1 Corinthians 12:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

NIV: And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

NASB: 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 less a part of the body.

CSB: And if the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body," it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

NLT: And if the ear says, 'I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,' would that make it any less a part of the body?

KJV: And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

NKJV: And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?

This passage uses the illustration of the human body to show the importance of diverse Christians working together as a single church. It is irrational for a Christian to decide they don't want to be part of the church because they don't like what God has given them to do in their spiritual walk. Since the church is like a body, Paul says, the members of the body can't just decide to walk away. That's bad for the body, and worse for the missing piece!

Paul repeats the pattern of the previous verse: that a foot's claim not to belong to the body because it can't be a hand doesn't make sense. This time, though, it is the ear that complains that it is not an eye. If it can't be an eye, it decides it is not attached to the body, any longer. The problem, of course, is that it's still sitting there. It might choose not to function—and that's bad for the rest of the body. Parts of bodies could not quit even if they wanted to.

Paul will show that the same is true of people in the body of Christ. Christianity is not a club that can be joined and then quit later when it stops being enjoyable. Those who come to faith in Christ come for good. They are given a permanent place in an eternal organism. Believers who become discontent with their Spirit-given role in the body cannot simply give up serving that function or even quit belonging to Christ. It is who they are now.

The best they can do is to discover, or rediscover, how essential their function is to Christ and His body, as Paul shows in the following verse.

First Corinthians 12:12–31 continues Paul's teaching on the spiritual gifts as they cooperate to empower God's will for the church. The Christian church is like a human body. It is one individual organism made up of many different parts that serve a wide variety of functions. All those functions matter. Nobody should decide they don't like their gift or their role in the church and try to quit. The body needs each member to do its part in order to work properly. We must respect and value each other for the vital roles we serve in the church.

Apparently in response to further questions from Corinth, Paul describes what spiritual gifts are, who receives them, and what they are for. His emphasis is that particular spiritual gifts do not make believers spiritual. Every believer is spiritual because every Christian has God's Spirit with him or her. In addition, the Spirit gives one or more spiritual gifts to each believer to be used to serve the church. The church is like a body, in which every part is needed, and all the parts exist to serve one another. Every believer must discover how they are gifted by the Spirit and value the function they serve in Christ's body.

After tackling the issues of head coverings for women and the Lord's Supper in the previous chapter, Paul moves to the issue of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul insists that the display of spiritual gifts does not make one believer more spiritual or important than another. Every believer in Jesus has the Spirit, and the Spirit gives to every believer one or more spiritual gifts. The gifts are given for the common good, and the church is like a human body. Each gifted function in the church represents a body part, and all the parts are essential. This sets up a description of love, as defined from a Christian viewpoint, and famously recorded in chapter 13.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.