Introduction
I encourage you to add 31b to the end of the reading for this week. This is a beautiful segue into next week’s “Love” text and truthfully, next week’s text is all the more beautiful because of this last line. But let’s get into this week a bit more first.
Narrative Context
Bootstrap Mentality
Paul is continuing to talk about the hierarchal struggle in Corinth and the picture is getting a little more fleshed out this week. Paul writes, “13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” And now some of the tension is making more sense. Is it that people are developing a hierarchy around the gifts or is it that people are developing a hierarchy around people’s backgrounds? There is probably a bit of both. But here, we are clearly hearing that people’s backgrounds are an issue.
Historical accounts indicate that there was a large population of Jews in Corinth. Ben Witherington III suggests that while Jews would have done business with Romans and Greeks, there would have been little socialization between the groups. He also writes, “Many [Jews] had ancestors who had been brought to Corinth as slaves to work in other similar trades. [During Paul’s time] a considerable number of them were freedmen, and some of them were quite prosperous businessmen.”[1]
That storyline of many Jewish Corinthians echoes the narrative of many in Corinth’s population. Corinth was destroyed in 146BCE by the Romans and then rebuilt by Julius Caesar 100 years later. Helen Doohan writes that it was “inhabited by soldiers, freedmen, merchants, business people, and settlers from various parts of the empire, becoming the thriving cosmopolitan center that Paul visited.”[2] This is a population that has a shared narrative of ‘lifting themselves up by their bootstraps.’ They have worked, bartered, and traded for all of the power and authority that they have. Their success has come from their hard work, their relationship building, and their social prowess. Their status has come from distinguishing themselves from others, proving how their success and authority is greater.
And so, as Christianity comes in, those instincts surely kick in again. House churches form around factions and existing relationships. They form hierarchies around the strengths of their existing perceptions (which are now including the perceptions of the spiritual gifts). And of course, those are also forming around related backgrounds. Those with a history of slavery but are now freed, may seek to distance themselves from those who are currently slaves. Those who come from a Jewish background are more likely to connect with other Jews in the Corinthian synagogue. Despite being a part of this new faith, distinguishing oneself is still of utmost importance in an honor/shame, hierarchal societal structure.
Member of the Body
It is to all of this that Paul is responding. Expanding on last week’s introductory text, for anyone who proclaims Jesus as Lord, not only is it wrong to distinguish hierarchy based on spiritual gifts, but it is wrong to distinguish at all. Whether it’s around faith, occupation, spiritual gift, or freedom, there is nothing that distinguishes someone as greater or lesser (you can see how this theology continues to grow in Romans 3:19-26). But not only is there no distinction amongst followers of Christ. But all of them are connected. When together, fully together, then they come together to be the Body of Christ.
Paul leans on this imagery of a single body to drive home the point. Now, as preachers we have to be careful of glorifying body perfection. But Paul is emphasizing that one portion/member of a body can’t claim dominance or authority and inversely that no portion/member of the body can be deemed as inferior or without purpose. All of the body has its purpose and usefulness. And although every member has its own purpose and function, when working together, all are the Body of Christ for this world. Therefore, every member of the body, every spiritual gift, every person is of vital importance to the work of the community of God.
Strive for the Greater Gifts
27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. [And I will show you a still more excellent way.]
12:27-31 kind of seems dissonant with everything that Paul has just said. He seems to be creating a hierarchy with apostles being first, then prophets, then teachers and so on. Are apostles the greatest? And so, as he concludes the section with “strive for the greater gifts,” it may seem like he is saying that all should strive to be apostles. But this is where we need to lean into next week’s text.
There are three gifts that are available to all people, no matter their spiritual gifts. These are faith, hope, and love. These are the greater gifts. These are what every person should strive for. Because if you are an apostle but do not have faith, hope, or love, then what good is your sending/mission in the world? If you are a teacher but do not have these things, what are you really teaching?
