1 Corinthians 12:21, commentary and pictures

The eye, hand, head and feet picture church members as closely joined like the parts of the natural body, mutually dependent so that no member can live and act independently of the others, with variety contributing to the perfection of the whole.
God Himself arranged the members and gives one gift to one person and another to another, so different members have different offices, gifts, abilities and experience yet all belong to one body under the same Spirit.
Christ is the living Head in whom all members center, and every member is sustained and made to flourish by His life and Spirit dwelling within.
No member can regard another as unnecessary or inferior, separate to work independently, or live only for self, but deficiencies are supplied by another's strengths and members care for one another's interests, suffer together and rejoice together.
Medical missionary work is the arm and hand joined to the body while the ministry of the Word is the body directed by Christ as Head, and neither can say to the other that it is not needed, nor can the arm become the body or rule over it.

Body Picture and Meaning

The eye, the hand, the head and the feet picture church members joined together as closely and firmly and harmoniously as the parts of the natural body, in mutual dependence so that no member can live and act independently of the others. Variety itself contributes to the perfection of the whole, for the different parts work together in harmonious unity to make a perfect whole. Every part, however small, matters to the usefulness of the whole, so that misuse weakening one part diminishes the whole body, and removing any part affects the whole, since God has joined human beings in mutual relationships where each contributes to and depends on the rest.

Christ is the living Head in whom all members center, and every member is sustained and made to flourish by His life and Spirit dwelling within, living because Christ lives in them. As a branch cannot live or bear fruit except by abiding in the vine, so no member can live except by abiding in Christ, bearing one another's burdens as members of His body, flesh and bones. In individual self no one is the whole body but only a part, only one member, and Christ must be the efficiency through the power and Spirit of God, for without Him nothing can be done of self, as heart and blood sustain hand and head with life and working power. The church is one body with different members and different work, and every part is indispensable, each to do its own part in harmony with the others and under Christ's guidance. When one member suffers all suffer together, and when one is honored or enlightened all share in that honor and rejoice together, and this mutual dependence rejects discord that refuses fellowship with those who do not agree in everything.

God Himself arranged the members as He pleased, dispensing His gifts as He pleases, giving one gift to one person and another gift to another, all for the good of the whole body. In that order some are to serve in one line of work and others in other lines, including teaching others to fit them for service, all working under the same Spirit. Gifts such as prophecy, miracles and healing are placed in the church just as surely as teaching, helps and leadership, because the church needs them. Recognizing this plan guards against carnal emulation, pride, envy and contempt of one another, prevents division, calls members to care for one another and share one another's suffering and joy, and strengthens unity and mutual love.

The teaching of 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 should have more weight while being tried and tested and seeking to be shut in with the Lord so the wicked one may have no power. It is to be studied and applied for the continuous humbling of individual self and taking self critically in hand, and that self-examination is the beginning. Those brought together in church capacity must be united understandingly and intelligently in mutual dependence, walking humbly with God in obedience, and chapters 12 and 13 are to be committed to memory and written in mind and heart, studied and digested and not ignored.

The same body figure describes the Word of God as a complete body pervaded by one divine life, just as the human body of flesh is a complete structure where every part is united to the others and dependent on them for life. Each member has its special office and is connected with the others to form a complete whole, so every book and every portion of Scripture has its use and lesson, adapted to human beings in every phase of life to secure a special result and make the human family complete in Christ. The Bible is therefore not a heap of odds and ends but an educator.

Life rejects uniformity and requires unity in variety, from the eyes to the feet the members differing yet depending on one another to make a perfectly whole, working in harmonious action in conformity to the laws controlling the being. An unseen, indivisible unity keeps the bodily machinery in action, with each part working in harmony with every other part. The church is one body of many members each having peculiar characteristics, yet forming one family under one Mind, fed from the same source, bought by the same blood and owned by God, worked by the same Spirit. Like many stones set in one breastplate, each with distinct significance and special light adding to the beauty of the whole and bearing an important message from God, so different minds may be impressed with the same thought and express it in a different way according to constitution, education and mental development, as sunlight falling on different objects gives those objects a different hue, yet without contradiction, selfishness or self-exaltation. Those who write and speak truth, including on the third angel's message, are to be left free to present truth in different figures and different ways without contradiction, not forced into set uniformity of the very same things in the same words, but united to form one whole under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit, and the more they drink in of the Spirit the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love, appreciating one another's plans and work as coming from one Source.

