Despite how easy it is to view our human bodies as a whole made up of many necessary parts, what hinders us from living out 1 Cor. 12:25-26 in the body of Christ? Here are a few answers:
Selfishness—being only concerned with how we are doing (“I’m a hand, so I could care less what is happening to other parts of the body. I’m just going to make sure I protect my interests at all costs”);
Jealousy—being bitter about how God blesses and uses others (“I am so frustrated that I am constantly underappreciated and never given what I am due. And that foot gets all the praise and all the credit and this is despite the fact that it has that glaring weakness that I, as the ear, certainly don’t have”); This final one is directly related to the first 2 and is the root of all our problems…
Unbelief—this is living in utter denial of clear biblical truths about the church being the body of Christ (“I am a leg, but I don’t have to pretend that I’m part of the body. I’ve obviously got my own things to do and I’m pretty busy doing them. I wish everyone the best and hope God blesses their lives, but I’ve got these goals and desires for my life and I refuse to be hindered from achieving them by being bogged down with the concerns of other members”).
We have to understand that those mindsets describe either an incredibly immature believer or an unbeliever. In God’s wise purposes, he has chosen to refer to the church as the body of Christ. The Apostle has made it clear that it’s the same Spirit who baptizes all Christians into the body and then give a variety of gifts to everyone in the body for the benefit of the body. Therefore, it is essential for the proper working of the body as a whole that each part function properly.
God Composes the Body of Christ for the Common Good of the Body
