Sometimes there are passages in the Bible that come to dominate our imaginations that we return to them again and again for fodder in thinking about being Christian. 1 Corithians 12.21-25 is one of those passages for me.
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.I want to focus on that last phrase "that there should be no division in the body". The Greek word for division is schisma, where we get the word schism -- a rent, tearing or ripping of the body of Christ.
The thing that totally rocks me about this text is how these schisms are created. In most of our churches, and throughout church history, schisms are due to doctrinal differences and conflict. But here Paul gets to something that I think is absolutely critical: Schisms in the church are issues of honoring and shaming, not doctrine.
What created schisms at Corinth was the shaming of some of its members. Specifically, the shaming of "weaker" members who were "unpresentable", members who lacked honor in the wider culture.
Paul's whole discussion about the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 isn't about getting you or I to inventory our talents. The chapter isn't meant to be a personality test for Christians. The point of discussing the gifts isn't that the gifts exist and that we each need to figure out our respective gifts.
Instead, plenty of Christians insist that some are more essential than others. That certain gifts take precedent. And thereby honor those more desirable gifts over others. It's not an issue that we have different gifts. What's at issue is the "shaming" of some and the "honoring" of others.
This is such an issue that I keep quoting this no matter where I go. I'm a theological Johnny Appleseed about this. If you're honoring some sisters/brothers over others, you're ripping the church apart. It's that simple.
The healing of schisms for Paul, then, is about learning how to honor properly. Christian community is learning how to honor less "honorable", "weaker", and "unpresentable" members. Division is healed when "the members have equal concern for each other". And this requires rehabilitative action in how we honor. The less honorable members require, according to Paul, "special treatment". In this we imitate God: God gives "greater honor to those who lacked it".
What causes schisms in our churches is honoring and shaming. If we think it's doctrine, it isn't. The moment we look at someone to say, "You are less important than him/her", we've ripped Jesus' body to shreds. It's the worst kind of cannibalism possible.
What causes schism is how we shame one another.
What causes schisms is how our churches fail to give "special treatment" and "special honor" to the "unpresentable" and "shameful" members of the church, those who lack honor in the world.