Have you been told lately that you are indispensable? Because you are. That is one of the beautiful things about being part of the body of Christ. You, my friend, my brother, my sister, are indispensable. Now, I’m not saying you are a part of the body that appears to be weaker. But if you take any part of the body, the literal human body, and you remove it from the whole, does not the whole body suffer? Can that removed part function on its own? This makes you indispensable! It also makes your brothers and sisters indispensable, even the ones who get on your nerves.
Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, all parts of the body, even the parts that seem to be weaker, are indispensable. (1 Corinthians 12:12-22)
In 1 Corinthians, Paul goes into detail about how the hand needs the foot and the eye needs the ear, and the ear needs the nose. He tells us we are not to compare our usefulness to the body based on how God uses others. I can’t say that, because I’m not a pastor, and I have no value to the church. I can’t say that, because I don’t sing, I have no value to the church. Each one plays a vital, indispensable role within the church. There are vital parts of the body that no one notices until things go wrong. But when things are going right, when you are using the gifts God gave you to benefit the body, it is an amazing thing.
Truly a Body
While we might not all know what the stapes is or what it does in the human body, I don’t think any of us are going to line up to have one of ours removed just for the fun of it. (It’s the smallest bone in the human body, located in the ear, and makes it possible for us to hear.) We don’t just remove or replace body parts on a whim. We should have this same attachment for the members of the church.
Paul’s description of the church as a body is just remarkable. When one small part of our body is injured or malfunctioning, the whole body quickly follows. When we bang our pinky toe on the coffee table, the whole body responds in pain. When we sit down after a long day on our feet, and all those sore spots finally get relief, the whole body responds in relaxation. Paul says this is how the church should be. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Corinthians 12:26.
One Body, Many Members
A fascinating aspect of being part of a church is that we are made one body with people who may have been raised differently, who may think differently, and you may have disagreements with them. This is a good thing, and it’s not an accident. When two Christians disagree, but they both have the goal of honoring Christ, and both are submitted to God’s Word as their authority, they can have an edifying discussion that strengthens both of them in their faith. You may not reach agreement on every jot and tittle, but you can trust that the same Spirit that is at work in you is at work in them. And God is using you in their life just as He is using them in your life. We can trust that “when each part is working properly, [Jesus] makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:16)
Loving the Unlovley
So what about those in the body who annoy us? How are they indispensable? How do they fit in making the body build itself up in love? Jesus commanded us to love all of the members of the body, even the unlovely ones. Do you know why? Because He loves them. And remember, apart from Christ, there is nothing lovely in you either. So why should another Christian have to earn your love? By loving those we don’t agree with or who may get on our nerves, we are mirroring the very love Christ has for us. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Jesus didn’t wait to love us until we were His friends. As we love the whole body, and each member individually, even when we disagree, we are showing forth Christ’s love.
Unity
Viewing one another as indispensable causes us to love one another. When we are indispensable to one another, there is a profound unity in the body. This unity is a gift from God, and Jesus prayed to the Father, “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22, 23) Our unity will be a witness to a lost and dying world. This unity culminates when these individual members, united as one body in Christ, indispensable to one another, “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:6)
