1 Corinthians 12

One Spirit, One Body

Before I get into this chapter, I want to do a bit of review. After his introduction, Paul begins his letter to the Corinthian church urging them “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction,” 1:10. He continues by exposing their lack of wisdom and understanding as they are divided by who they want to “follow”. Later, in chapter 11, he admonishes them for their divisive behavior with the Lord’s Supper. “Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you,” 11:17-19. The overarching theme for 1 Corinthians is the need for unity in the church. In Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul said, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. It seems that this is not only a problem with the Corinthian church and is a word for our churches today. As we look around at the thousands of denominations and church splits, we see that the message of unity may once again be needed.

Vs. 1-11 Now concerning what comes from the Spirit: brothers, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you used to be led off to the idols that could not speak. Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages.  But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.

When I was a teenager, I remember attending a seminar at a conference center called Glorieta in New Mexico. My family would go every year and some of my favorite childhood memories are of our times there. The seminar was entitled “Discovering Your Gifts”. I remember taking a series of “tests” to discover my spiritual gifts. The list of gifts were taken from this passage in 1 Corinthians and from Romans 12. Most of the seminar discussed how to use your spiritual gifts, but, I do not recall much that was said about what I feel is the main issue in this passage – the unity of the body. Paul does give us a list of gifts here from wisdom, to prophecy to healing and miracles, and, I do believe it is worth exploring how the Holy Spirit has gifted us for ministry, but, I believe Paul’s main focus in this passage is the unity of the body of Christ. This is evident in how he begins this subject: concerning what comes from the Spirit – do not be unaware… The Greek word used for the phrase “what comes from the Spirit” is pneumatikós, which means spiritual and relates to the invisible sphere in which the Holy Spirit imparts faith and reveals Christ. Paul says he doesn’t want us to be unaware of the Holy Spirit and how He empowers us. One of the ways we are empowered is through the gifts God gives us. The Greek word for gifts here is charisma. This is a pretty familiar word. It usually brings up visions of people with the extraordinary ability to draw us in by way of their charismatic personality. Or we might think of the charismatic movement in the church, which focuses on the gifts of the spirit. Both would be correct, but there is a deeper meaning to this word and one that I think will change the way we look at the gifts of the Spirit. The word charisma actually means a gift of grace – a free gift and is used to describe the gift of salvation we have in Christ. Romans 6:23 is an example: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift (charisma) of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So as we look at the gifts (charisma) of the Spirit (pneuma) we must keep in mind they are gifts of grace from the Holy Spirit who imparts faith and empowers us to do the work of God.

With this in mind, we must come to understand the gifts of the Spirit not as individualistic gifts, but God gifting us and empowering us for His purpose. So, the gifts are not given for our personal benefit, but to be used in the context of the body of Christ so the free gift of grace (charisma) can bring glory and honor to God. Paul reminds us that there may be different gifts, but One Spirit. There may be different ministries but One Lord. There may be different activities, but One God. We know the word for gifts is charisma. The Greek word for ministries is diakonía which is a ministry or active service, done with a willing attitude. We are not paid for this ministry, or contracted to do this ministry. We minister because we love God and want to glorify Him. The Greek word for activities is enérgēma, which means energizing or operations which focus on the results of God’s “energy” or power in people living in His faith. God empowers us – energizes us – to do His work. So, the Holy Spirit imparts the gifts that are used for active ministry which focuses on God “to produce what is beneficial” which in turn extends the free gift of grace to the world through the body of Christ.

Vs. 12-20 For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. So the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? Now there are many parts, yet one body.

