We are in this together, equally, but not in the same way.  That sounds like a contradiction, but it is not.

Paul wants to teach that the body is a cohesive unit, and in Christ, we are that body.  In this body, there are two wrong mentalities.

The first is one of inferiority.  It is the feeling because a person does not have a prominent place, something that seems like a special ability, or something of the like, does not feel like they belong.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being 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 stop being 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 placed 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” (1 Cor 12:15-20).

It is not truth or reality to think that because someone feels less special, more hidden, and just someone “less” overall that they do not belong.  It is God who has placed each part of the body, just as he wanted them to be.  We are all different, and we all have different functions.

The other side of the equation is the superiority complex.  It isn’t usually overtly seen in the attitude of the heart.  But people are treated as if they are not needed, that their gifts are less important.

“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!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  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,  while our presentable parts need no special treatment” (1 Cor 12:21-24).

God has made it so that those parts that are less obvious and less open actually have a special honor.  Even the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty.

The body is the illustration, but he is trying to make the point.  Everyone has equal value, different roles, and different places.  We are in this together.

“But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,  so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Cor 12:24-26).

The goal?

• That there should be no division in the body.
• That its part should have equal concern for each other
• That there is shared suffering and shared joy

A pastor is not greater than the person who sweeps the church.  The one who practices gifts of mercy is not less than the person who works miracles of healing.  We have different gifts and there should be mutual respect.

It brings us to task questions of ourselves.

• What is our gift?
• Are we more tempted to superiority or inferiority?
• In what way are we actually using who we were made to be to support the body?