“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”

Verses 11 and 18 are bookends of unity, enclosing verses that provide the illustration. Paul includes a number of metaphors intermixed in his explanation which we must not press too hard. Illustrations are meant to inform key points, not to bog us down in every particular. We are each a member of one body (metaphor 1), this body is Christ (metaphor 2), we were baptized into that body (metaphor 3) and we were made to drink of one Spirit (metaphor 4). These are all figures of speech which, common as they are in the Christian mindset, are not to be taken literally, any more than Jesus describing Himself as a door (John 10:9). There is no mysticism here, as some theological persuasions would have us to believe, referring to “the mystical body of Christ.”

Paul paints a poignant picture of unity. Between the many demographic groups (the most significant ones being Jew/Greek—that is, Jew and non-Jew—and slave/free), there should be no divisions within the church. Interestingly, the male/female couplet (Gal.3:28) is left out here, but apparently the apostles did not see gender role differentiation as a divisive church condition.

Paul points out the propensity of the Corinthians (and all Christians) to desire the outwardly more “significant” positions of influence (pictured as the hand or the eye) as opposed to “lesser” parts (pictured as the foot or ear). All parts are necessary for the full functioning of the body. Not all can be the same part; every part is needed. Sunday school children learn about this repeatedly; adults need to be reminded of this continually. Failure to embrace these truths often divides the people of God. The Lord has designed the master plan of His church, and we must each submit to the role He has given us, without comparing or judging the relative worth of each.

The motto of the United States is more aptly applied to the church, E pluribus unum, which is Latin for “Out of many, one.”

Lord, I accept the role and the gifts You have given me for use in Your church.