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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 12:27-28 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Having given a lengthy discussion of the human body, Paul explains to the Corinthian church members that the human body is simply an illustration of what the church body, the body of Christ, is supposed to be like. As we mentioned previously, the local church at Corinth was the body of Christ, and all the principles given in the preceding verses applied to it. In verse 28 Paul reiterates that the spiritual gifts were given by God and they were given to the church. Notice that he says that these were set "in the church". Our spiritual gifts were given for the benefit of the church. So, the fact that a Christian woman is an excellent teacher in the public school does not necessarily mean that she has the spiritual gift of teaching (verse 29). She may not be skilled when it comes to teaching the Word of God, and she may have another gift instead. An astute businessman may lead his company well, but that does not mean that his spiritual gift is governments (verse 28). There may be a correlation, but it is not guaranteed.

In verse 28 Paul establishes an order for the spiritual gifts. The word "first" is used to indicate that something is first in order or importance. He begins with the office gifts: apostles, prophets, and teachers. The apostles were those individuals who were inspired by God and specifically sent out by the Lord. They laid the foundation for the churches on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20). The prophets were also a part of the foundation, but different in that they were not those originally sent out by the Lord. They did receive direct revelation from God that they were to deliver to the churches, and were necessary because the Scriptures had not yet been completed (I Corinthians 13:9). Teachers were neither sent out directly by the Lord, nor did they receive direct revelation from God. Their role was to take that which had already been revealed and teach it to the church members. The offices of the apostle and the prophet no longer exist because they are no longer necessary. The foundation has already been laid, and everything that the churches need to know has been given to us in the Word of God. We will discuss this issue further in I Corinthians 13. The office of the teacher still exists, and in Ephesians 4:11 it is linked to the office of the pastor. However, there are certainly people in the church who have been given the gift of teaching who do not hold the office of the pastor.

Paul then lists several of the spiritual gifts that are not directly linked to an office, but are given to believers in general. Just as the office gifts are listed in a descending order of "importance", so these gifts also are listed that way. In the context of the chapter, the apostles and prophets would be considered to be the "eyes and hands", and governments and tongues would be considered more of the "ears and feet". Please remember that, regardless of where a particular gift fits in this order, all these gifts were given by the Holy Spirit and they are all necessary to the proper functioning of the body of Christ. Workers of "miracles" were those who had the gift of doing things beyond their natural ability. Church members who had the gift of "healings" were those whom God empowered to heal people in particular situations. People who had the gift of "helps" were those who were able to be assistants in the ministries in which others were leading. Those with the gift of "governments" were placed into positions of leadership. Finally, at the end of the list, Paul includes those who spoke in "tongues", which was also a revelatory gift that we will discuss in more detail in the next two chapters. Please notice two things about this list. First, tongues are mentioned last. This will be important to remember as we continue through this portion of I Corinthians. Second, it is interesting that "helps" is listed before "governments". We tend to think that the leader is more important than the helper. But God does not list them that way. Leaders are obviously important. But so are those who assist the leader, and the success or failure of many leaders is based upon the help that they receive from those who are supposed to be assisting them. So, if you are a helper, don't think of yourself as unimportant. You may be more needful to your particular ministry than the person who is leading it.