You Are Members of One Body
You Are Members of One Body
The Apostle says:
“As God has distributed to each one a measure of faith. For just as in one body we have many members, but not all the members have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. But having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us…” (Romans 12:3–6).
Here the Apostle tells us that we are one body and members of one another, thus clarifying the nature of the bond that unites us. It is not merely fellowship, friendship, kinship, or brotherhood. It is more than that: we are members of one another. This person may be my eye that sees what I cannot see, or my tongue that speaks on my behalf, or my hand that reaches out and works. Each of us is a member for the other.
Let me give you a very clear example: the tree.
It has roots hidden in the ground, a trunk that rises upward, and branches that extend in all directions. It has leaves, flowers, and fruits. No one sees the root; all we see is the beautiful tree with its spreading branches, enjoying its fruit or resting under its shade. How many of us think about the root beneath the ground?
The root is a hidden member. It hides itself so that others may appear, yet it carries the whole tree and supplies it with the nourishment necessary for life. Would you accept to be like this root—hidden so that others may appear—or would such a role trouble you?
What would happen if the root desired to appear? If it refused to spend its whole life buried in the ground? Or if it said to the trunk, “Enough of your height and prominence—let us exchange roles: one year I appear and you hide, and the next year the opposite”?
If that happened, the tree would be completely ruined, its order disturbed, and its life ended.
But the root is content with its state and does not compete with the trunk. Meanwhile, the trunk says to it: “Rest peacefully, my brother, and leave to me the task of enduring storms, winds, and changes of weather. I acknowledge that you are older than I am, greater in status, and the source of my life and nourishment. Through you I live and move, and from you I learn humility, even if I am practically unable to practice it.”
This is the life of cooperation, presented to us by the tree through its roots and trunk.
The same meaning is also presented in the story of the blind man and the lame man.
The story tells of two men sitting beside a tree laden with fruit. One was blind and could not see it; the other was lame and could see it but could not reach it. Finally, they found a solution: the blind man carried the lame man on his shoulders and walked wherever the other directed him, until they reached the fruit. The lame man picked it, and they shared it together. Each worked according to the gift given to him.
This is a repeated story of teamwork, whose forms appear everywhere in life.
There are tasks you cannot accomplish alone, but you can complete them by cooperating with others. One clear example is a football team: no single player can cross the entire field alone to score a goal. Instead, the ball is passed from one player to another, and then to a third and fourth, until one of them scores. The victory belongs to the whole team.
This spirit of teamwork is how all members of the body work. Each member has its own distinct role, yet all work together in one complete and integrated action.
This complete and diverse work is the work of the Church.
The Apostle explains this by saying that God “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11–12).
God has also distributed different kinds of gifts.
Not everyone is the same. God granted humanity diverse gifts—better described as different types of gifts, not differences that divide, but differences that complement one another. Scripture says: “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord… who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all” (1 Corinthians 12:4–7).
There is no injustice here, but rather wisdom in distribution and administration. God distributed different gifts because we need all of them working together for the good of all.
The same applies to civil life.
We need the sanitation worker to clean, the clerk and accountant for administration, the governor to manage the city, and the police officer to maintain security. If everyone insists on holding high positions, who will carry out the many service tasks necessary for the wellbeing of all?
Thus, in the one body there are diverse members, and as the Apostle says, we are “members of one another.”
This reminds us of the story of Moses and Aaron.
Moses was a prophet of God, yet he was heavy of mouth and tongue and not eloquent (Exodus 4:10). When he excused himself from service for this reason, the Lord gave him his brother Aaron and said: “You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth… and he shall speak for you to the people. And he shall be your spokesman” (Exodus 4:15–16). Aaron completed Moses: Aaron was Moses’ mouth, and Moses was Aaron’s mind.
In the same way, one person may say to another, “You can rely on me; I will be your right arm.” The Didascalia even says that the deacon is the eye of the bishop—he sees which families need service and informs the bishop, who then provides pastoral care. Thus, the deacon becomes an eye for the bishop.
