Capping off his dissertation concerning the body that simply must be carefully regarded along with the eating and drinking, Paul goes on to write “Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it” (12:27). He has made clear his point that the distinctions being set forth by the church in Corinth, and which were so unfortunately on display when they gathered together for the meal that they called the Lord’s Supper, were all artificial and counter to what Jesus intended. As has been said, this was a source of some distress for Paul, as it served to undermine the unifying, gathering message of the Gospel, as amply pronounced through Jesus’ life and words.
However, Paul does go on to point out that there are going to be some types of divisions in the church, writing that “God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues” (12:28). While he does this, he does it while having already told them that “It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as He decides to each person” (12:11a), while also having made it very clear what he thinks about putting divisions and hierarchies on display at their corporate meals. So the last thing that he would expect them to do is to take this list of what “God has placed in the church,” and use it to create a spiritual hierarchy that will then be reflected in their table fellowship. This will only create a competition for status based on a new set of honor securing instruments---spiritual gifts---that will be used to create the same types of divisions of which the church of Christ is to have no part.
What’s worse, those who see themselves as occupying what might be thought of as the higher end of the hierarchy of spiritual gifts, or who see themselves as apostles or prophets or teachers, would use a perceived lack of spiritual gifts on the part of some in the church (determined solely by them of course) as a means of shaming those members. In practice then, we can see the risk of those that consider themselves to be apostles and prophets occupying the chief seats of honor at the church’s meal, while sending those that they do not see as having any spiritual gifts, to the lowest seats. As we consider such things, we go on to hear Paul offer up a rapid-fire series of questions, writing “Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they?” (12:29-30)
If read properly, keeping in mind the sense of narrative and structure that Paul has labored hard to develop, these questions will be heard in light of Paul’s insistence that all of the members of the body (as he speaks to this particular stratifying and dividing church) are equally valuable, with a reminder that “those members that seem to be weaker are essential, and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity” (12:22-23). We also hear the questions in the light of the statement that “God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another” (12:24b-25). We can almost sense a bit of mocking coming from the Apostle, as we strive to bear in mind that Paul is writing based on reports about this church that have come to him. There is, in some sense, a hint that this church is attempting to justify their course of operations, and that potential double set of divisions that we have previously mentioned, with their having implemented a “spiritual gift hierarchy.” It is even possible that they have done so based on a twist of what Paul has taught them, as he does seem to be working with a base of knowledge on their part.
So when Paul writes his series of questions, beginning with “Not all are apostles, are they?”, it seems as if he might be playing into their pretensions just a bit. If they are creating divisions and hierarchies within the church, with these spiritual hierarchies probably ending up as a general reflection of the social hierarchies outside the church, which is what would have caused their messianic banquet and Lord’s Supper meal table to look exactly like and function in exactly the same way as any celebratory meal table outside of the church, then as a form of rhetorical argumentation before he goes on to make a major point, Paul would be creating a series of what may seem like points of agreement with the letter’s hearers. Thus, as the hearers look around the table, they come to feel justified in their stratifications, as they hear Paul saying “Not all are apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, tongue-talkers, or interpreters, are they?” This would create an environment of satisfaction (though perhaps tinged with a dawning sense of shame), as those listening would agree, saying “No, not all are apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, tongue-talker, or interpreters. Therefore, those of us that are these things, as the more honorable members, are right to form this spiritual hierarchy in the church.”
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