One Body

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

ONE BODY

1 Cor 12:21-26

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!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

NIV

Although we are still talking about the Body of Christ and sometimes we think in the realm of the local church we attend as that body, this analogy could also apply to an interdenominational riff that exists in our cultural. God has told us that a house divided cannot stand, and here we see that we who are one denomination cannot say that we do not need those of another denomination. How bizarre is our need to argue over little things, and separate ourselves from each other over the interpretation of, say, the gifts of the Spirit, which we just looked at. Although we can see how foolish and disobedient to God’s Word that is, let us confine ourselves within the local church and see just how we are doing. Do we separate ourselves into little cliques or groups? Do some feel they have the superior understanding of spiritual things? Do some feel they run the church? Do some think they are the only reason the church survives because they are the richest couple? Are some of us of the idea we are the ones who are doing it all? Do we think because we have visible areas of service, we are the only ones doing something for the Kingdom of God? In fact, are we actually doing it for the kingdom or are we doing it for our own gratification and honoring? Have we separated ourselves so much from everyone else that we do not even know if one is suffering? Do we really rejoice when one member is honored, or are we a little jealous instead? It seems we should be so involved with each other, putting others before ourselves, that we truly would be members of the Body of Christ. Do we even know what everyone else is doing as members of the body? It could be that we have failed in our being what we are supposed to be, both by having so many denominations as well as having so much division within our local church. Even pastors might be guilty of being jealous of other pastors with larger churches, who are getting a lot of fame and glory, instead of rejoicing over their success, yet how do they define success? But are those famous pastors even concerned about the little suffering church on the corner of that old tattered neighborhood? We have so much to learn, so much to grow in order to truly be members of one body.