More Honored, More Protected, More Hidden

This is another example of still being surprised by scripture even with decades of reading and studying the Bible:

I was reading 1 Corinthians 12 regarding another subject, but a few verses surprised me. Paul is writing about the church and using the human body as an analogy. He discusses how the body has different parts, just as the church is gifted with many talents, knowledge and experiences. Not every member needs to have the same talents; in fact, it wouldn’t survive if the organization only could do one thing. And then he says:

Construction work hidden by facsimile at Stephansdom cathedral, Vienna

And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

What parts of the church has less honor (but should be given more), should be protected more, should be hidden?
What parts of the church actually are given more honor, are protected more and are more visible?
How have we gotten this backwards in our modern church?

I sometimes challenge church leaders to recognize that we often put successful (i.e. wealthy) business people on our church boards...because we believe they have the favor of God?...even though scripture tells us that rich people have little faith while poor people have much faith. Perhaps we should elevate and honor the poorer people in our congregations. They’re often hidden and they’re suffering. If we honor them, wouldn’t the whole body benefit?

But I still wonder what parts of the church should still be hidden and well-protected. I can’t think of one aspect of the modern church where this is true. So what are we missing from our communal life that the first century church understood?