Christ or the Church? The One Or the Many?
In a society where individualism is seen as the real meaning of "freedom" and where individualism is seen to be the ideal toward which humanity should be moving—in a society like that, it's difficult not to read every verse of scripture as if it were written with the individual in mind.
And since so many texts use the second person singular this is used to bolster the notion that the primary unit in scripture is the individual. After all, it does use "singular" language.
Then there's the truth that relationship with God in Christ must be "personal". You can't relate to Christ in the place of someone else; you have to make your own move toward him, you have to have a personal commitment to him. Since this is obviously true, personal salvation is construed as individual salvation.
Of course, this insistence on individuality results in a radical fragmentation of society. We begin to think we are free-standing individual units and we only tolerate situations where we must act corporately. We certainly don't encourage corporateness and much less do we think it's an unavoidable reality.
There are many illustrations in society where individuals join clubs or societies and are willing to play by the rules of that society or club. But it's a matter of perfect individual freedom. They don't have to be part of the club. If they don't like it they can leave and even start their own movement. The individual remains the primary unit in Western society.
The Bible everywhere acknowledges the existence of the individual, but it never sees the individual as the primary unit. And just to sharpen the point: the Bible also thinks of the individual as part of the larger community and never free-standing.
As Paul will present that truth he will use the root metaphor of "the body". He teaches us that no one mistakes a foot for an ear or a hand for an eye—these are specific, individual "members" (parts), distinct one from another. Distinct from one another but not independent of one another. A body is not one member (part), he says, but many.
It isn't only true that there has to be a body to have many parts, it's also true that there have to be many parts if there is to be a body (1 Corinthians 12:19).
A thumb or foot has no independent existence—there must be a body. Nor can a foot be called a body—there must be many parts. (We can only call a severed foot "a foot" because we retain "body" language when we speak of it.)
This complete inter-dependence is a crucial element in Paul's theology.
Division was a central problem at Corinth.
However the division arises, it's incompatible with the truth that there's only one, indivisible Christ (1 Corinthians 1:13). If these people are "of Christ" or "in Christ" then their dividing was (if it were possible) tearing Christ into pieces. Since God's business in Christ is the reconciling of the world, this behavior would be in flat opposition to the purpose and work of the almighty God.
The roots of the division
There was more than one root, but they were all sinful. Elitism was rampant.
We see this when it came to eating meats sacrificed to idols. The division, in fact, only showed itself in the meat issue. The reason for the division was the tension between the "strong" knowers and the "weak" ignorant. The strong felt superior, were insisting on the freedom their knowing brought them, but were threatening the weak (as well as despising them). See 1 Corinthians 8-10.
The elite who felt superior because they "knew" some truths, didn't really know the God who had come in Jesus Christ to them when they were ignorant and remain ignorant (see 10:14 and the discussion that follows).
At the Lord's Supper there was division (1 Corinthians 11:18-19). It had theological ramifications, of course, but the tension was between the "haves" and the "have nots" (11:22). The prosperous were obviously blessed by God (how else could they have what they had?) and the poor, well, God hadn't seen fit to give them such blessings. The "haves" were not only humiliating the poor, they were despising them (11:22). More elitism. See 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
In the Supper we're reminded that Christ entrusted himself to the disciples (11:23-26) and those who are privileged to eat with him participate in the body of Christ (10:16-17) and are parts of that body (of Christ—12:27). In despising the parts of Christ's body, they were despising Christ (11:27, and compare, "Inasmuch as you did unto these my brothers, you did it unto me.")
Divisive tensions showed in congregational settings and functions (12:1-31). Chapter 14 shows that arguments about the "best" and most important gifts are going on. Some are wanting to dominate the proceedings at gatherings. Here in chapter 12 some think so much of their gift that they feel they can do without the rest of the gifts. Some are jealous that they don't have this gift rather than the one they have. Some think they might as well not be part of Christ is they don't have what they want. In all this, individualism was rampant. There was little or no conception of unity and oneness.
The cure for this (if there was to be a cure) was for them to see and feel their inter-dependence which was due to their identification with Jesus Christ.
For Paul, being baptized into the one body (12:13) is the same as being baptized into Christ (1:13).
He insists that they (their bodies) are parts of Jesus Christ (6:15, 17).
He expressly calls them "the body of Christ (12:27)
He takes the human body as an analogy (12:12) for Christ, not the church. That is, he says, as a (human) body has many parts but is one that's how it is with Christ. We might have expected him to say that's how it is with the church. Had he said that, it would have been true, of course. But that's not what he said.
He doesn't want them to know they're parts of a body of people (however true that is), he wants them to know that they are parts of Christ himself. It is this identification with Christ—that they are his body—that should/could destroy the basis for tension and division.
In persecuting the Christians Paul discovered he was actually persecuting Christ himself (Acts 9:4-5).
It's their identification with Christ, as his body, which is the truth that underlies this whole section. Paul insists that there can be no body of Christ unless there are many parts of it (12:19). If we had only an eye, not only would we not have hands, feet and the like; not only would we not have a complete body, we'd have no body at all.
Without the many there is no One!
But Paul insists that the One there is, the One that is made up of many parts, is Christ! Not the church (which is true)—but Christ. "...so also is Christ." (12:12). Christ himself is "the many".
There is no Christ (as Paul presents him here) without the many. So to parade our own gifts, to despise the gifts and place of others, to dominate and strut and by it spread the notion that the individual is supreme—to do that is to deny the Christ who is many. It is to work for the destruction of the Christ. It is to become anti-Christ.
So in all his appeals for unity, Paul never says they ought to be united because they are one community called together by Christ (though that's true), he always claims they are Christ in community. He always claims they are Christ's present self-manifestation. He always claims, "You are parts of Christ."
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.
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