The Apostle Paul was wise. After speaking of the self-despising members, he says, "And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you" (v. 21). For the eye to say that it does not need the hand is pride. For the foot to say, "Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body," is self-made humility. In its pride, the eye may think that it is excellent and marvelous and that it has no need for the hand. But the eye should never say to the hand, "I have no need of you." Neither should the head say to the feet, "I have no need of you." Because the head is on top, and the feet are on the bottom, the head may be very proud and think that it has no need of the feet. First Paul deals with those who are humble, then with those who are proud. Both are wrong, and both need tempering. Thus, God has tempered the Body, uplifting the low ones and lowering the high ones. He causes the humble to be proud and the proud to be humble. If you are among the humble ones, you should not say that you are not of the Body. And if you are among the proud ones, you should not say that you do not need the other members. As the Body is tempered together, eventually the lower ones will be tempered to be somewhat higher, and the higher ones will be tempered to be somewhat lower. When this takes place, we all shall function, and the Body will come into existence in a practical way.
In today's Christian meetings the Body is not present in actuality. Many of the lower ones consider themselves not of the Body, and many of the higher ones think that they do not need others. It seems that they themselves can be the entire Body. Therefore, we all must be tempered. Those who do not function must learn to function, and those who function more than they should must learn not to function too much. In one of the meetings in Anaheim, I said that I was tired of hearing certain ones speak so much in the meetings. Because the lower ones often think that they are not of the Body, and the higher ones often consider that they do not need others, in the meetings the higher ones may make a display of themselves. That is not the display of the Body. If only a few members function in the meetings, we do not have the Body in a practical way. However, those who do not function should not blame those who do. Instead of considering themselves not of the Body, they must be encouraged to be stronger and more aggressive than those who do function often. They should not allow the elders to be the only ones to function. If I ask the elders in a particular church why they function so much, they may say, "Brother Lee, we are suffering as we wait for others to function. So many of the other members do not bear their burden. They come to the meeting to enjoy a time of rest." Thus, both those who function a great deal and those who do not function at all are wrong. This is the reason we may not have the Body expressed in our meetings. Instead, we have a display of a few who function often. Many of the saints are not spiritual in the meetings. They sit there without functioning, perhaps criticizing others. Therefore, we do not have the Body in a practical way. From now on, the least among us must function and be bubbling all the time.
We should be neither proud nor humble. Rather, we all need to be tempered. God has tempered the Body. There are neither cold ones nor hot ones, but all have been tempered. The Body is one, but the members are on different levels, just as the members of our physical body are on different levels beneath the head. But the members on every level are needed. When all the members function, we have the Body in actuality.
If everyone in the meetings were a Paul, a Peter, or a John, that would be terrible. If everyone were a spiritual giant, I doubt that we could have a meeting. God does not gather so many giants together. There are just two shoulders in the body. Suppose, however, that the fingers, the thumbs, and the ears are all shoulders. What kind of body would that be? Do not dream that everyone in the local church will be a strong shoulder. To use another illustration, the local churches should be flocks of lambs. In these flocks we do not need large donkeys or even big cows. Instead, we all should be little lambs. In the various localities we need to have flocks. Then if we all as the "lambs," the members of the Body, function, we shall have the Body. The Body exists in the functioning of all the members. Whenever I speak, my whole body functions. If my mouth were detached from my body, it would not be able to function. We all need to learn that we are members of the Body. Do not say that you are not of the Body. You need to say, "Praise the Lord that I am of the Body! I am proud of the fact that I am part of the Body."