Paul is very specific in letting us know that there is One body made up of Many parts in One body. It doesn’t matter who we are, we are still a part of that One body made up of Many parts. Each part of the body is just as important as the other, just as each gift is needed to best display the body of Christ. Paul says, think of it this way – what if the foot said “because I’m not a hand I’m not a part of the body.” Of course that wouldn’t make any sense. Feet are a part of the body whether they think so or not. In the same sense, I believe we have many in the body of Christ who think, well I’m not a staff person so I’m really not a part of the inner workings of this church. I’ll just come on Sunday mornings and listen. Paul would say, yes, you are a part of the inner workings of the church because you are part of the body, but, because you don’t see it that way, the body is not functioning as well as it could. Another way Paul looks at it is this: “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?” This is like saying, if the whole body is the choir, where would the teachers be? It’s not going to go far, I can tell you that. God is the One who imparts His gifts to us so the body functions properly. Some are teachers and preachers, while others are mercy givers or prayer warriors. Some are faith builders while others lead in worship through music. If the whole church were all one thing, it would not survive long. We need all the gifts of the Spirit to be most effective in sharing the grace of God.

Vs. 21-31  ”So the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary. And those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have a better presentation. But our presentable parts have no need of clothing. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it. And God has placed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, managing, various kinds of languages. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in other languages? Do all interpret? But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

In the same way, the eye can’t look at the hand and say, I don’t need you! As the church, we can’t look at people and say, we don’t need your gift. If you aren’t a teacher or can’t sing in the choir, then you can just sit in that pew and listen. We can see them as weaker or not as influential, but Paul reminds us that even the seemingly weaker parts of the body are still necessary. The thumb might be small and it can’t do much by itself but, without it, the hand doesn’t function properly. We might not see the gift of mercy as a “power” gift but without it, the church would be in big trouble. This is where the church at Corinth had their problems. They deferred to the stronger, more influential members and neglected the members that were weaker. They did this with the Lord’s supper, and they were doing it in other areas of the church. God has set up things so all can come to the table. Each person shares in the banquet of grace. Yes, there are different gifts given to each one – some more spectacular than others, but all are vital to further the kingdom of God. There is not one gift that is not needed. Paul does urge us to desire the greater gifts, but not everyone can have the same one. The Spirit gives the perfect gift to each person and all are needed in the body of Christ for it to work properly. As fellow believers in Christ, we need to be looking at ways we can serve and encourage the gifts we see in others – big and small. What we may find is that a “small” gift may be the catalyst to a great revival. One such man was Jeremiah Lanphier. Most of us have never heard of him, but he was instrumental in the revivals of 1857-59 in New York. Jeremiah was a lay missionary who was said to be gifted in prayer. He found that his personal time spent in prayer sustained and empowered him and so, on September 23, 1857, he began a prayer meeting once a week during the lunch hour at his church. He invited all who wanted to come and at the first meeting he was alone for the first 30 min. Finally a couple more men joined him for the last 30 min. The next week there were 20 and the next there was 40. The next month, they started praying daily and by February of 1858, they had to open up three rooms in his church while 20 other prayer rooms around New York had started. In March they started meeting in Burton’s Theatre, which held 3000 and by the end of the month, every church was filled to capacity with prayer groups. A revival was born out of one man who used his gift of prayer to the glory of God.

I believe one of the things that truly shows the unity of the body of Christ is the suffering and rejoicing with one another. When a body is working properly, it will notice when something is wrong, or be excited when something is right. Even when the smallest part of the body is hurt, the whole body will be in pain. Several years ago, I broke my toe. I can tell you, my whole body felt it. It effected everything about me – how I walked, my stomach was nauseas, and I couldn’t do everything like before. Not only that, it affected other people as well. I remember that I was singing in a show at that time and the choreography had to be changed up a bit for me. This is what it should be like in the body of Christ. When one person is suffering, we should all feel it, and take it into account. When one person is rejoicing, we should all rejoice. We are one body.

Whether you are a hand, foot, eye or the smallest pinkie, all have been gifted uniquely by the Holy Spirit to be grace in this world. The question is, will you allow the Spirit to empower you? This chapter ends with a bit of a teaser. “I will show you an even better way.” It’s a page turner, and, I will give you the answer here. When we turn the page, we find 1 Corinthians 13 – perhaps the second most famous scripture passage behind John 3:16. The better way is love. There is no unity without love and, it is only through the unity of the body when we can see the benefits of the gifts we have been given. Charisma – gifts of grace – were given to us out of love. And we in turn, we must use them with the same love in which they were given. It is only then that the body can truly glorify God.