NOTE: Today’s guest post is by Cheryl Russell, Pastor at New Heritage Fellowship in Fairview, TX
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 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.16 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.17 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?18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 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 put the body together, giving 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. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[b]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
1 Cor. 12:12-31 NIV
In I Corinthians 12, Paul offers not only a communal challenge, but a political one that continues to ring true today. Using the human body as a metaphor for community was nothing new in Greco-Roman culture. It was often used to illustrate how unity can exist within a diverse society, it was also used to emphasize the predominance of the head and to re-inscribe the hierarchical order of society. Paul’s metaphor is different because he focuses on the importance of all of the individual parts and how they relate to another and the whole. Paul describes how each body part is to regard and respond to one another – in light of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
Paul is concerned about the class systems of society and how they are impacting the body of believers. Divisions are arising as some believe that their status, functions, and gifts are superior. Classism and elitism and individualism are finding an expression in the church…sound familiar?
But, the crucifixion and resurrection of a Galilean Jew, signified a reordering of life and an upending of class systems and the traditional notions of social power. Paul insists that, “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. 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. Though elitism, classism, and individualism are part of society, they have no part in the body of Christ.
Paul gives a vision for a community that practices mutual care for one another, and one that gives priority to the parts that are suffering. Verse 25, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” I love the way The Message translates verse 25, “If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing.”
In the past when I have spent time in this passage the focus has been on the individual spiritual gifts and the different kinds of gifts listed at the end of the chapter. I have been to a few spiritual gift inventory sessions and have always been disappointed that sarcasm was not listed among them. As a young adult and new convert, I thought this passage was powerful and appreciated the communal image of all of the parts working together and recognizing the importance of all of the other parts. That sounds beautiful.
But, this text sits with me differently now. It makes me uncomfortable. It makes me sad. It leaves me with a sense of longing. I love the body of Christ, but, as a 43-year-old woman who grew up in the church, I read it differently today. I know the body as a hierarchical system with the power to give life or cut it off. To open the door for me and my sisters to use our gifts, or to close it. I know the body as a uniform structure that is committed to very specific kinds of conformity – around male dominance, and White dominance, and hetero-normative dominance. I know the body as an organism that will say to the foot, we don’t need you, if the foot doesn’t conform to the dominant structure and expend all of its energy there. I know the body as an entity that subscribes to certain Biblical interpretations and is more than willing to amputate anyone who would challenge the status quo or rock the boat.
But, I also know the church body can be better and do better.
Today, I see that Paul’s communal vision has major implications for our life together and perhaps for the future of the Christian church as a whole. It fits well within the societal discourse of our time and I hold out hope that we can be better. That we can come to a new and redemptive understanding of co-suffering love.
I think about story and narrative a lot. My husband Tim asks me to listen to podcasts every week and my favorites are the ones that include compelling stories, especially when the narratives challenge my own myopic understanding of the world. There is danger in a single narrative. We must learn to seek out multiple stories and perspectives. The more uncomfortable, the better. We must learn to sit in deep discomfort. The foot needs to know what it’s like to be the eye. The eye needs to know what it’s like for the hand. The most powerful sentence I think I have learned to ask in my 42 years is, “What’s it like for you?” As members of the body, we should ask others, “What’s it like for you?” And then, care about the answer. I believe this is empathy and the beginning of Co-suffering love.
And as a missional and redemptive community, we don’t stop there. As members of a family, parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, we must ask our loved ones, “What’s it like for you?” In our communities, with our physical and virtual neighbors, especially when they look and maybe even live differently than we do, we should ask, “What’s it like for you?” And, when we know someone is suffering, and when we come to know that we are in some way culpable in their suffering, when things like systemic injustice are involved, we must not only ask, “What’s it like for you?” According to Paul, we must act with special concern. We must learn to walk alongside, empathetically, consistently, and until. Co-suffering love.
I could not stop focusing on verse 26 this week. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” The Message says: “If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing.” I believe that is the key to healing in the body, and in our communities, mutual care, bearing one another’s burdens, suffering with. I was reminded of Christ, and the compassion and deep care that he showed for those who were suffering. That he wept on behalf of others. That he wept with others.
“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.”
Earlier I talked about the body I know that has been hurtful and at times hard to love. But I also know the body a different way. I know the body as a sanctuary for those that need it. I know the body as a home that opens its doors and sets a long and expanding table and welcomes all. I know the body as a surgery unit that grafts in what others have cut off. I know the body as an organism that recognizes that our salvation is bound up together. I know the body, that in her best moments, has chosen co-suffering love.
Body of Christ, in light of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, may we live, suffer, and hopefully rejoice together in one Spirit, here, and in the world to come.
