By Nab B.
September 3, 2022
Updated Oct 2025
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
"For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together."
(1 Cor 12:12,14,26 ESV)
My previous view of a church member was wanting! I thought of it as someone who can come or go, join or leave easily. My view was mostly influenced by how the word "member" came to mean today.
This is how a 'member' is defined in one dictionary,
"Someone or something that belongs to or is part of a group or an organization, such as a club/committee/team member, family members, the club has 300 members."
(Source: The Britannica Dictionary )
Nothing wrong with the above definition. But that is not the sense portrayed in Paul's passages quoted earlier. To get the true sense, we get the meaning of the original Greek word, which is ‘melos’,
"Now you are the body of Christ, and members (Gk., melos) in particular.” (1 Cor 12:27 BLB)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance identify the meaning of "member" as such:
"Of uncertain affinity; a limb or part of the body—member." (source: https://biblehub.com/greek/3196.htm)
Since Paul used the metaphor of the "human body", it follows then that he had to use the word "melos" or "body organ," such as a limb, an eye, or lungs, which integrally belong to the whole, that is, all other organs.
Perhaps you see now how the Greek word "organ" subtly differs from the word "member," which isn't wrong in itself as long as we understand its nuance.
Knowing this subtle nuance changes our view to best suit the narrative Paul was inspired to write about, namely, the closeness and interdependence of all members in the "Body of Christ".
How close? Well, how easy is it to remove or replace a body organ? Not without inflicting a lot of pain on all other organs. Even a seemingly minor organ, if in pain, diseased or removed, can trouble or suffer the whole body.
Just like organs in the body working in unison, so it is with members in the "body of Christ." The human body is a sublime metaphor of 'Unity in Diversity' within the body of Christ, which is scattered across the earth, in all cultures, languages, and peoples. They gather everywhere in as few as two to as many as thousands together.
Images Courtesy of Clipart Library
Now, apply this view to a loving extended family with individual members who differ in age, gender, and experience. If ever one member separates or suffers (e.g. leaves, illness, or death), much pain is inflicted on the rest. If a member rejoices, all rejoice. It would not be any different among the diverse family of God, the "body of Christ."
"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together." (1 Cor 12:26 ESV)
Now, I come to the heart or pith of this article. Taking a lesson from the metaphor of "body organs" and how a loving family functions, how do we really feel (or not feel) about other members in our Christian community? Do we treat them well or ill-treat them?
Nothing is new! Even some early Christians showed a lack of bonding among themselves, as some do today. Notice what was said:
"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not...passions are at war within you?" (James 1:4 ESV)
"To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you." (1 Cor 6:7 ESV)
"Ye lust...ye kill, and desire...ye fight and war." (James 4:2)
"And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many (speaking of believers) will grow cold." (Matt 24:12 NKJV)
All "Spiritual gifts" have a bonding agent. They don't exist in a vacuum. Without a bonding force, these "gifts" mean little. In urging the Corinthians to "Earnestly desire the higher gifts," Paul reveals there is "Still a more excellent (surpassing) way" to attain the highest of gifts (1 Cor 12:31 ESV). Guess what it is?!
Love is the "highest gift" a believer could have, in conjunction with any other gift he or she may or may not possess.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor 13:1-3 ESV)
Paul, who was fully taught by Jesus, clearly shows that love is what binds us all.
"And beyond all these, put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity." (Col 3:14 BLB)
It is Jesus who first set the example and taught us this kind of divine love—agapé. He said it would be his followers' hallmark,
"A new commandment...that ye love one another; as I have loved you...By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34-35)
But why "love"? Why not? First, it is not any kind of love! It is not the kind of love people sing about! There are all kinds of loves. Most of them, when examined, are the selfish kind. Christ's love is "agapé love," which, according to HELPS Word-Studies, is a "love which centers in moral preference. Typically refers to divine love (= what God prefers)."
Born-again believers can be endowed with this "gift of love," whose origin is God. You will readily see that having "agapé love" unite members together within the "body of Christ." They become inseparable—individually and corporately.
Why did the ruling Jewish leaders hate, mistreat, and kill Jesus? While there may have been other reasons, Jesus encapsulated it into one, "Ye have not the love of God in you." (John 4:42)
The love of God (agape) is what binds and unites all members in the Body of Christ. So, if one lacks closeness to other members (Gk., organs), it's time to examine the reason. What spirit prevents a believer from experiencing closeness? Is it a "spirit of man," or "a deceiving spirit"?
Jesus' phrase, "You love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:35), sums it all up! Christ's love is not as friends' love, parental love, or even lovers' love. Christ's love is from above, from God, and it is ours to give and to receive!
