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First Corinthians 12:13 says that in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body and that we were all given to drink one Spirit. If we consider this verse in the light of verses 3 through 12, we shall see that to drink is both to call on the name of the Lord and to speak. When we speak, we drink. The baptism into the one Body, which transpired nearly two thousand years ago, has positioned us all to drink. Practically speaking, to drink is to function, to call on the name of the Lord, and to utter something for the Body. If you do not speak in the meeting, you cannot drink. Apparently, when we speak, we are speaking something out; actually, we are drinking, taking something in. The more I speak, the more I drink. This is the reason I am satisfied after speaking in the meeting. Probably you have often had the sense in the meeting to say something; but because you were cautious, the opportunity was lost, and you went home defeated, feeling like a deflated tire. However, we can also testify that when we speak in the meeting, we return home in triumph. This indicates that if we speak in the meetings, we are drinking as we speak. As we speak out, we drink in. Our speaking is our drinking. Thus, we all need to learn to speak in the meetings.
First Corinthians 12:15 and 16 say, “If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, it is not that because of this it is not of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, it is not that because of this it is not of the body.” We need to understand Paul’s intention in writing these words. Many Christians, members of the Body, have the concept that they are not as good or as high as others. For example, we may think that our hands are better than our feet. Suppose one of the members of the Body who is a foot says, “I am just a poor foot, not a beautiful hand. Therefore, I am not of the Body.” This is a form of self-despising. I know that in their heart many saints despise themselves and say, “I am not that good. The Lord didn’t give me five talents or two talents. I’m not sure He even gave me one full talent. Because I am so poor, I don’t need to function.” Those who feel this way may consider that they are not of the Body. When they come to the meetings, they act like outsiders or spectators. They do not join in the Body activity. Hence, Paul’s intention in these verses is to tell those who, outwardly speaking, may seem inferior to others not to despise themselves. Such members should not say that they are not of the Body.
After referring to the foot and the hand, Paul speaks of the ears and the eyes. Comparatively speaking, the eyes are more excellent than the ears. When you look at a person’s face, you look first at his eyes, not at his ears. Just as the feet are apparently inferior to the hands, so the ears seemingly are inferior to the eyes. In the Body some are the feet, and others are the ears. Both may consider themselves inferior to other members. Some among us hold this concept and say, “I am not as smart as Brother So-and-so. There is no need for me to say anything in the meeting. Even if I did speak, I could not speak well. Thus, I am excused from functioning.”
In my experience throughout the years I have come to know the psychology of the saints. Some of the sisters say, “We are the weaker vessels. In the meetings the brothers should be the ones to bear the responsibility because they are the stronger ones.” Others may excuse themselves as being too old, too young, or too shy. For this reason, only a few, such as the hands and the eyes, function in the meetings. The reason so many do not function is that they consider themselves inferior. If they are a foot, they view themselves as inferior to the hand. If they are an ear, they see themselves as inferior to the eyes. Thus, they do not function. It seems that their not functioning is humility; actually, it is a form of pride. Some feel that if they cannot say something outstanding, with an utterance better than that of the apostle Paul, they will not say anything at all.
We all need to be converted and become like little children who gradually learn to speak without any consciousness of being smart or dumb. One of my little grandchildren talked all day long, although hardly anyone understood what he was saying. It was even difficult to tell what language he was speaking. But day by day his speaking improved. At first, not one word was right. But gradually he began to use the right words. Now he speaks better English than I do. All the saints must learn to speak in the meetings, even if they seem at times to speak nonsense. Of course, I do not encourage anyone to speak nonsense intentionally. We in the church are a family, not a graduate school where everyone is studying for a master’s degree or a doctoral degree. Most of us are still in kindergarten or even in nursery school. Some are in elementary school, others are in junior high or high school, and a few are on a college level. The church is not an army—it is a family, a body.
Do not say that you are not of the Body. To say, “I am not of the Body,” means that you feel you do not need to function. For the foot to say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body,” means that the foot has no need to function. In this portion of the Word, not to be of the Body means not to function. Many of us, perhaps eight out of ten, are like this. Many think that because they are not talented or gifted, they do not need to function. This means that they consider themselves not of the Body. As many sit in the meetings, they have this concept. They may deny it, but deep within they say, “I am not an elder, so I don’t need to do anything in the meeting.” Although you may not be as gifted as the elders, you are still a member of the Body. You cannot say that you are nothing. If you are not a hand, at least you are a little finger. Therefore, you must be of the Body; that is, you must function in the meetings.
When we come to the meetings, we should be like basketball players. However, when certain saints come, they come not as players but as spectators. Those who behave like spectators feel that they are not of the team, not of the Body. But all of us are on the team. Therefore, when we come to the meetings, we must come as players expecting to play in the game. We need to be adjusted in this matter. Some of the sisters may say, “I am not that smart or gifted. There is no need for me to function.” It seems that these sisters are not of the Body. They are of the Body, but considering themselves inferior to others, they do not function. They say, “I am just a poor foot. No one pays attention to me. Those who are the eyes or the hands may go ahead and make a show. I prefer to stay aside.” Do not think like this. No matter how inferior you may seem to be when compared to others, you must still be proud of what you are. The foot should say, “I may sometimes give off an unpleasant odor, but if I don’t walk, the body has no way to walk. If I don’t touch the earth, how can the body touch the earth? I am proud of being a foot.” Likewise, the ear needs to say, “I am proud of being an ear. If I don’t hear, the body cannot hear.” Members like the feet and the ears must learn to be proud and uplift themselves. Although the religious ones may be troubled to hear that some of the members of the Body need to be proud, this is nonetheless quite necessary. However, if the members become too proud, they will then need to be humbled.
