I Corinthians 12:27:
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
I Corinthians 12:12:
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.”
I was thinking recently about the Body of Christ and how we as a Church tend to view the particular passage that we have heard so many times. So many times I have heard, “Sister so-and-so may be a part of the hand” or “Brother so-and-so may be a part of the foot.” This can be so true; they may be. It seems that we take interest in being that part that is in sight, such as the hand, arm, leg, foot, or neck. Whatever the part mentioned, it is usually a part that can be seen on a human body ...
I was thinking though, what about those parts not seen, those parts that may never even be mentioned. As we know, God has placed each one of us as he pleased, as it says in I Corinthians 12:18: ”But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” We would all like to choose that part that we may be, but indeed, do not truly know. We only know that He has grafted us in and placed us in the “Body” as it pleases Him, wherever that is in His eyes ...
As I was pondering upon this, I began to think of how the human body is put together: how we have bone structure, tendons, muscle, and first, second, and third layers of skin; or how we have blood vessels, the heart, the organs (be they major or minor). I was thinking just how every part depends upon another to work and function properly. I started to realize if one thing is out of place, there is great pain, or total dysfunction that occurs due to even the smallest thing that goes wrong.
Oh, how wonderful it is to think of ourselves as a hand—one reaching out to touch those around us—or the feet—that go where we are needed—but what about those parts not seen? What about those that play the “biggest” part in the making of the body? Those that make up the “underbody,” so to speak? You see the Body might look right on the outside, but if the inside is not right, it cannot function properly. Does anybody ever say, “Thank you Lord, that I am a part of the tendon, or the joint that helps make this part of the body function?” When we go on to read:
I Corinthians 12:22 – 26:
“Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary”:
23) “And those [members] of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness.”
24) “For our comely [parts] have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that [part] which lacked:”
25) “That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another.”
26) “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
27) “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
You see, there are parts of the body that may never get recognition for where they fit. They may not even seem important to anybody else. But to God, each part, no matter no matter how big, how small, how unimportant they may seem to us, they hold the “Body” together and cause it to be in proper order.
