What is the meaning behind 1 Corinthians 12:8-11?

At this time, the Corinthian church had many, many problems and was a complete mess.  One of the bigger problems of the church was a lack of unity within their ranks (1 Corinthians 1:10; 3:3).  As Paul goes through the letter, he rebukes the church for its many failures and by the time he gets to chapter 12, he is on the subject of sign gifts causing division.  In the passage in question, Paul is stating that the Holy Spirit is what unifies the church, and it is through this same Spirit that the church is able to function.  This is evident in the following verses in Paul’s description of how each part of the body works together to form the whole (1 Corinthians 12:12).  While the sign gifts are no longer available to us today, the concept of the church being unified by the Spirit and everyone having a specific purpose still remains.