This is how collective work is completed—through diverse and multiple gifts.
When each member does what he ought to do, the work becomes complete.
God has distributed faith and gifts accordingly: He gave artistic talent to one who cares for beauty, intellectual ability to a philosopher who searches for truth, and physical strength to many laborers who toil and struggle, even if they produce no intellectual output.
Our problem is that we criticize those whose gifts do not appeal to us.
Suppose God gives someone administrative ability but not teaching ability—why criticize him for not being a man of thought? Scripture teaches us: “He who teaches, in teaching… he who leads, with diligence” (Romans 12:7–8). Both are members of the body of the Church, complementing one another, and the Church needs both.
It is like a machine: each part has its own function, and only when all parts work together does the machine function. If even one screw is missing, it fails.
Strangely enough, every self-admiring person wants everyone else to be like him!
This is practically impossible. Our duty is to discover each person’s gift, help refine it, and guide its proper use for good. The field of work needs all gifts—diverse like a bouquet of flowers of many colors, which together form a beautiful picture.
This does not prevent one person from having multiple gifts.
The Apostle Paul, for example, had many gifts: he was an apostle, teacher, preacher, philosopher, influential writer, church administrator caring for all churches, a bold evangelist before kings and governors, and he had spiritual gifts of healing—once even raising the dead. He spoke in tongues and was skilled in manual labor, saying: “These hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me” (Acts 20:34).
The same was true of Saint Basil the Great.
He was Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, gifted in church administration, a great theologian who refuted the Arians, a teacher and guide, a legislator with well-known ecclesiastical canons, a founder of monasticism in his region, a pioneer in social work through institutions serving the poor, and an ascetic man—all these gifts in one person.
Each one receives according to the measure of faith God has given him, whether thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold—whether two talents or five.
Even a person with only one gift can have an important role in the holy Church: a gift of mercy toward the poor, zeal in visitation, prayer for the absent, visiting the sick, or comforting the sorrowful. Even if someone has none of the commonly used service gifts, the gift of good example alone is enough for meaningful service.
Sometimes, when a person is faithful in one gift, God rewards him with another.
Saint Anba Abram, Bishop of Fayoum, was gifted in mercy and generosity toward the poor. When God saw his great faithfulness—even giving all his possessions to the poor and living as an ascetic—He granted him another gift: healing, and at times performing miracles, to complete his compassion for people. The same can be said of Anba Sarapamon Abu Tarha, Bishop of Monufia.
Therefore, no one should be distressed if he has only one gift, nor should he covet more. If he is faithful in his gift, God will grant him more, as He promised: “You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things” (Matthew 25:21, 23).
While being faithful to your gift, do not despise the gifts of others.
A servant in Christian education may value teaching and spiritual formation, yet criticize administrative church members, liturgical service, social service, or Coptic associations—forgetting the Apostle’s words: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet… If they were all one member, where would the body be?” (1 Corinthians 12:21, 19).
Unfortunately, such a servant considers others “unspiritual,” falling into pride, self-exaltation, judgment of others, and misunderstanding of divine economy.
The Church undoubtedly needs everyone.
If someone loves monasticism and celibacy, should he want everyone to be monks and celibates, otherwise criticizing them as lacking? How does such pride agree with being “members of one another” in one body with diverse works?
Or a person with a fiery temperament like Elijah—does he want everyone to be like him, despising the gentle and meek as weak? This is not biblical teaching. God did not create all people with one temperament, nor all trees with one kind of fruit, but “every kind of fruit” (Ecclesiastes 2:5). The Kingdom of God needs both the zealous and the meek.
It needs the building hand and the thinking mind.
It needs David’s sling and sword, as well as his psalms, songs, and music. All are members of the one body of the Church, and God uses them all.
You may be a foot visiting people, another a hand giving help, a third a thinking mind, a fourth a soaring spirit, and a fifth simply a heart offering love.
All of you are members of one another in one body, cooperating together to build the Kingdom.