Diversity of Gifts and Roles

No member performs the same part as another, for different members have different offices, gifts, abilities and experience, yet all belong to one body and none is a complete whole alone. Because many gifts must be exercised together under Jesus Christ as head, no member can claim self-sufficiency, dismiss another as unneeded, crowd out another, judge one gift by another, or measure worth by comparison. Each has a distinct office for the good of the whole under the same Spirit, and all are needed for the harmony, comfort and usefulness of the whole in its proper place under sanctified intelligence, supplying what others lack through respect and united working rather than insisting all think and act alike. Recognizing this order guards against rivalry, pride, envy and contempt and strengthens unity and mutual love.

This diversity is God's planning to meet the varied make-up, organization and minds in the world, since the strength of one servant is not the strength of another. Each person must therefore cultivate the gifts given him and be left free to act out those powers and develop the qualities and independent natural traits God has given as endowment, without will and identity destroyed by too much governing and managing by others. No one should seek to make other minds bend to his own ideas and mold judgment and character to human ideas, even when a minister has traits that seem objectionable, since the one judging may have peculiarities just as objectionable and even more positive, and man's hand and training may spoil a man for the work God would have him accomplish. As overgoverning children destroys their will and identity, confuses their minds and gives no opportunity to act out powers, so every man must be left free for God to convict and operate upon his heart that he may obtain an experience for himself founded in God, with great caution lest effort to mold minds hinder God moving upon that mind to call forth its powers and develop an individual strength for a special work. The work should not bear exclusively the stamp of one person's mind, and unity with the body does not require giving up differences, for distinct abilities can serve people others may not reach. Thus God has a work among the French which American ministers cannot do, so French workers with their own nature, capabilities and influence are needed to reach hearts Americans cannot reach, and they must be sustained with encouragement, sympathy and consideration, stimulated to earnest and persevering effort, and given elbow room to act themselves instead of being pressed to become exactly like their American brethren in mind and ideas.

The church is made complete by people of different talents and social ranks, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, and every part has a role in sharing light, so no contribution should be dismissed or grudgingly acknowledged. Men, women and youth of various temperaments, callings and positions, with individual power to devise and execute what is best for the many-sided life of people of all grades, are to be organized so their God-given talents and special and appropriate gifts are brought into solemn service, their dormant energies aroused, and the circle of influence enlarged through daily connection with God. Thus connected they become co-workers with Christ and channels of light who catch souls and recognize and value those with tact to watch for and care for souls and to appreciate all questions relating to spiritual life. The members' interests and sympathies are bound together, and withdrawing concern from one another harms the church's influence, while pride must not break this God-designed unity or lead anyone to monopolize what is shared for the good of all. Believers are complete only in Christ, and this calls for recognizing and developing the gifts of all, so that talented Black men and women are to be trained to serve their own people, with God working with them in saving souls.

Service represented by the hand or foot may be lowly yet important, and no work done for the Master is inferior or of little account. The worth of service depends not on the size of the work but on the love and motive behind it, and whether great or small, work appointed by God and done cheerfully, humbly and in the meekness of Christ is for the worker's own best good, for the best good of fellow men, for the advancement of His cause, and results in the glory of God, pleasing the heavenly Father when each willingly acts the part assigned him. Mental and physical labor are both essential in God's work, and one kind should not be treated as less needed than another. Even those who feel least important belong to this body, and even the weakest believer belongs to Christ's body and in humble dependence on God can grow strong and share in the privileges of God's children. Each person added to the church has a duty whose influence is meant to strengthen all, not for selfish interests but for the good of the whole church, and all should be willing to serve wherever needed in carrying the gospel forward, keeping laboring patiently and prayerfully for others who have not yet come to safety, with members strengthening and sustaining one another through the courage and faith of the whole church.

The gifts placed in the church, such as prophecy, miracles and healing just as surely as teaching, helps and leadership, are needed because the church needs them and should not be slighted or neglected. God revives these gifts so they can encourage the fainthearted and correct and reprove those who err. No one man with his gift is able to carry through a series of meetings by his own effort or give perfection to the work, for varied gifts and different kinds of agencies are essential under the Lord's direction to build the work strong and proportional and make it complete, so one man's mind does not mold and fashion it after his special ideas. Cooperation must be harmonious, each worker doing his God-given work in his appropriate position and each supplying the deficiency of a fellow worker who, if left alone, would think himself a complete whole. This requires those of careful thought who check exaggerated action, and it requires avoiding slowness and over-moderation that loses precious time and brings loss. It requires encouraging church members to work and educating them to bear responsibilities, which lifts burdens from ministers and adds years to the life of the worker who cooperates with God.

