Episode 206 "Unity, not uniformity within the church" - 1 Corinthians 12:27-31

1Cor. 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

This section summarizes what Paul has been trying to emphasize throughout this letter and most recently concerning spiritual gifts among believers within the church. Essentially, Paul wants them to prioritize unity among believers even though there is not uniformity in roles. In verse 27 the second-person pronoun “you” is plural, meaning “all of you (collectively) are the (singular) body of Christ, and each one of you is a member of that body.

Notice that in verse 28, Paul says that God appointed roles in the church. This reemphasizes that God is not letting the church define itself. He has planned and is orchestrating how it should work. When Paul writes, “God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then . . .,” I don’t think he’s saying that apostles are God’s greatest gifts to the church. That would seem to be in contradiction to what he had been saying that one member cannot say of themselves that they aren’t a part of the body, and another member can’t say they have no need of some other part within the body. I think Paul’s enumeration is rather how he sees God initiating and developing the church. The apostles were the foundational members of God’s church. They were the founding members, as it were. They played an instrumental role.

After he lists specific roles that God appointed within the church and includes them as gifts (See Ephesians 4:1-16), he mentions spiritual gifts of miracles, healing, helping, and others.

In verses 29-30, he asks seven questions, and each question is expressed in the Greek language to expect the answer to be “No.” “Are all apostles?” No! Does everyone have the gift of tongues? No! God has a different purpose for each believer within the church. The Christian faith has no room for comparison, pride, and elitism. Period.

So what does Paul mean in verse 31 when he writes, “But earnestly desire the higher gifts?” (ESV) A more literal rendering may be “Be zealous of the higher/greater gifts.” It’s difficult to say exactly what he means by this. Perhaps he is simply condescending to their perceptions and attitudes. He wants every Christian to value the gifts given from above. It seems unlikely that he is suggesting that one gift is superior to another because that would lead to elitist attitudes. But as he follows that up with “And I will show you a still more excellent way,” he is telling them if anyone thinks they have a greater gift, there is something that surpasses that and, as we’ll see, can be manifested by any and every believer. What is it? We’ll find out next week. Stay tuned.