1 Corinthians 12:22
ESV
On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
NIV
On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
NASB
On the contrary, it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
CSB
On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable.
NLT
In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.
KJV
Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
NKJV
No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
What does 1 Corinthians 12:22 mean?
Are there unimportant jobs in the church? Are there unessential people with spiritual gifts that don't really matter? Paul has written that to think such a thing is as foolish as an eye thinking it doesn't need the hand.In fact, Paul now adds that the opposite is true. The parts of the human body that seem to be weaker, less exciting, less seen in public, those are the parts that we truly cannot live without. The subtlety and power of this analogy is easy to miss. Consider internal organs that we rarely think about. If a lung or a pancreas or a five-foot section of the intestines was suddenly gone, the body would instantly recognize how indispensable that part was. It's not unfair to say that losing a finger, visible though that may be, is nowhere near as disruptive as losing a kidney—an organ most people think nothing of until it's in crisis.
In the same way, the most essential functions in the church are often carried out by Spirit-gifted Christians who call no attention to themselves. There, again, is a subtlety in this analogy which needs to be understood. A body can better survive with the loss of the "high profile" members, like eyes and fingers, than it can if it loses the behind-the-scenes members like the lungs and organs. The Christian church, in truth, "needs" the deeper and more essential members to perform their roles and cannot be effective otherwise.
