Eye-Hand Coordination
his evening, on my way to the evening performance of the latest show I’m music directing, I caught a brief snippet of a sermon by the late Adrian Rogers on the radio. He was talking about various spiritual gifts in the body of Christ.
He said something to the effect that certain gifts are more suited for certain types of ministry. Using the same body metaphor that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians, he talked about his own hand and eye. He said that the eye is not suited for picking up a pen, nor is the hand suited for looking at something.
So when he needs to look at something, the hand needs to submit to the eye. And when he needs to write something, the eye must submit to the hand.
It got me thinking about this. A lot of times when we talk about different spiritual gifts, we seem to speak of them as if they are separate. They are disjointed.
But thinking of the eye and the hand in Dr. Roger’s comments made me think of the phrase “eye-hand coordination”. (At this point, I think I’m departing from the original statements by Dr. Rogers and his main point.)
An activity like catching a ball involves the eye and the hand working together. The eye can do some of the work needed, but it can’t catch the ball on its own (or if it does try to, there will be some painful injuries resulting!). Likewise, the hand can do the physical work of catching the ball, but it can’t analyze the situation to know where to place itself in order to do that.
How well are we working with others in the body of Christ? It’s not enough to appreciate the different gifts. It’s not even enough to say, “Well, I’m glad they’re doing their job because I can’t do it.” There is, in my opinion, a point of healthy organic life in the body of Christ wherein the particular gifts work together to accomplish one purpose.
From this standpoint, it seems obviously essential that Jesus be the head of the body like he is supposed to be. Without him directing the activities and movements of the body, the actions of the various parts are pretty meaningless.
Until next time,
steve 
June 22nd, 2007 00:12
Steve,
Thank you for this post. While some may think it is idealistic of you to expect us to use both hand and eye to catch a ball when we cannot even get two hands to clap, but I agree with you completely! Someone once said that God put the members together in the body as he chose, and that same person also said that each part of the body was important and necessary. I think if we listen to wise voices like this one (and yours), we will realize how important it is for us to embrace the whole body of Christ. I’ve been studying John 17 - Jesus’ prayer for unity - and it seems that some very important things depend upon our unity. I hope to post about that soon.
-Alan
June 22nd, 2007 07:21
Alan, I look forward to reading your thoughts on John 17. I think that you are right about some things depending on our unity.
I’m grateful for brothers like you who also are seeking to see unity come into the body. Sometimes it makes me wonder how we’ve gotten so far from it.
June 22nd, 2007 07:36
One thing that interferes with the necessary “coordination” is the common thinking that the gifts are “ours”, given to us. Once that thinking sets in, it is easy for pride to wrap itself around the gift, preening itself, “Look what I can do!”
In fact, I believe the gifts are given to the church, to meet its needs in this life, rather than given to us. We are not the recipients, but the delivery people. If we can keep that in perspective, the coordination and teamwork should be easier to accomplish. As some one once said, “It’s amazing how much can be accomplished for God if no one is worrying about who gets the credit.”
June 22nd, 2007 08:23
Steve,
Great post and useful analogy. I am been filling in as a Sunday School teacher for a friend and I just taught from 1 Corinthians 14. Phil is absolutely correct! The gifts should be used for the Church. Numerous times in ch. 14 Paul reminds his readers that they should use their gifts for one-another, not themselves.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Lew
June 22nd, 2007 14:38
Good Post. If we understand that the gifts are His gifts (and remain His — just for the use of the Body) it helps. Also, if we began to understand that they always work in “clusters” when they are effective. For example: When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead there were at least 3 gifts operating at the same time and “hand in hand” so to speak. If you look at the passage you will see: Faith (trusting God to work as He was leading); Miracles (raising the dead); and healing (would not do any good to raise him sick).
I suspect if we went through every example of gift usage in the NT (OT too) we would find a plurality of gifts in operation at one time. They are not always in the same person (as in the case of Jesus raising Lazarus), but might be. He needs to be able to use any of us in any gift — at His bidding. Takes the pride, arrogance and competition of “My Gift” out of the equation.
June 22nd, 2007 17:10
You nailed it. The body of Christ is not a metaphor, but a functional reality. We (the church) are His body.
A body is organically interconnected. A blood supply flows through it, nourishing it. Glands produce enzymes to cause other organs to increase or decrease their functions. Muscles cause parts to move. Neurons transmit messages from the head, and all the members obey.
But somehow, people still ask if they have to go to church to be a Christian. It’s the wrong question, following from a wrong idea of what salvation means.
June 22nd, 2007 20:19
In my mind I picture an eyeball lying alone on a table, or a hand-less finger. Seems odd. What is the point of the eyeball without the eye socket, the aqueous humor (very, very necessary and most people don’t even realize it’s there), the optic nerve and so on? And what about hair? Are we aware what it’s like to not have hair? It does serve a purpose, believe it or, and not just to look pretty
… it’s actually pretty significant, though it doesn’t seem so at first glance. These are the ideas I had upon reading this … great post!
Oh, and everyone who has commented is right - they are His gifts to give as He pleases, to whom He pleases. And dare I say it? He can also remove them as He pleases as well …
~Heather
June 22nd, 2007 21:14
Great post! I appreciate all the thoughts expressed here too. I especially appreciated the point of them being for others, not a badge of personal glory. And also, that they can be “taken” by God at any time. I don’t know if that can be a permanent thing (the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable), but I know from personal experience, that you can lose the ability to operate in a well-developed gift for quite a long season. It’s like one day, you’re flowing in it, and the next day - you couldn’t produce it if you tried! I tend to think of those seasons as “winters” - where it dies, and God produces something more mature in you before the “summer” arrives, and a whole new dimension of the gift is manifested. That’s my experience, anyway, I don’t have all the right scripture passages to back that up or anything.
I would like to take these thoughts on the gifts one step further… The gifts are given to serve others within the Body, but also - they are for the world (outside the body)! One exciting thing that I am seeing a lot of is God healing unbelievers, releasing prophetic words to unbelievers and all sorts of things like that! Many are coming to know Christ through an encounter with the reality of His kingdom as it is expressed through spiritual gifts. I believe that the gifts do edify and build up the Body of Christ, but also, they are tools that enable the effective labor of the harvest. Cool, and good job, God!
June 24th, 2007 11:59
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June 24th, 2007 12:01
lauNching!
June 26th, 2007 14:06
Not only is it necessary for us work together in order to function, when we seek our own glory its cancerous. I once read a book by a missionary surgeon in India who examined the physical body from spiritual perspective. He described how fat cells store energy then release in times of hunger and need. But a cancerous tumor will take the energy and store it like fat then it will not release. In such a condition a tumor can hold plenty of nutrients in the body while that same body starves! I have meditated on this for a long time and feel it is so applicable to our physical gifts and spiritual. Lately at at work we went through a rough time and we brought in some elders to pray…the situation has become healthy! It was a great experience of coordination within the body.