Just when we start to think that we have reason to boast or claim authority, Paul reminds us that each person’s worth, value, and contribution are all equal. We are all equal members of the body and essential to the work of the body for the sake of the community of God.
Preaching Possibilities
Bootstraps and Competition
If you wanted a chance to do a little teaching on the Corinthian context, this could be an interesting possibility. And this Corinthian community that has a “pick yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality, might just resonate with our current American experience.
We could talk about class struggle. We could talk about racial dynamics. We could talk about the protestant work ethic and capitalism. All of those are factors in the conversation. All add fuel to the fire. And yet, from the billionaires to the poorest of our society, there is often a defensiveness about our work ethic and a need to justify our struggle and our value. No matter our economic class, we feel a need to justify that we are different from those whom society deems to be inferior.
But here’s the thing. When I say that, there will be many who immediately think this just a “looking down” (richer to poorer) issue. But look at musicals like Rent invert that perspective. Rent actually looks down on those who work for wealth and prosperity, considering those people to be sell outs. And yet, the justifying language remains for each of those characters. Mark Cohen is trying to capture the realness of life in a documentary. He’s hoping to see something (through the lens) that hasn’t been achieved by other filmmakers. Roger is trying to craft a song that isn’t just another sell out song but is unique and captures the real essence of music and rock. Maybe they aren’t seeking wealth, but they do seem to be seeking glory (“One Song Glory”).
Any time we carry a perspective where we are looking down on or distinguishing ourselves from another group, we are playing into competition mentality. Whether it’s about wealth, popularity, coolness, or talent, when we degrade others to elevate ourselves, we divide and fracture ourselves.
Paul is writing for a community that is jockeying for position. We are no different here today. Whether it’s wealth, status, social media presence, or influence, we try to justify that we have worked, struggled, created, or thought of something first, better than anyone else. And ultimately it is all for the benefit of ourselves and no one else. Ultimately, we are vying for our own worth and value and not so much for the collective whole.
Paul’s words stand as a conviction against this mentality. Whenever we prioritize our own value over and against others, we divide and fracture the Body of Christ.
A Part of the Body
Our scientific culture might take umbrage with the notion that one part of the body is as essential as another. After all, we know that there are appendages that could be lost that are not essential to being alive. There are organs that can be surgically removed and might not impact us at all. And then there are other things that are vital that we cannot live without. Paul’s words here seem almost offensive. Is the heart not worth a lot more than the gall bladder?
This is where we need to do some reframing for our modern context. Again, we’re not trying to glorify bodily perfection or ability, but we are talking about how our bodies members work together to create the greatest function.
Think about simply walking. Of course, this uses our legs and our feet. But walking also engages our core. Our lungs take in breath. Our arms swing or pump for balance and momentum. Our eyes guide our steps. The brain sends instructions to all these parts to function simultaneously so that we don’t have to concentrate on each one. Of course, the legs, feet, lungs, and brain have some more priority here. But the loss of any member would make the total functionality more difficult. Or any body part that was hurting or moving out of alignment with the others, would make walking harder or maybe even impossible.
When we talk about us being a member of the Body of Christ, we are talking about being a part of an active Body. One that is walking, moving, talking. We are acting in order to spread the gospel of Christ. And if we lose any of our members, that work becomes all the more difficult. The loss of a member is the loss of a gift. Or if any member is hurting or moving in another direction counter to the rest of the body, it makes the work of the body that much more difficult or even impossible.
What does it mean for us to think of being together and acting as the Body of Christ? Not just standing or laying still but moving together as one. How do we care for one another so that we move most effectively? How do we strive for the greater gifts so that faith, hope, and love are at the center of all our movements together?
[1] Ben Witherington III, A Week in the Life of Corinth, (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2012), 95.
[2] Helen Doohan, The Corinthian Correspondence: Ministering in the Best and Worst of Times, (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2016), 12.
Micah Krey 
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