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.
Have you ever broken a hand, foot, or arm? I have a couple of friends who have recently injured their hands. In one case, it has actually been broken. What would you rather have, a broken arm or a broken leg? That is a silly question because you don’t want a broken anything. You need everything you have, and you don’t know much you need what you have until you don’t have it anymore.
Your hand is important, and your foot is important. They serve different functions, but they both serve in the same body. That is the example God uses to talk about how the body of Christ is made up of different members who have different, God-given gifts but who serve the same Lord. Verses 12-14 say, “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. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.”
In your church, people don’t all serve the same way, but they should all serve the same Lord. That is important to remember. It is easy for me to judge other people by the gifts that I have, or to look at them and wish I had the gifts they had. This is fruitless. We have all been given what we have in order to serve Christ just like different members of the human body come together with different functions to form one body.
Realizing that we serve the same God in different ways gives us three things. First, it gives us peace. Verse 15 says, “If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” In other words, just because I don’t have the same gifts as someone else does not mean that I am not valuable. Verse 18 says, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it has pleased him.” This gives us peace with who we are and with the gifts God has given to us.
Second, this realization gives us a sense of unity. Verse 21 says, “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” How silly it would be for different parts of the body to argue one against another or to be arrogant one against another. That doesn’t happen. If an entire body consisted of just one giant eyeball, then that is not a body, it is a monstrosity. An eye is simply one of a number of members that constitutes an entire body.
Thirdly, this realization helps us to render proper care for others in the body of Christ. Verses 25-26 say, “That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” If I slam my hand in the door accidentally, my mouth doesn’t say, “Well, that’s what you get. You should not have been hanging around there.” No, my mouth and my entire body are going to join in on the mourning of my injured fingers because they are all part of the same body though they serve different functions.
You don’t know how much you need what you have until you don’t have it. God has placed you in the body of Christ as it pleased Him. So, please Him by having peace, unity, and care for others. Realize that you are just a part of the body, but you are an important part.