying out God’s will towards both believers and unbelievers. While that is certainly true in a general sense, Paul shows us that it is not a fully adequate description of how the body of Christ is to operate. In 1 Corinthians 12:14-26, he presents several foundational truths through God’s design of the human body:

1. Our bodies were intentionally designed with many body parts with varied, yet supporting functions.
2. Neither our body nor a single body part can simply decide that any one body part is not actually a part of the body or needed for the body to function.
3. Our body is not simply made up of the external, more presentable body parts; it includes many more internal, less presentable body parts. These are not only indispensable, but oftentimes even more critical to our body’s daily function.

Unity in the Body

The three main truths that Paul presents in 1 Corinthians 12 were meant to directly address a problem of unity in the Corinthian church. Those with showy, public gifts (i.e. hands, feet, eyes, head, etc.) were demeaning and dismissive of those with non-public gifts (i.e. lungs, stomach, kidneys, etc.). At the same time, those with non-public gifts were jealous of their fellow brothers whose gifts were public, even to the point of wrongly desiring and seeking the more prominent gifts without God actually giving them. God has designed great diversity in our body parts, but without unity amongst them, the body cannot function. 

But what unites each part of the body? The 18th century Puritan preacher Matthew Henry states this succinctly: 

“As in the natural body of man, the members should be closely united by the strongest bonds of love; the good of the whole should be the object of all. All Christians are dependent one upon another; each is to expect and receive help from the rest.”

When each member of the body focuses on showing a Christlike love for one another, the sinful pride and jealousy fall away. This allows the body of believers to function as God intended—as a complete body and not simply a collection of body parts. The opening verses of Ephesians 4 remind us to “bear with one another in love” to keep the “unity of the Spirit” as there is “one body and one Spirit”.

The Work of Unity

So what comes from a body of believers, united in love, working together to exercise their gifts and callings for God’s glory and to accomplish his will?

1. We get joy. True joy that comes from being obedient and yielding to the Father who created us and the Son who saved us, while allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us.
2. We are conformed to the image of Christ. God’s will for us, his ultimate agenda for us, is that we be conformed to the image of his Son, who lived a perfect life for us in obedience to God the Father.
3. We become content in Christ. We find true rest and relief in Christ, as it states in Matthew 11:28-30 (LSB):

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

When we work together in unity, we act as finely sharpened hammers and chisels, able to build and sculpt with beauty and precision. But when used separately, a hammer and chisel tend to accomplish rough, often crude work.

It is also important to understand that to work together, we as members of the body must also be together. Oftentimes the church can look like the modern suburban family where everyone has their own activities, their own group of friends, their own priorities, even to the point of the entire family being together only once or twice a week. A body of believers should be more than that. It should be gathering for corporate worship, gathering for study and instruction, gathering for friendship and fellowship, gathering to sharpen one another and to move each other from milk to solid food.

What does this look like at Providence?

It starts with gathering on the Lord’s Day for corporate worship. But it doesn’t end there. It also involves finding areas in the church where you can use the gifts that God has given you, where you can be the part of the body that God has called you to be. At some point in our walk, we all teach and are taught; we all care and are cared for; we all sharpen and are sharpened. We must avoid the trap that only church staff, or those with certain titles like Deacon, are “in ministry”. We are all in ministry and it is something that we are to always be involved in–`with and amongst our fellow believers; for God has not simply saved us through Christ, but given us to Christ as his body.

Here are some links to help get you started:

• Signup forms for all of our formal ministry areas: https://www.providencefrisco.com/serve/in-the-church/
• Service Interest Questionnaire to help our Deacons with things that fall outside formal ministries: https://providencefrisco.churchcenter.com/people/forms/697058
• Community Groups, Huddles, Bible Studies, Care Groups, and Prayer Groups: https://www.providencefrisco.com/connect/groups/
• Local Outreach Opportunities: https://www.providencefrisco.com/serve/in-the-community/
• National and International Missions: https://www.providencefrisco.com/serve/around-the-world/