Here we need to go into more detail. The matters we are touching are not so simple. It is not sufficient to say that we have seen the Body and we are living by Christ as our life, and therefore we have the oneness and are in the unity and in the Body. We have Romans 12, and we have 1 Peter 2, but we need to go on to 1 Corinthians 12, especially to take note of one word in verse 24: “But God has tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked.” How much I appreciate the word tempered. God has tempered the body. We need to check ourselves to see how much we have been tempered. We are all here together, we have seen the Body, we are in the Body, we are living in Christ and by Christ as our life, but we need to check ourselves to find out how much we have been tempered together.
Those who cook know how to temper the different ingredients together in their cooking. To be tempered means more than to be mixed together or blended. The Amplified New Testament supplies several words for the word tempered in this verse—adjusted, mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of the whole. In the practical application, to be tempered means that a quick person needs to be put together with a slow one so that the quickness of the one is tempered with the slowness of the other. Then in the Body there will be nothing too quick and nothing too slow.
In the church both pride and humility need to be tempered out until only Christ is left. One brother may feel that he is very humble and that others are very proud. When his humility is tempered with their pride, there will be nothing humble and nothing proud in the church. Some of the brothers and sisters find it very easy to stand up in the meetings to function, and others find it easy to remain in their seats and be quiet. These saints also need the tempering together. In these days I have a deep realization that I need more tempering with all the saints. Whatever characteristic you may have, I need to be tempered with you in that matter. All of us need to be tempered together.
Without the tempering together, there is no way for us to be built up together. Without the tempering, a quick person could never go along with a slow one, and there could never be any building between them. Without being tempered, you could never be coordinated with others. One brother is too proud, but another is too humble. These two could never be coordinated together unless both of them are willing to be tempered. God has not only set the members in the Body; He has tempered the Body together.
In cooking it is not sufficient merely to mix certain ingredients together to prepare a dish that has a pleasing taste. In the preparation of certain dishes it is necessary to temper the ingredients together to give them a delicious taste. All of us have been placed into the church here together, but the delicious taste will be lacking if we have not been tempered together. God has placed the members, each one of them, in the Body, and He has also tempered the Body together (1 Cor. 12:18, 24). Our need today is not merely to be brought in and placed in the church here, but to be tempered together with others of the Lord’s choosing who may be quite different from us in their dispositions. Time after time the Lord puts us together with just the right person for us to be tempered in the Body.
Now we come to a particular phrase in Colossians 3:15, “you were called in one Body.” For years I read Colossians 3 without realizing that all the virtues mentioned there are for the Body life—compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering or endurance, forbearance, forgiveness, love, and peace. The phrase, “you were called in one Body,” clearly indicates that all of these items are for the one Body, for the Body life. As Christians, we have the natural concept that we need to be humble in our human living. However, according to the Bible, humility is not for the human life, but for the Body life. Compassion is not for the human life, but for the Body life. In the Body you need to have compassion. In the Body you need kindness, humility, meekness, endurance, and forbearance. We should not think that it is impossible for us to bear a particular brother or sister. Even though we may feel that to stay with that particular saint is like being put into death, we should not try to escape our situation. What the Lord requires is that our natural life be put to death. We need to remain where we are that we may bear and even forbear, that we may take the cup our Father has given us. It may seem like a bitter cup, but it will become so sweet. It may seem to be a cup of curse, but it will become a cup of blessing. In this way we will see the Body life.
We should not think that it is easy for human beings to stay together. No matter how much we love one another, the longer we stay together the more we will realize that we need not only endurance but also forbearance and forgiveness for the Body life. If we stay together to have the meeting life for a period of time, surely we will offend one another again and again. None of us could be so holy, so perfect, that we would not offend others. When the offenses come, we need to forgive one another. Instead of complaining, we need to forgive again and again. Colossians 3:12-13 says, “Put on therefore as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; bearing one another and forgiving one another, if anyone should have a complaint against any; as the Lord forgave you, so also should you forgive.” I appreciate compassion more than mercy. Compassion is so tender. After compassion, verse 12 mentions kindness, lowliness, meekness, and longsuffering. Verse 13 continues with forbearance, and then forgiveness. Then you have love, and following love, peace. “And over all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of Christ arbitrate in your hearts, to which also you were called in one Body; and be thankful” (vv. 14-15). If you do not forgive others, you could never have peace. Instead of having peace, you will be troubled all the time. You will be disturbed by the offenses of others, and there will be no peace arbitrating within you. But if you forgive others and forget their offenses, if you love them no matter how much they offend you, you will have peace. You will simply receive whatever another does to you as something from the Lord for you, something that you need. You will not care for the offenses, but you will care for all the dear brothers and sisters. When you have such a love, peace will follow.
All the items in Colossians 3 are detailed expressions of Christ as life. With such an expression of Christ in a practical way, we have the Body life. Then we will be built up together and qualified to serve the Lord. Without the proper building up together, whatever we do to have some outreach, to preach the gospel, or to help other Christians, does not work. Only when we are qualified by being built up together will it be easy to bring someone to the Lord or to help other members. For the service it is necessary for us to be in the reality of the Body, to be built up, to be qualified, to be equipped. From our experience we know that the real equipment for us to fight the battle as the service to the Lord is to be built up in the Body.