Caring for one another

The second purpose of our home group is for each member to participate in mutual  care of one another.

Sadly, this is not always the case in most churches. Since the church does not comprise of perfect, sinless people, this can't be the case.
It certainly wasn't the case with the Corinthian church who suffered from a great number of difficulties and sins, which Paul had later heard about (1 Corinthians 1:11, 1 Corinthians 11:18) and which prompted him to write this letter to them.

Care for one another. On the face of it, this seems such a cliche or such a politically correct thing to suggest as a purpose for the group, but it is important to understand the logic behind this command. Once we get a better understanding of how we as believers are related, our attitude will change from 'Why should I?' to "How could I not?'
Let me explain.

The command for us to care for one another is found in 1 Corinthians 12:25 and the command comes with a warning if the command is not met.  The verse says :

"that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another."

1 Corinthians 12 gives us some instructions in the use of our spiritual gifts and in it, we also find the analogy that Paul uses to describe the individual members of the church as members of a living and growing body in which Christ is the head.

This is essentially what the church is. It is a living, growing organism.
There are a few other analogies in the NT which also portrays the church as an organism.
John 10:16 talks of the Shepherd and his flock. In John 15:1-5, the church is likened to a vine in which Christ is the branch and Revelation 19:7 illustrates the bride (the church) being presented to the groom (Christ).

So the church is an organism. It is living, it is growing, it is indestructible (Matthew 10:16). It is precisely this not only because Christ has all of creation been made subject to Him and not only is He the head of the church, but He builds and fills the church as He pleases and uses the church to showcase His glory to the world (Ephesians 1:22-23).

That is mind boggling stuff, but certainly very exciting to be part of.

So, the church is a living organism and all the individual believers are the members that make up the church (the body).
Now, there are 4 main aspects that Paul uses to further develop this analogy of the church being like a body and functioning like a body:

Diversity
All members are different.
No two members are exactly the same, and we all have slightly different functions. Just because no one member is not the same as another, doesn't make that one member any less useful or important.
Consider the parts of your own body. Each part has a function and all parts are as equally important otherwise the body will fail to function properly. Your fingers cannot work without the hand and the hand cannot work without the forearm and so on.

Unity
The church is made up of many members (1 Corinthians 12:12, Romans 12:5, Ephesians 1:22-23), but all members are are members of one body and all the members are united by one spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:4).
We are all borne of the same spirit, indwelt by the same spirit, baptized into the body by one spirit and we are made to drink from the same spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12).

It is this same spirit that unites us.

God's Design
1 Corinthians 12:18 says

"But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired."

The word 'placed' used here means to have been divinely appointed.

We must understand that we have been intentionally placed in the church by God, with the varying gifts and resources that we have as He has designed.
He does nothing by accident.  God wants the church functioning just as it should be because that is the way He has designed it to be and to function.
He has carefully metered out to us, according to our faith, the resource or gifts that is required to carry out His work within the church (Romans 12:3).

We all have different functions, but we all receive our gifts from the Holy Spirit just as He has willed and determined (1 Corinthians 12:11, Hebrews 2:4). The Holy Spirit is the source of our different gifts and is the same spirit that unites us.

Harmony
God has not only chosen believers and put them into specific places with particular gifts, He has also, in His wisdom, blended or mixed the various parts or members together.

The word here 'composed' (other versions use 'blended', 'combined' or 'tempered') means to mix together.
This word is used in the context of an artist and the way the artist mixes and blends primary colours to form new colours. These new colours would then go onto the picture in the precise way that the artist decides.
So too with the church and the way in which God mixes the members together within the church. Each member is a mixture or blend of all the various gifts and inputs from other member's gifts and skills, and you are the exact 'colour' that you have designed to be.

This analogy broadly shows how the many members, however different they are, belong to one another within the same body and how dependent they are on each other to work and for the body to function properly and efficiently.

So, given this, what steps can we take to drive this change so that we care for one another as we should?

1) We need to understand that we all in Christ (Romans 12:5, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11).

This is vitally important. We must understand that we all different parts of the same body and that we are all indwelt and united by the same spirit. Together we comprise the body of Christ, in which He is our head.

2) We must accept our diversity.

It is important that we realize that we won't have the same gifts as one another (1 Corinthians 12:19), but accept our own particular gifts and place in the body.

The Corinthians made the mistake of not doing this and this contributed greatly to the division and strife that existed among them.

3) To achieve point 2) we are commanded to treat all members equally as none of us more important that any other. In fact, Paul says that for any member we consider less honourable or less presentable, we must make that member even more honourable and even more presentable (1 Corinthians 12:23-24).

We are the body of Christ and in it there should be no sense of superiority among us and no sense of inferiority.

Instead we are to care for one another, to ensure that the body of Christ glorifies Him and that world sees how marvellous and glorious He really is.