Ep 284 – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Pride is a powerful and potentially destructive force. It rarely builds up or edifies anyone but the one who harbors pride. And pride within the body of Christ is especially dangerous, as it is antithetical to God's expectation of unity and unanimity among His children. So, when Paul discovered yet another manifestation of pride among the Corinthians believers, he addressed it with his usual loving, but nevertheless in-your-face style. Today, we'll be looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 1-11. I've entitled this episode "All for One and One for All." You probably recognize that as the slogan or mantra of the Three Musketeers. But it nicely applies to what Paul has to say to the Corinthian church. The issue he is having to deal with is that of the spiritual gifts and the Corinthian's misunderstanding and misuse of them. They saw them as symbols of importance and tended to compare their gifts with one another in order to determine who had the more important of the spiritual gifts. It became a competition, which led to feelings of superiority or inferiority. Rather than using the gifts as they were intended, to build up the body of Christ, the Corinthians were busy building up themselves, and causing unnecessary division within the church.