1 Corinthians__12

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12: 17-18 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear where the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

 

Observation

As Paul continues writing to the church of Corinth about unity, he begins to make the analogy of the body Christ being like a physical, human body. He uses this analogy to further the idea that God’s people should be united as they make up one body, but every part is useful. He also contends that God has placed each person (or body part) exactly where they need to be, according to their calling.

 

Understanding

The tribe has not spoken, only God can do that.

*WARNING: I am about to expose myself for being a complete nerd, but I promise it’s how I made sense of this passage*

Ever since I was like 10 years old I have watched Survivor with my mom, so you can blame her for my obsession of the show. Aside from telling my mom that I’m going to play for a million dollars on the show one day, we always pause the show and breakdown the gameplay and strategy of all the players. If you’ve never seen the show, just know that you are better than me, and that the inherent ingredient to success in the game is lying and backstabbing your alliances. At the start of the game (before it becomes individual) they are always separated into two or three different tribes. The tribes must work together to build a shelter, provide food, make a fire, win immunity, and just survive. At tribal council, where someone gets voted out, you find out the most information that you can’t find out back at camp. Most of the time, the players look to eliminate threats early on in the game, which has always seemed counter-intuitive because you need them to win challenges. However, each player is always playing for themselves, and I always pause the show, look at my mom and say: “At what point do these people think my morals and who I am is not worth a million dollars?” She always replies with: “This is why you would never win…”

I say all that to say this: going to church is not a game of Survivor. As a matter of fact, Paul is saying quite the opposite. He’s mad at the believers in Corinth for thinking it is a game. In just looking at my Survivor analogy let me breakdown this passage in one simple statement: WE NEED EACH OTHER BECAUSE GOD HAS PLACED US WITH EACH OTHER FOR A REASON. We aren’t competing for a million dollars, the title of sole survivor and all that meaningless junk. Our fight isn’t of flesh and blood, so we shouldn’t be finding ways to fight against our own flesh and blood (our family in Christ). Each person within our church or our sphere of influence right now, has a specific role designed to accomplish the mission of God. Each mission is distinct and important, and to say that we don’t need each other or that it is only our own walk is simply ignorant. I get that working with people is tough (at least that what the show makes it seem like), but at the end of the day we can’t just vote people off our island because they irritate us. God is a master at this game of life, so if something or someone is placed within yours it isn’t an accident, there is something to be learned from or by them.

 

Life Application

Paul prefaces these chapters by saying that only God has the power to judge those on earth, so we need to stop trying to do God’s job. If you feel that you are going through a time where it doesn’t feel like it is divinely designed then ask God to reveal the lessons He wants you to learn. When HE reveals them don’t hesitate to actually learn from them and those people. Rei said it best on Monday, the only way we can truly show God to those around us is by loving one another. So show those around you the love of Christ, and thank them for being specifically placed in your life (don’t look to vote them out because they may be a threat). Who knows, maybe when you show gratitude toward those God has placed in your life, your attitude may change toward them as well.

-Allison Khan