Strength in numbers

https://odb.org/2026/07/16/who-do-you-need

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 (NIV): 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

A famous athlete sat tall in his seat as he prepared to fly to the championship bout he knew he’d win. A flight attendant walked by and said, “Sir, please fasten your seat belt.” The man smiled. “Superman don’t need no seat belt.” She replied without missing a beat, “Superman don’t need no airplane. Buckle up.” And he did. Success can swell our heads. We don’t need a seatbelt or a flight attendant telling us what to do. We can take care of ourselves. If we bring this attitude to church, we’re like an eye that says to the hand, “I don’t need you!” or a head that says to the feet, “I don’t need you!” (1 Corinthians 12:21). The truth is, every part of the body is needed, and “those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (v.22) (Mike Wittmer, Our Daily Bread 16th July 2026)

In the Old Testament, the famous saying is “two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) because if one falls down, the other can help him up. With two, they have a good return for their labour. In Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV), it is written, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken“. It speaks of strength in numbers. One of the reasons why marriage succeed in elevating one’s economic status is the pooling of resources and talents. So modern-day unions are more partnerships, similar to business partnerships creating synergies to harness higher outputs or as Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 pointed out, they have a good return for their labour.

In the New Testament, Paul uses the imagery of the body to illustrate this point in the church. There are different parts in church and everyone needs each other as the hand cannot say to the eye that I don’t need you. We all know very well that if the little toe is hurt, the entire body will be affected. In fact even a small cut or abrasion in any part of our bodies will create such an irritation that our immune system and cells will work frantically to quickly repair the damage and repel any alien invaders. That is why self-healing and the immunity system are two very essential systems in the body.

When the healing system is compromised by illness (like diabetes causing nerve damage) or the immune system goes haywire (for example, auto immune diseases), the body will get into big trouble. While we are strong when united, we crumble if we fight amongst ourselves or betray one another or given a task, we shrink away or don’t do our part. Everyone is a brick on the wall, if a few bricks move away, the wall may just collapse.

The mesaage this morning is that we all have our roles to play as individuals in the body of Christ in the local and universal church. We all contribute our various talents into the pool and God mixes and blends us together to create a potent force to deal with the principalities of the air and the dark forces. There are various spiritual gifts scattered among us. We need to come together and be united, in spirit and in truth. That is the church, which is why congregational worship is essential to the life of the church! No single person is as strong as the whole body – we need to be humble to accept that we actually need one another!