Re: Blending
UntoHim and Ohio,
I certainly had a similar thought while reading 1 Cor. 12 in considering whether the tempering applies to the comely members too, but in that chapter alone I could not find backup for it to my satisfaction (I'm open to hear otherwise, however). I think that is just because of the particular focus of the passage though, and I do agree that the "tempering down" of, let's call them, "overly-comely members" is addressed in other verses elsewhere.
I would "temper" my statement above like this though: for the ones who are sources of problems and divisions, for the ones who are puffed up, who solicit rivalries, and abuse absolute authority.......they may seem like or pass themselves off as the "comely" ones on high, but in reality they are among the truly uncomely, aren't they?
That's an interesting question that I hadn't thought of until now.....what do "comely" and "uncomely" really mean? I can think of some fellow brothers and sisters who really rub me the wrong way and give me unnecessary attitude at every turn, and internally I gleefully label them "uncomely", but I wonder what Paul had in mind here? Maybe there is no objective comeliness, but those around us are just comely/uncomely in each of our individual estimations.....i.e. the same one person who may seem uncomely to you may seem comely to another, and in this way every member receives some honor in some way. I'm not sure if that's what is meant......just thinking out loud.
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