Christian unity is not obvious. The unity is invisible or informal. The unity is a function of the Holy Spirit and is, therefore, seen by faith, which is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Those who are not regenerate do not see the unity. They do not know the unity, and they cannot live in the unity. The diversity is easy. It's natural. The unity is harder. It's supernatural.
Paul's questions sound a bit like chastisement because the obvious answer is no. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Do all work miracles? No. Paul is addressing the jealousy that makes us envy those who have different gifts than we do. He is addressing the tendency to think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill, to think that other people have it better or easier than we do. And by implication, Paul is calling Christians to spend their time and energy developing their own gifts rather than being jealous or envious of other people who have other gifts. Paul is calling Christians to bloom where God has planted them, to use the talents and resources that God has given them, to not neglect the station to which we each have been called.
Part of our sin state is the "poor me" complex that captures and keeps people feeling trapped by their circumstances. In contrast, the central message of the gospel is that we are not trapped by our circumstances. We are not trapped by sin, not by our own sin, and not by the greater sins of the world that often usually appear to dominate our lives. Yes, the sin is there. Yes, the sin is real. Yes, the sin is powerful and pervasive. But "the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). Christ Jesus has set us free from the tyranny of our circumstances and set us free from those circumstances in the joy of the Lord. And the Spirit of that joy is the Spirit of unity in the body of Christ. The joy of the Lord is supernatural. It supersedes or superimposes or superintends the natural state of sin.
It is this joy in the Lord to which Paul now turns. We all want the joy, but we all feel stuck in the sin. We want the freedom to be all we can be in Christ, but we feel like victims captured by our circumstances. We look at other people and think, "if only I could be like him or like her. If only I could do what he does or what she does, then I'd be happy or rich or free or whatever."
"No!" said Paul. That is not the way things are. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No Do all work miracles? No. Does everyone have to be this way or that way? No. Is everyone the same? No. And thank God! Indeed, thank God in Jesus Christ for the diversity of the kingdom that gives rise to the division of labor, which in turn is the engine of human culture that drives the development of modern culture, including science and technology.
Joy is not found by trying to be like someone else. Joy is not a function of imitation, except inasmuch as we can imitate Christ. But our imitation of Christ is not a matter of trying to be like Him. Rather, the imitation of Christ is a matter of being who God made us to be. Inasmuch as we can imitate Christ we become genuinely authentic. In Christ we know and celebrate and develop our own unique gifts. Christians are not to pretend to be like other Christians, not at all! Nor are we to pretend to be like Jesus. Christians are not called to pretend at all. Christians are called to be real, to be unique, to be authentic, to be as the old King James Version reads - peculiar (1 Peter 2:9).
Christianity is not a cookie-cutter religion where people try to match or reach some perfect ideal. Quite the contrary! Christianity is a religion rich in diversity. No two Christians are the same nor should they be! If you are trying to be like someone else, you are barking up the wrong tree. God does not want you to be like someone else. God wants you to be like He made you. God wants you to use the gifts He gave you in the circumstances in which He planted you. Someone else's gifts and talents won't work for you where you are, in your circumstances. When we try to be like someone else, we are driven by envy and jealousy and will experience frustration and sorrow because, no matter how hard we try, it won't work. I can't be you, you can't be me. We can't be like someone else. Trying to be like someone else is a guaranteed route to failure because we are not them. The feeling of being trapped by our circumstances is the result of trying to be someone that we are not meant to be, or trying to do something we are not meant to do. The feeling of being trapped by our circumstances is always a function of sin. It is the very thing that Christ came to free us from.
We are not victims of our circumstances, though God has certainly bound us to our circumstances. The gift(s) that God has given us are for use in the midst of the circumstances that God has given to us. And as we learn to use our gift(s) we will see that those gifts require our particular circumstances. Our circumstances provide the context in which our gifts make sense. Our circumstances provide the foil that sharpens and strengthens our gift(s), which unleash God's blessings upon our circumstances, and which in turn give glory to God. Indeed, God has a better way!