“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

When one person in the local church suffers, it should not be at the hands of the other Christians. In Corinth, some suffered food deprivation, while others gorged themselves in the name of the Lord’s Supper. Some suffered the overwhelming temptation to fall back into idolatry because of the so-called “freedom” others took to eat food offered to idols. Yes, all things, including food offered to idols, are lawful, as we have been twice told in this letter so far, but some things cause others to suffer, and are therefore not profitable for the body of Christ.

Notice the switch in thinking the Corinthians needed to go through. The scenario is this: some reasoned that eating food would not cause them to fall out of favor with God, because it is just food; there is nothing sanctimonious about the meat. From a self-centered point of view, it would be perfectly lawful for them to do that, and it would not be unprofitable to them if they did it. However, from a communal point of view—or to use Paul’s imagery, a body-life point of view—such actions could be extremely unprofitable to the whole body. Why? Because if eating food offered to idols were to influence a “weaker” brother or sister to give in and fall back into idol worship, what profit is that for the whole body of believers?

The selfish person says, “That’s his problem; he should have had stronger faith. I’m glad I’m not like him!” That reveals the self-centered core of Phariseeism (Luke 18:11). This is not what the church is all about. One cannot simply dismiss the small toe as irrelevant; hit it with a hammer and see how the whole body reacts. It is an aberration for the body of Christ, the local church, to ignore the suffering of the “little-toe” Christians, those whom we deem less useful in the church.

How would our unbelieving neighbors, relatives, and associates respond to our invitation to church if we were known by this statement: “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it”? When we truly care for each other when we suffer—when every member feels valued and esteemed, not because of what they contribute but simply because they are all part of one body—the world notices. No one should feel alone, marginalized, abused, repressed, overlooked, or set aside. The church should be the one place in all the earth where people not only feel fully loved, but also learn to love others.

Lord, help me do my part to love others so that everyone is built up in love.