Luther's courage and energy were strengthened by Melanchthon's gentleness, caution and exactness, for their different gifts complemented each other, and their union in the work strengthened the Reformation and encouraged Luther.

People are not independent of one another, for each is part of a whole and all people are connected as different parts of one great whole under mutual obligations to one another, so that no one can be independent of his fellows or live to himself. Through Christ God has given men an influence that makes it impossible for them to live to themselves, as Christ's life bound Him to God and to the whole human family. The well-being and influence of each affects others, and God intends each person to recognize importance to others' welfare and to promote their welfare and happiness and seek their happiness. In the same community people depend on one another and have daily obligations both to receive and to give, and these bonds and responsibilities remain even when people ignore or abuse them. Their differences call for kindness and sympathy rather than identical treatment, and through mutual contact each can help others and be strengthened by their help. Teachers should teach this principle by living it, showing the purity, impartiality and nobility they ask of students. Christ's people are united in one body with Christ as the great Center and Head, where every person is an individual part of the mighty whole and is made necessary to one another and to God, with no partition walls to be built between man and man and no party strife or schism, because this unity binds man to God by the golden cords of love and lays each one under obligation to work for fellow men. Christ died that men might be made one with Him and with each other, so the well-being of each is the happiness of the whole, and His subjects are pledged to shun any course that causes division, to imitate His meekness and lowliness, goodness, patience and love, and to become channels through which the love of God flows to bless others.

Mutual Dependence and Unity

No member can say to another that he is not needed, look down on another as inferior, withdraw to work alone in fancied wisdom, or live only for self, for ignoring that bond injures character and such independence cannot prosper. Different abilities and experience are joined together in one body so that no one is qualified to carry the work alone, and divisions and factions contradict the verse by failing to show the power of the truth. Each laborer has a God-given place and serves in the capacity given in purity, holiness and sincerity, contributing what another lacks so that together they form a harmonious whole. Workers are therefore to cooperate with those whose work differs from their own rather than let personal peculiarities obstruct salvation.

What one lacks is supplied by what another possesses, so workers must counsel together, assist one another, receive advice and caution, combine judgment, blend mind with mind, and refuse to shut the mind against counsel in planning and carrying forward the work. God teaches different persons in different ways, and for that reason believers are to trust one another, share plans and ideas, and accept correction in kindness and love. Contact of mind with mind quickens thought and increases capability, making united judgment stronger than isolated action.

Members are to care for one another's interests, bear one another's burdens, and let practical help and hospitality bind them in brotherly love. When one suffers all suffer together, and when one is enlightened and honored all rejoice together and share that honor. This requires giving every worker with his own individuality of manner and God-given ability proper exercise in building the kingdom, suffering no one to be neglected, counseling and praying together, and making no independent or opposing move. Christlikeness blends every quality in harmonious proportion into a symmetrical whole instead of exalting one virtue at the expense of another, and it refuses discord that withholds fellowship from those who do not agree in everything. Such kindly interest, sympathy, and joy in helping fellow workers produce righteousness, let light shine to others, and bring benefit to the church.

Spiritual health comes when every part works together in peace and harmony under the Holy Spirit, just as physical health is promoted when every part of the body works together. As heart must send blood to hand and head or lose its power, and as bodily organs sustain life by serving beyond themselves, so Christ's love must flow through every part of His body and the person who refuses to impart to others will perish. A merely nominal connection without life from Christ is like a paralyzed member with only brief fitful activity and no lasting growth or fruit, while genuine membership abides in Christ and grows. When the church is sickly, in moral darkness and without God's favor, a sickly deathly influence circulates through the whole body and disease and spiritual death appear everywhere, but a healthy church sends a vitalizing current of light and holiness into every branch and arm.

