Set in the Body as He Pleased
But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul compares the Church of God with the human body. This analogy helps us understand how the many members of the Church, with different strengths, gifts and functions, should work together in unity.
Paul used humor to demonstrate how foolish it would be for members of the body to consider themselves not part of the body unless they are something else. For example, he wrote, “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? … If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?” (verses 15, 17).
Each part has an essential function, and each person is important. In fact, God was the One who put each member into the body of the Church—and He put them just where He wanted them!
For more about the Church of God, see the section on “The Church: The Body of Christ.”
