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Part of the Body?

Have you ever given any thought to your place in the body of Christ? God tells us in His word that there is only one body, and that we have each been placed in the body based on our talents and spiritual gifts. We all have a specific part to play in the body. No one else has your particular gifts or graces, and you are an essential part of the body.

But have you ever considered the flip side of that? If some people are graced and gifted in a particular area, then that means that there are others who are not graced or gifted in that area. This can lead to confusion and hurt feelings if we don't keep this in mind.

The apostle Paul urged us in his epistles to consider our weaker brothers and sisters in all that we do. In Paul's case he was talking about eating meat sacrificed to idols. In our case, we might be referring to speaking in tongues, leading worship, praying out loud, or speaking in front of others.

For example, just because we can speak in front of others doesn't mean that everyone is capable of doing that. We should respect our brothers and sisters who are not gifted in that area and not try to force them to do something they are not comfortable doing. Instead, we need to encourage them to step out in the areas in which they are gifted.

The key to Christian unity is the recognition that we are all one body with different gifts, talents, and graces.

1 Corinthians 12:1-21 (NIV)

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 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. 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.

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? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 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!"