The body advances by well-regulated harmonious action like well-adjusted machinery, each part distinct in action yet dependent on the other, with hearts blending and all effort moving in concert under divine power to draw others to Christ. Each worker is to stand diligently and faithfully in the appointed station and office God has given, speak truth in love, render due respect and recognition to fellow workers, and work for the benefit of the whole with no envy, evil thinking, evil speaking, evil acting, and no fitful spasmodic movements. No one is to leave his own work to watch and correct the whole, even when the work runs heavily and seems to be going to pieces, for that puts him out of place, hinders the rest, and makes confusion louder and worse. All in church capacity are to stay at their posts, settle disagreement at once, break down barriers until heart is cemented to heart and self-will dies, for union is strength that displays miracle-working power while variance is weakness and sin.

Gospel Ministry and Medical Work

Medical missionary work is the arm and hand joined to the body, while the preaching of truth and labor for sick and well in the third angel's message and the ministry of the Word is the body directed by Christ as Head, and neither can say to the other that it is not needed. Each has its appointed work to perform under Christ, with distinct roles that must work together and stay combined, joining labor for the degraded and fallen with instructing the churches, teaching how to help the needy and outcast, giving the invitation in highways and byways, and giving the warning message with no change in appointed general features and no confederacy with the world. The body needs both head and arms in order to do active, aggressive work, and the ministry is never to be separated from its work nor the arm ever to say to the head that it has no need of it. Making medical missionary work the body in place of the arm, or making it the principal and all-important line and all and in all, results in great harm and loss to each when separated from the other. No one can ignore the gospel ministry without ignoring God, even though unworthy ones may be connected with the ministry.

The arm must not become the body, head or whole, claim independence, rule the body, or eclipse the message. To separate the arms from the body leaves flying arms dispensing means without direction of the head, and leaves the ministry with no standing room. That separation makes the work unbalanced and disproportionate, unsettles minds and brings confusion, leaves many portions of the vineyard unworked, belittles or ignores the ministry, and becomes a strange medley of disorganized atoms. It consumes means needed in other lines, consumes but does not produce, leaves fields unattended, and in the end saps life from the ministry and places men where they will scoff at Bible truth.

The body needs the arm for active aggressive service, and the right hand opens doors through which the body finds entrance and largely prepares the way for present truth to be received by breaking down prejudice so truth can go with power. A body without hands is useless and able to accomplish nothing, and honor given to the body must also be given to the helping hands as agencies of such importance that without them the body can do nothing. The medical missionary work is the right hand to the body of the message and is to be sacredly cherished and carefully conducted, kept as part of the gospel ministry in every place where a church is established, yet it is not sensible or right for all the strength of the body to go into a hand and for all the strength of working agencies to be used in medical missionary work alone. The ministry of the Word must also be sustained, with unity in the movements of the whole body and every part joined harmoniously with every other part in carrying out God's plan, and those who have felt no interest in medical missionary work and treat the right hand disrespectfully must change their attitude until they stand in a right position with sanctified mind able to discern spiritual things.

Health reform is the helping hand of the ministry carrying present truth and must not be separated from the rest of the work, for separated from the rest it cannot form a perfect whole and the whole work cannot be complete without every branch. The medical work and the religious work are arm and body joined as one with no division between them, to go hand in hand together as closely as arm is united to body, in every city and wherever a company or church is established. Every minister of the gospel should be prepared to do practical medical missionary work, especially in large cities where this united work opens doors for entrance of truth, and reluctance to accept health reform principles that make this union possible comes from unwillingness to deny self. Ministers and physicians are members of one body who cannot say they have no need of each other, with true converting power to circulate among them like healthful blood; ministers must be respectful and not take position against light given decidedly against tea, Java coffee and flesh meats, since that injures and works up division, and physicians must not feel altogether too much injured nor despise ministers or bear down on ministers as a body in an unjustifiable manner. Tent labor and preaching to establish churches joined to health work, doctors and cooking schools creates confidence and interest and leaves something solid behind, so churches raised up in this united way begin to pay tithe into one treasury to send ministers to other places, and the work moves solidly and proportionately instead of one part drawing disproportionate expense and bankrupting the rest.

