RECOGNISING THE BODY

The Greek word which is translated 'body' is the same word which is used to talk of the 'body of Christ', meaning the church.  Not your 'church' or their 'church' but THE church.

It would be convenient to believe and understand this to mean recognising Christians as fellow Christians but I think that is rather too simplistic.

Let us bear in mind that this was a letter which was not written in chapters and verses but as a continuous piece of text with standard punctuation rather than verses etc..

Virtually the whole of the letter up to this point has been talking about divisions in the church caused or threatened by different matters, or manifest in different ways.

Recognising fellow Christians as such would still allow room for division for whatever reason and would not be in line with the unity that Paul was working so hard to promote.

What I believe Paul was actually saying was, "recognise in each and every member of the Body of Christ, the working of the grace of God, His power and authority invested in and used through them, and treat all brothers and sisters, in love, with all due respect and submission."

The longest prayer of Jesus found in John 17 was almost entirely on the subject of unity within the family of God.  Whereas Paul's letter was written at the time specifically to the church at Corinth, Jesus' prayer was addressed to the Father and was for believers worldwide.  Unity, in other words 'recognising the body', is for all believers and between all believers.

I believe that 'recognising the body' is particularly and practically worked out in a lifestyle of submission.

We must be submitted first and foremost to Christ's working and purposes in our life.  If his Lordship in our life is  not our hearts desire and evident in our lives, then unity is not possible.  The result of this is alienation from Jesus, and the Spirit of God working in our lives being quenched.  Our hearts need to be surrendered and submitted to God to do His work of changing us according to His pattern.  A lack of God's grace in our own lives (and grace comes from an ever-deepening knowledge of Jesus) will hinder us recognising the working of grace in another's life.

Next we need to be submitted to our church leaders.
Staying or being in a church is not submission.  Judas stayed as a disciple of Jesus, yet his heart was far from Him and in no way submitted to Him.

An example of submission is this: A leader asks me to do 'A'.  If I do not think this is a good idea, then I should say so constructively, humbly and with respect for my leader’ position.  If he asks me again, then I should do it, eagerly, without complaining, fully supporting his decision because he is  God's anointed leader.  Our leaders have Christ's authority in church and Kingdom matters, they are also held responsible for what he does so decisions are not taken lightly.

Consider King David, he had two opportunities to kill Saul, but his submission to God's authority structure would not allow him to do it.  In human terms, David taking Saul's life  could be considered wholly justified.  
Within Kingdom authority structures though there is no justification (except as shown in matters of church discipline) for lack of submission to godly authority.
Even if I believe wholeheartedly and am totally convinced that a leader may be wrong, submission is accepting who and what he is in the Kingdom, and I must support him in that role.
If we are unable to respond in this way then we are not accepting his leadership, his authority and anointing, and we have no right to be in that 'church'.
Submission is not slavery.  We submit to others from a heart of love.  The heart of love overflows in expressions of support.
If things do go wrong later, or a decision proves to be a wrong one, a heart of love does not say "I told you so".  It helps pick up the pieces, supports through any crises, states continued support, and rejects criticism or critical attitudes that foster and create division.

Thirdly, and not least important, is submitting to one another.  I may not agree with what a brother does, but if he is doing it in faith believing that is what God is saying at that time, then I should support him in it.  I ought to sacrifice my opinions and submit in favour of the deeds prompted by my brother’s faith.
I may not agree with the way the worship leader is leading the meeting but he has been appointed to that position by those who have authority to do so and I must submit to the wisdom expressed in that appointment.

Submission is not slavery, but it is servitude.  An attitude to serve.  To serve a brother or sister is to submit to being a blessing to them, to submit to meeting their needs, not in their own (selfish) interest, but in the interest of the building of the body of Christ and the extending of His Kingdom.

There are two other aspects of submitting to others which are very important in the interest of unity or recognising the body.  The first is accepting encouragement and the second is honesty between believers.

ACCEPTING ENCOURAGEMENT
Prayer and Bible study are constant subjects of encouragement within the church.  Those that enjoy great blessing and revelation from their Bible studies/meditation and those that have discovered greater depths in their knowledge of God and seen God actively responding to their prayers, often encourage others to seek the same blessings they have experienced.
They are eager to share the good they have received, however such encouragement is rarely received equally eagerly.  Such an encourager is often made to feel unwanted, unpopular, even religious or over zealous.
We are all encouraged in Hebrews 10 to encourage one another and such a refusal to accept encouragement is a refusal of one who is being obedient to the word of God.  There is in effect a refusal to recognise this member of the body, and what God has done in and for them.

This does however go beyond encouragement to read the scriptures or prayer.  Encouragement in matters of faith, godly lifestyle, to be of good cheer, in fact every godly encouragement we should actively accept.
So often it is tempting to say to ourselves, 'Oh it's alright for them', or, 'they don't know what it is like to be in this place'.  We can always find excuses and reasons to shoot down another's encouragement.
What is behind our doing this?  Surely it is usually the desire to wallow in self pity?  It is more comfortable or satisfying sometimes for us to whinge and moan, rather than act maturely and allow ourselves to be encouraged and get on with what we are supposed to be doing.

HONESTY
A lack of honesty and openness, complaining behind the scenes, backbiting, but presenting a different face publicly is treating the Body of Christ with contempt.
Recognising the body is speaking of regarding the body the same way Jesus and the Father does.  A body that is holy, blameless and dearly loved must be treated with respect.  To treat the body with contempt and disrespect is not recognising the body as it should be recognised.
It is for good reason that we are exhorted to not let the sun go down on any bad feeling lest a bitter root grows up, and that all things must be done in the light, failure to do both of these gives our enemies a foothold.
To bitch, whinge and complain, is to create spiritual division within the body.  Unity cannot exist where backbiting and dissension exists.  We may not agree, but we can, in love, submit to one another.
Pride demands it's own way, humility allows God's love and grace to cover all our indiscretions, lack of sensitivity, and mistakes.