The first and most obvious conclusion from the view which Paul had given of the nature of the church is the duty of con- tentment. It is just as unreasonable and absurd for the foot to complain that it is not the hand, as for one member of the church to complain that he is not another; that is, for a teacher to complain that he is not an apostle ; or for a dea- coness to complain that she is not a presbyter ; or for one who had the gift of healing to complain that he had not the gift of tongues. This, as the apostle shows, would destroy the very idea of the church.
17. If the whole body (were) an eye, where (were) the hearing? If the whole (were) hearing, where (were) the smelling ?
The obvious meaning of this verse is, that the very exist- ence of the body as an organization depends on the union of members endowed with different functions. And the appHca- tion of this idea to the church is equally plain. It also re- quires to its existence a diversity of gifts and ofiices. If all were apostles where would be the church ?
18. But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
But now^ i. e. as the matter actually is. Instead of the body being all one member, God has arranged and disposed the parts each in its place so as to constitute one living or- ganic whole. The eye did not give itself the power of vision, nor the ear its ability to discriminate sounds. Each member occupies in the body the position which God has seen fit to assign it, and which is most conducive to the good of the whole. It is so also in the church ; the position and the gifts of every member are determined by the Lord. One has one gift and another another; one is a pastor and another is a missionary ; one labours in a city, another in the wilder- ness, not according to their relative merits, nor in virtue of their own selection, but as God wills and orders. It is there- fore as inconsistent with the idea of the church that each member should decide on his own position and functions, as that the members of the body should arrange themselves ac- cording to their own notions. The nature of the church sup-