The same mutual need binds publishing, sanitarium, school and general church work, all under the same governing principles, with publishing houses giving truth to the world, sanitariums restoring the sick and relieving suffering, and schools training children and youth for God all sacred as parts of one great plan. No branch can act as a kingdom of itself or exercise kingly power over the rest, no worker is to think his branch vastly more important than other branches, there are to be no walls of partition, no division and no territorial lines between them, no line is to be pushed forward to hinder another, and centralized control centered at Battle Creek is not to be perpetuated. Organized enterprises such as the Health Institute are a branch and an arm of the one living body, so the church cannot separate itself from the Institute and blame it alone, for health and disease circulate through the whole body; had the church been healthy and stood in counsel it would have controlled that arm and sent vitalizing current of light and holiness into it, but being sickly, in moral darkness and without divine favor, a sickly deathly influence circulated until disease and spiritual death appeared everywhere including in the Institute. Medical missionary work began as a benevolent work in connection with the gospel ministry, very missionary in its beginning, but from about 1893 ambition and selfishness began to be revealed in it and became a great barrier, with hands and arms treated as the body itself in place of remaining united to the body and drawing means into itself apart from the gospel ministry.

Leadership Counsel and Order

Simple organization and church order are ordained for the unity and perfection of the church, for no part of the body can dismiss another part. Office gives no kingly authority, for one holding office is appointed to stand as leader, adviser, counselor, helper and burden-bearer, leading in thanksgiving to God while the Lord Himself is over His heritage, and all are brethren to be treated with the consideration each would wish if positions were reversed, in the meekness of Christ. Even a conference president cannot do the sacred work alone or treat the mind and judgment of others as unnecessary, since God has not given all wisdom to any one man but has made other men just as valuable and willing to be taught and guided, giving talents and scope of mind in different measure on purpose so that helpers whose minds do not run in exactly the same lines supply one another's deficiency and become a complete whole in perfect harmony. No member can act as king over the rest, put out the hand to forbid another worker to go to a place or withhold support if he goes, for the means are not created by controllers but come from the people, and workers are to go into waste and destitute fields, tell the people their necessities, and build up the work wherever a place to work can be found. To regard individual judgment as supreme and neglect or despise appointed leaders rejects the means God ordained for help, encouragement and strength, and to think light must come directly from God through no other channel exposes a person to deception and overthrow, since it separates from channels of light through whom God builds up and extends His work, whereas in His wisdom Christian is united to Christian and church to church so human instrumentality cooperates with the divine, every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit in organized well-directed effort to give the world the glad tidings of grace. In sanitariums and gospel ministry alike, workers with different offices are united to one Head, so no head physician or leader may place himself first, claim mastery, treat a fellow worker as inferior, pick and choose or receive and discard laborers according to hereditary and cultivated traits, or seek as associate only an inexperienced learner who will merely obey and never stand as equal and counsellor; every man of understanding and efficiency whom God provides must be given every chance to be proved, each left to do his individual work under Christ and respected, all striving for unity by letting Christ dwell in the heart by faith.

By Christ Jesus God has mysteriously linked all men together, giving to every man some special line of service different from that given to another. Each worker is to stay with the work assigned and guard against leaving it to interfere with fellow workers doing a work not precisely the same, for to no man is given the work of taking another's work in hand, which he would only spoil. The whole moves exactly and harmoniously only when everyone keeps diligently and faithfully to his own part, and no one must leave his own work to watch and correct the whole even when the work runs heavily and seems to be going to pieces, for leaving the work that should be done to do what belongs to others puts one out of place, hinders the rest, and makes trouble louder and worse and jars all around. God gives different spiritual gifts and different experiences, and unity in expression of these diverse gifts makes a complete whole with liberty of expression, yet no one is to work out a problem of his own invention in raising means, supporting schools, or sustaining the ministry, but all must blend capabilities with those chosen to lead, pledging by prayer and promise equal interest to fulfill the work in every conference without selfishness ruling, in pledged union in action in camp-meetings and all essential meetings with unity and love and the glory of God in view to meet fanaticism and heresy, stand together in opposition and conflict holding the victory for Bible truth, and move unto holiness toward perfection of the character of Jesus Christ, with no man launching out against another. It is not God's plan for one man, or two or three men, to gather all responsibilities into their own hands and do all the work; those in advance in experience and knowledge by practice must bring brethren up to their ideal by trusting responsibilities to them, giving them a chance to get hold and work by their side, learn from the great Teacher, and impart precious things received from the Word and the great reservoir of power, while those deficient in some lines must be helped and kindly instructed, not ignored, criticized or made a subject of remark, every man God has chosen helped and not only those who help or please a leading minister, no minister made an errand boy for another, those without ability to open the Scriptures still doing good service in secular lines, and ministers yoking up together, esteeming one another and sharing preaching and other burdens instead of one taking all the important meetings while preaching talent is needed elsewhere. Union is strength and no one in any position gains increase of strength while seeking to be the head or claiming independence; each must help the other, combining different capabilities in different lines through well-organized effort with sympathy, forbearance, holy emulation and advance steps where help is needed, even those who seem to do little given a chance and taught how to work, each realizing personal weakness and applying to the Source of all strength, and those who feel least yet work and pray and share what they have received receive more to share as they impart, thus becoming burden-bearers allied to Christ the living Head and vitalized by His Holy Spirit with influence growing by wearing His yoke and lifting His burdens to work for time and eternity.

