Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 12:22

"Nay, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary:" — 1 Corinthians 12:22 (ASV)

Which seem to be more feeble. This means weaker than the rest: members that seem less able to bear fatigue and encounter difficulties, that are more easily injured, and that more easily become affected by disease. It is possible that Paul may here refer to the brain, the lungs, the heart, etc., as feebler in their structure and more liable to disease than the hands and feet, etc., and for these parts, disease is more dangerous and fatal.

Are necessary. The sense seems to be this: a man can live even if the stronger parts of his body were removed, but not if the more feeble ones were. A man can live if his arm or leg is amputated, but not if his brain, his lungs, or his heart is removed.

So, although these parts are feebler and more easily injured, they are actually more necessary for life, and therefore more useful, than the more vigorous parts of the body. Perhaps the idea is—and it is a beautiful thought—that those members of the church who are most retiring and apparently feeble, who are concealed from public view, unnoticed, and unknown—the humble, the meek, the peaceful, and the prayerful—are often more necessary to the true welfare of the church than those who are eminent for their talent and learning.

And it is so. The church can better spare many a man, even in the ministry, who is learned, and eloquent, and popular, than some obscure and humble Christian who is to the church what the heart and the lungs are to the life. The one is strong, vigorous, active, like the hands or the feet, and the church often depends on them; the other is feeble, concealed, yet vital, like the heart or the lungs.

The vitality of the church could be continued even if the man of talent and learning were removed—just as the body may live when an arm or a leg is amputated. But that vitality could not continue if the saint of humble and retiring piety and of fervent prayerfulness were removed, any more than the body can live when there are no heart and lungs.