Our Responsibility

“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” I Cor 12:26

The third of Paul's major principles - Importance belongs to the entire body. All members, the total body, suffer when one member becomes injured or diseased. A broken wrist bone or a lung full of cancer affects the entire person, not just that one part of the body.

All members rejoice when one member is isolated for recognition. A crown is given to the person for having the most beautiful eyes. In the Olympics, the gold medal is placed around the neck of the fastest athlete, not over his feet.

We are accountable to each other, therefore, we are to understand that we are accountable to God:
▸ God chose the members.
▸ God established the order of the members.

It is God who bestows the gifts and assigns the offices. He has a perfect plan, not only for the church as a whole, but also for each local congregation. God gives to each congregation just the gifts it needs when they are needed.

Paul pointed out that there is a “priority list” for the gifts - that some have more significance than others. But this fact does not contradict the lesson already shared, that each gift is important and each individual believer is important. Even in the human body there are some parts that we can do without, even though their absence might handicap us a bit.

▸ God determines who will receive them.

God does not intend for everyone to have the same gift, and He does not intend for everyone to have gifts that are out front and noticed. He distributes the offices and the gifts according to His sovereign purpose, "just as He wills.” I Cor 12:11

The responsibility of believers is to accept the ministries they are given with gratitude and to use them with faithfulness. It is interesting that the two gifts mentioned in verse 28 that are not mentioned in verses 29-30 are helps and administrations - probably the ones least prized by the Corinthians, but clearly the ones of which they had the greatest need.

The greatest need Corinth had was to be mature, to grow up, which Paul addresses in Chapter 13.