The church is one body whose members need and belong to one another, each to serve in the capacity suited to gifts and given to him, united with the others and living in purity, holiness and sincerity rather than for self. No member should separate from the body to work independently in supposed wisdom, disconnect from the agencies God has appointed and work on an independent line, for believing such independence possible is a delusion of the enemy, and although a person may flatter himself that he is doing God's work he will not prosper in the end. The verse warns against pride, self-sufficiency and separating from appointed agencies, requiring members to remain united, cooperate, use ability where each can serve effectively, and work together rather than independently, since separating to act independently is not doing God's work.

No one is qualified to bear God's work alone, for God has joined together people of different minds as members of the body of Christ so they will counsel with and assist one another, the lack in one person's experience and abilities supplied by another's. Workers must consider the relation each holds to the other, must not shut the mind against counsel, but must blend mind with mind in planning and carrying forward the work, keeping the mind open, trusting the wisdom of brethren, and willingly receiving advice and caution as part of a great whole. To every man, woman and child God has given a work in His moral vineyard, one fitted for one work and another adapted for a different work and another for a still different line, each to be the complement of the others, and those joined in the same work are all needed together and should put forth special effort in union with the Holy Spirit to blend together, taking time to understand each other instead of standing apart to watch and criticize and judge, trying to find points of resemblance, helping with one supplying the lack of another, accepting keener perceptions in some things and giving due credit to each ability. Mutual dependence calls for humility, recognition of weakness, appreciation of each person's God-given help, and Christlike love binding hearts together and encouraging others in their work, with no one, including a leader, considering himself too important or wise to depend on fellow workers.

Character Conduct and Mission

The verse means that no member may count another as unnecessary, for God gives different gifts and assigns different kinds of service, yet all work under the same Spirit for the good of the whole body. Recognizing this divine order guards against rivalry, pride, envy, contempt, and carnal emulation, and it strengthens unity and mutual love. No one can be self-sufficient or carry on every part of the work alone, so none should despise or diminish another's gifts or envy superior abilities, but each should use his own talents to honor God. The church is like a well-regulated machine in which each worker stands in his appointed station with his own office and place, speaking truth in love, respected, encouraged, and sustained, with harmonious energy of every member and sympathy of every part with the whole increasing the usefulness of the body, leaving no room for envy, evil thinking, evil speaking, or evil acting, and no fitful, spasmodic movements. Remaining learners under the Holy Spirit, members render due respect and recognition to fellow workers because to every man God has given his work.

Among the members there is to be no crowding out of another, no judging, and no measuring of one gift by another, for different members do not perform the same part yet each is necessary and many gifts must be exercised together under Christ the head. Self-sufficiency is forbidden, and worth is not to be decided by comparison. Instead of standing afar off watching for a chance to criticize and condemn, believers coming together for counsel are to speak good words that help and strengthen their brethren, revealing the same unceasing tenderness the Lord shows to His people. Genuine Christians true to faith and duty unite in service and jealously guard one another's interests even when mistakes are made. Each is to deal sternly with self, taking self critically in hand in continuous humbling as the beginning of self-examination, examining peculiar temperament and weaknesses of character with closest introspection and dealing decidedly and bravely with perverse disposition so as not to dishonor God, thankful that the Lord accepts everyone manifesting repentance toward God and faith in Christ and placing no bars that would keep any soul from courage in the warfare against Satan's temptations.

