THE CHURCH NEEDS DIVERSITY

For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  1 Corinthians 12:14-19

A healthy church is a diverse church.  That’s Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 14:14-19.  He lets his readers know in this passage that God doesn’t want the church to consist of spiritual clones, functioning in the same way doing the same things.  That’s why Paul tells us in v. 14,

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

It is so important that believers realize this.  It’s so important that each one of us realize we are spiritual snowflakes—that there is no one just like us.  We are each uniquely gifted by God and bring something incredibly special and beneficial to the church. 
Some say, “What can I do?”  “I can’t teach.”  Guess what?  The church doesn’t need 200 people with the same gift of teaching.  It needs diversity.  It needs believers using their own unique gifting’s to build up the body. 

The problem at Corinth was that everyone was neglecting his or her own unique gifting’s.   They were each going after the same showy gifts that God had not given them.  That’s why Paul says what he does in 1 Corinthians 12:29-30.  He says,

“²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

The implied answer here is, “Of course not.”  Again, what benefit would it be to the church be if it were only made up of teachers?  You have everybody teaching in an empty classroom.  For the church to be healthy and function to its capability, it must have diversity.