Twin City church of Christ Blog
“May 6, 2024 - Division Through Condescension”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsDivision Through Condescension
Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:21-31
Division in the Corinthian church runs two ways, as illustrated by Paul’s picture of body parts talking to one another. Some may feel so unimportant that they don’t belong, but others can feel so important that they have no use for others. “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’”(1 Cor 12:21). When others are quieter—or their gifts appear less valuable—or they contribute less to the group, it is easy to disdain them. Paul insists that all members are “indispensable”(v. 22) and deserving of “greater honor”(v. 23, 24), like the private parts of our body that are covered and treated with great care.
Crucially, we must remember the vision of the designer of the body. “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another”(1 Cor 12:24-25). In God’s kingdom, we value the weak and unglamorous. No one is overlooked. God wants us to be united not only in mind and judgment (1 Cor 1:10), but in the “same care for one another.” Our prideful attitudes precipitate division. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together”(1 Cor 12:26). A properly functioning local church (like a human body) suffers and rejoices as one. Despite the differences in our gifts (v. 28-30), we are united by love.
Condescension leads to division. We view others as less important, less valuable, and less worthy of our time and attention. Our thinking inevitably comes across in how we deal with them. We care more for others than for them and they can tell. It is essential that we remember that we are not that great and that all people matter equally before God. The unity and health of the body depends on it.
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One Thing to Think About: How am I encouraging my brothers and sisters?
One Thing to Pray For: All Christians to have the same care for one another