In verse 24 Paul says, “God hath tempered the body together” (KJV). The word tempered in this verse is very significant. Sometimes the Lord will allow you to become proud. But if you are too proud, He will humble you. To temper something is first to heat it up and then to cool it down, as a blacksmith does when making an iron fitting. In order to make the steel stronger, he first heats the metal and then puts it into cold water. This is tempering. Likewise, God has tempered the Body. If you are not able to help people to be proud, you are not a good minister. I encourage you all to be proud. Say, “Praise the Lord that I am a wonderful foot!” But after I have helped you to become proud, I shall put you into cold water. Some religious pastors always tell people to be humble. But so many of you despise yourselves and are in bondage to your self-made humility. I want to dig you out of your graves of humility and help you soar in the air. I would like to teach you to be proud. However, after soaring in the air for a while, you will need to be put into a cage. This is not pleasant, but it is necessary. Do not say that because you are not a hand but a foot, you are not of the Body and do not need to function. You must be proud of what you are. Do not despise yourself or nourish any self-made humility.
The apostle Paul was wise. After speaking of the self-despising members, he says, “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” (v. 21). For the eye to say that it does not need the hand is pride. For the foot to say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body,” is self-made humility. In its pride, the eye may think that it is excellent and marvelous and that it has no need for the hand. But the eye should never say to the hand, “I have no need of you.” Neither should the head say to the feet, “I have no need of you.” Because the head is on top and the feet are on the bottom, the head may be very proud and think that it has no need of the feet. First Paul deals with those who are humble, then with those who are proud. Both are wrong, and both need tempering. Thus, God has tempered the Body, uplifting the low ones and lowering the high ones. He causes the humble to be proud and the proud to be humble. If you are among the humble ones, you should not say that you are not of the Body. And if you are among the proud ones, you should not say that you do not need the other members. As the Body is tempered together, eventually the lower ones will be tempered to be somewhat higher, and the higher ones will be tempered to be somewhat lower. When this takes place, we all shall function, and the Body will come into existence in a practical way.
In today’s Christian meetings the Body is not present in actuality. Many of the lower ones consider themselves not of the Body, and many of the higher ones think that they do not need others. It seems that they themselves can be the entire Body. Therefore, we all must be tempered. Those who do not function must learn to function, and those who function more than they should must learn not to function too much. In one of the meetings in Anaheim, I said that I was tired of hearing certain ones speak so much in the meetings. Because the lower ones often think that they are not of the Body, and the higher ones often consider that they do not need others, in the meetings the higher ones may make a display of themselves. That is not the display of the Body. If only a few members function in the meetings, we do not have the Body in a practical way. However, those who do not function should not blame those who do. Instead of considering themselves not of the Body, they must be encouraged to be stronger and more aggressive than those who do function often. They should not allow the elders to be the only ones to function. If I ask the elders in a particular church why they function so much, they may say, “Brother Lee, we are suffering as we wait for others to function. So many of the other members do not bear their burden. They come to the meeting to enjoy a time of rest.” Thus, both those who function a great deal and those who do not function at all are wrong. This is the reason we may not have the Body expressed in our meetings. Instead, we have a display of a few who function often. Many of the saints are not spiritual in the meetings. They sit there without functioning, perhaps criticizing others. Therefore, we do not have the Body in a practical way. From now on, the least among us must function and be bubbling all the time.
We should be neither proud nor humble. Rather, we all need to be tempered. God has tempered the Body. There are neither cold ones nor hot ones, but all have been tempered. The Body is one, but the members are on different levels, just as the members of our physical body are on different levels beneath the head. But the members on every level are needed. When all the members function, we have the Body in actuality.
If everyone in the meetings were a Paul, a Peter, or a John, that would be terrible. If everyone were a spiritual giant, I doubt that we could have a meeting. God does not gather so many giants together. There are just two shoulders in the body. Suppose, however, that the fingers, the thumbs, and the ears are all shoulders. What kind of body would that be? Do not dream that everyone in the local church will be a strong shoulder. To use another illustration, the local churches should be flocks of lambs. In these flocks we do not need large donkeys or even big cows. Instead, we all should be little lambs. In the various localities we need to have flocks. Then if we all as the “lambs,” the members of the Body, function, we shall have the Body. The Body exists in the functioning of all the members. Whenever I speak, my whole body functions. If my mouth were detached from my body, it would not be able to function. We all need to learn that we are members of the Body. Do not say that you are not of the Body. You need to say, “Praise the Lord that I am of the Body! I am proud of the fact that I am part of the Body.”
