Next, the apostle spoke more specifically about the members of the body of Christ again (cf. vv. 1-11).
12:27 "You"is emphatic in the Greek text and is plural. The Corinthian Christians are in view, but what Paul said of them applies to all groups of Christians. Together we make up the body of Christ, and each of us is an individual member in it. Again, what Paul said of the church is true of it in its macro and in its micro forms, the universal church and the local church.
12:28 Paul listed eight kinds of members with special functions. This list differs somewhat from the one in verses 8-10 where he identified nine manifestations of the Spirit's working. This list, as the former one, is selective rather than exhaustive.
The ranking of these gifted individuals is evidently in the order of the importance of their ministries. When Paul said all the members were essential earlier (v. 21) he did not mean some did not have a more crucial function to perform than others. He did not mention this distinction there because he wanted each member to appreciate the essential necessity of every other member. In another sense, however, some gifts are more important than others (v. 31; 14:1).
God called and gifted the apostles to plant and to establish the church in places the gospel had not yet gone. Apostellomeans to send out, so it is proper to think of apostles as missionaries. Prophets were the channels through whom God sent His revelations to His people (cf. Eph. 2:20). They wrote the books of the New Testament. Teachers gave believers instruction in the Scriptures. Teachers were more important in the church than the prophets who simply gave words of edification, exhortation, and consolation (14:3), but they were less important than the prophets who gave new authoritative revelation. The latter type of prophet is in view in this verse.
". . . a scholar will learn more from a good teacher than he will from any book. We have books in plenty nowadays, but it is still true that it is through people that we really learn of Christ."290
Workers of miracles and healers gave dramatic proof that the power of God was working in the church so others would trust Christ. They may have ministered especially to the Jews since the Jews looked for such indications of God's presence and blessing (cf. 1:22). Helpers seem to have provided assistance of various kinds for people in need. Administrators managed and directed the affairs of the churches. Tongues speakers bring up the rear in this list as being the least important of those mentioned. Paul said more about their relative importance in chapter 14.
"The shortness of the list of charismata in Eph. iv. II as compared with the list here is perhaps an indication that the regular exercise of extraordinary gifts in public worship was already dying out."291
12:29-30 These two verses contain a third list of gifts in a descending order of priority. Each of Paul's seven questions expects a negative answer. The apostle's point was that it would be ridiculous for everyone to have the same gift. Variety is essential. It is wrong to equate one gift, particularly speaking in tongues, with spirituality.
12:31 Paul advised the Corinthians to seek some gifts more than others because some are more significant in the functioning of the body than others. While the bestowal of gifts is the sovereign prerogative of the Spirit (vv. 8-11, 18), human desire plays a part in His bestowal (cf. James 4:2). This seems to indicate that the Spirit does not give all His gifts to us at the moment of our salvation. I see nothing in Scripture that prohibits our viewing the abilities God gives us at birth as part of His spiritual gifts. Likewise a believer can receive a gift or an opportunity for service or the Spirit's blessing on his ministry years after his conversion. Everything we have or ever will have is a gift from God.292
God did not give the gift of apostleship in the technical sense to any other than those whom Christ Himself selected who had seen the risen Lord. It went to a small group in the first generation of the church's history. Apostleship in the general sense of one sent out with a message continues today. Normally we refer to these gifted people as missionaries to distinguish them from Paul and the 12 apostles.
Likewise we use the term prophet in a technical and in a general sense today. Usually we think of prophets as people who gave new revelation from God or predicted the future. As I have pointed out, prophets also spoke forth a word from the Lord by exhorting or encouraging the church. The Greek word prophetesmeans "one who speaks forth."In the first technical sense prophets have ceased in the church. In the second general sense they are still with us.293We usually refer to them as preachers to distinguish them from first century prophets who gave new revelation and predicted the future.
Today some people who desire to sharpen their ability to preach and teach the Scriptures enroll in seminary to do so. This is one example of zealously desiring the greater gifts.
However, Paul said there is an even more important discipline that a believer should cultivate to reach the goal of being maximally effective. That way involves valuing and cultivating love (ch. 13). The apostle did not mean, of course, that one should disregard the most important gifts but seek love. We should give attention to cultivating love and cultivating abilities that are strategically important in Christ's body. Nevertheless as important as sharpening abilities is, it is even more important that we excel in loving.
"The most excellent way' which Paul will now show his friends at Corinth is not one more gift among many, but a way beyond all this.' That extraordinary way is, of course, the way of agape, that fruit of the Spirit which is of primary importance to every believer and to the body of Christ."294
"What Paul is about to embark on is a description of what he calls a way that is beyond comparison.' The way they are going is basically destructive to the church as a community; the way they are being called to is one that seeks the good of others before oneself. It is the way of edifying the church 914:1-5), of seeking the common good (12:7). In that context one will still earnestly desire the things of the Spirit (14:1), but precisely so that others will be edified. Thus it is not love versus gifts' that Paul has in mind, but love as the only context for gifts'; for without the former, the latter have no usefulness at all--but then neither does much of anything else in the Christian life."295
Chapter 12 is a chapter that stresses balance. On the one hand each Christian is only a part of a larger organism, but each is an indispensable part. In one sense we are equally important because we all serve an essential function, but in another sense some are more crucial than others. God determines our gifts, ministries, and individual differences, yet our desire and initiative do have something to do with our service as well. Ability, ministry opportunity, and individuality are very important, but love is even more important. A good measure of our personal maturity as Christians will be how well we can keep these paradoxes in balance in our personal lives and ministries. The Corinthians needed help in this area.
"The Church is neither a dead mass of similar particles, like a heap of sand, nor a living swarm of antagonistic individuals, like a cage of wild beasts: it has the unity of a living organism, in which no two parts are exactly alike, but all discharge different functions for the good of the whole. All men are not equal, and no individual can be independent of the rest: everywhere there is subordination and dependence. Some have special gifts, some have none; some have several gifts, some only one; some have higher gifts, some have lower: but every individual has some function to discharge, and all must work together for the common good. This is the all-important point--unity in loving service."296
