Two Things We Can’t Say

1 Corinthians 12:14-21

¹⁴ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶ 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 cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷ 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? ¹⁸ But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ 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!"

 

This passage comes from a longer section on spiritual gifts and the body of Christ. Basically Paul is saying that the body of Christ is made up of many parts. Those parts are in fact believers using the gifts God gave them. But focus for a moment on two things. In verse 15 it says the foot cannot say "I don't belong." Then in verse 21 it says the eye cannot say "I don't need you." So here are two things we must never find ourselves saying in reference to the body of Christ, church work, the kingdom of God, etc. Another way to put this would be we cannot exclude ourselves and we cannot exclude others. Look at a few other statements in this chapter: "The body is unit" (vs. 12), "God has arranged the parts of the body" (vs. 18), "its parts should have equal concern for each other" (vs. 25).

Here is a simple, but profound truth: God created you with a purpose. He gave you gifts so you can fulfill that purpose. Each of us has a necessary purpose in the body of Christ. "If the whole body were an eye where would the sense of hearing be?" We have a choice. We can fulfill God's purpose for us, or we can try to fulfill our own. It's the Big Choice we have to make in our lives and we need to make it every day (Luke 9:23). If you've seen the first Matrix movie, you'll remember when Morpheus offered Neo a choice. Either he could go back to a false reality that is comfortable and manageable, but full of nagging doubt, or he could choose the true reality and fight for freedom, help others, and be a hero. That's the kind of choice we make: our version of reality or God's. You don't have to be a theologian to see which is better.

But there is another profound truth here. What is true for you is also true for every other believer. God created them with a purpose as well. And here's the thing: we need each other. Just in case you didn't quite get that: we need each other. Spending time along with God is important to my faith, but it's not enough. Worshipping on Sunday morning with other believers is important to my faith, but it's not enough. We need to be engaged in the lives of other Christians, to learn from them, lean on them and let them learn from us and lean on us. We need each other.