Members need one another and must care for one another's interests, with practical help and hospitality expressing shared dependence and binding them in brotherly love. They show Christlike sympathy, take kindly interest in fellow workers, and rejoice in helping them, and that mutual care produces righteousness, lets light shine to others, and benefits the church through sanctifying grace. Weaker and less experienced members can be strengthened by those of greater hope and experience, while each contributes what others lack, all working in unity, love, humility, and mutual respect and combining influence for good. The principle reaches to community and family life, where no one can rightly dismiss another as unnecessary, daily obligations both to receive and to give remain even when ignored or abused, and teachers must teach by living purity, impartiality, and nobility. As the heart must send blood to hand and head or lose its power, so a person who refuses to impart to others will perish, for each member must serve beyond itself.

Divisions and factions are a denial of the verse, for members cannot treat themselves as independent or declare they have no need of one another, and such division fails to show the power of the truth. There is no reason for strife about who shall be greatest, any more than among members of the natural body, but Christians as members of Christ's body are to have one common interest without division or contention, cooperating with Christ in restoring the moral image of God, each working out his own salvation and that of his family and associates, a God-given responsibility none can disregard and find place in the redeemed family. The church advances through unity and mutual help, where what one lacks another supplies, not through parties formed around those who agree with one leader. Truth is not to be taught so that believers separate into parties under different heads, no minister is independent of others, no gift is to be used to separate believers, and no minister can be conscience for others or gain experience for them; contention and party spirit break the mutual need required, come from narrow conceptions of unsanctified minds, must be investigated and called by its right name, and show need for reformation. Members are to live in harmony as an undivided whole, putting the church's welfare ahead of private interests and submitting individual judgment to the judgment of the body, with no one seeking to be the head or claiming independence, but each helping the other through well-organized effort combining different capabilities, with sympathy, forbearance, holy emulation, and advance steps where help is needed. Even those who seem to do little must be given a chance and taught how to work, each realizing personal weakness and applying to the Source of strength, and those who feel least yet work and pray and impart what they receive obtain more to share, becoming burden-bearers allied to the living Head and vitalized by His Spirit, their influence growing as they wear Christ's yoke and lift His burdens to work for time and eternity.

In the household of faith every member has work to do and a portion of the vineyard to serve, with no idle members. A diversity of gifts is called for to convict and convert sinners and gather them in church capacity, so no worker may turn away from a fellow worker for not laboring in the same precise lines, every talent is to be used, men and women are to be given room to work, and no indifference or opposition is to be shown to one the Lord sends though his work differs. Time, money, influence, and talents are under contribution to God to be employed in saving souls, gifts so used increase in power and perfection, while refusal to take place in the ranks of service ranges a person in opposition to Christ. No one belonging to the body can remain inactive or dismiss another as unnecessary, for different lines are committed to different men according to ability, and all work for the Master belongs to one great whole to be done together in concert, each controlled by divine power with undivided effort to draw those around him to Christ, hearts blending and moving like well-adjusted machinery where each part depends on the other while standing distinct in action. Every member has a part to act and should be given opportunity to use abilities, for neglecting talents leaves the church fruitless and allows talents to be turned to evil, and each person added to the church has a duty to be willing to serve wherever needed in carrying the gospel forward and preparing a people for Christ's coming, including imparting of substance and faithfulness in tithe.

No believer can claim independence from other believers, and no worker can say he has no need of those appointed to bear responsibilities of leadership, for to regard individual judgment as supreme and to neglect or despise appointed leaders rejects means ordained for help, encouragement, and strength. To think light must come directly from God through no other channel exposes a person to deception and overthrow, for it separates from channels of light through whom God builds up and extends His work, contrary to His wise arrangement where Christian is united to Christian and church to church so that human instrumentality cooperates with the divine, every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit in organized, well-directed effort to give the world the glad tidings of grace. Every man being erring and fallible needs to be taught, and yielding private ideas and plans to accept the judgment and views of brethren, receiving instruction, counsel, correction, and reproof, does not sacrifice right of private judgment. Fixing the mind on one point to fortify one's own position, refusing weight to light seen by others, holding opinion against plain facts, reason, and clearest proof, standing in opposition to the body, and demanding all bend to one mind and one will is a one-man power the verse condemns and bears not the marks of God's hand.

Character determines fitness to build up the body into healthy action, and a minister is disqualified when defects of character remain unovercome. A shepherd guided by feeling and impulse instead of principle, who will not labor or speak and pray unless inclined and will not discipline himself to do the work whether he feels like it or not, injures the whole body. Where his influence is felt most the cause languishes with discouragement, and those looking to him to feed the flock and move forward suffer loss because they do not feel free to move independently of him, even though aroused energy proves he has power to do very much more.