Character Over Image | 1 Corinthians | Week 6 | Pastor Mike

Image is loud. Character is quiet. And most of us don’t notice we’re drifting until the “suddenly” hits. We start with a moment from worship that cuts straight to the heart: surrender that isn’t just a song lyric, but a real offering of control, fear, and pride. From there, we move into 1 Corinthians 4 and Paul’s blunt reminder that followers of Jesus are stewards and servants, and the basic requirement is trustworthiness. Not perfection. Faithfulness.

We dig into why so many collapses happen “gradually and then suddenly,” and how the small, ignored choices in marriage, money, work, and spiritual life shape the outcome. We also talk honestly about authenticity in a social media age, where it’s easy to build an impressive public image while private responsibility and integrity leak. Motives matter. What’s hidden doesn’t stay hidden forever.

Then we get practical: we need real accountability, real wisdom, and the discipline of staying. Staying when it’s messy. Staying when it’s boring. Staying when FOMO tries to pull you out of the very place God is using to form you. The closing challenge is simple and unforgettable: mind the gaps, so your life has no daylight between what you say and how you live.

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who values integrity, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s one “gap” you’re going to close this week?

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Transcript

Welcome And Worship Reflection

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello, this is Jamie Bridges, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast. All of our services are inspired and built straight from the Bible. Let's get into this week's message recorded at Life Community Church.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

You know, sometimes when you get into these times of worship, I don't know about you, but I I've and I realize, you know, it's where we're at today in culture and church and all those things. But there's times when we get into that where I'm like, I don't want to leave this right here. What I have to say isn't near as important as what God does in his presence in the lives of people. Some of the most powerful things that have happened in my life happened in just a moment of time during worship and just opening a heart before before the Lord. Saying, Here I am. I was reminded of recently, I was speaking at another church, and it was just during worship, and they were singing that song, You Can Have It All. And I found myself being reminded that those were my words 47 years ago. To the Lord, this this broken, drug-addicted, alcoholic, hippie. My idea of dressing up was a clean t-shirt. Still the jeans with the holes in them, but not too far off from today, right? But those were my words when I kneeled down, a desperate young man. Who couldn't see any further than the hand in front of my face as far as life and its meaning and I just said, here I am, I'm this mess. God, and I was a mess. I said, if you can do anything with it, I'm here I am. And so recently I was sitting on the front rows, standing on the front rows, we were doing this worship song, it says, you know, you can have it all. And 47 years later, those are still my words, you can have it all. And I think from time to time in our lives, we need to stop and truly not let it just be a saying, not let it just be a lyrics to a song, but really the cry from your heart saying, Lord, here I am, you can have it all.

Loosen Your Grip Let God Work

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Because let's be honest. Many times we're okay with giving him part, but we like to hang on. We like to hang on. And I remember the Lord speaking to me about hanging on because early on he said, My son, hold all things loosely. Because the moment you begin to hang on to something, grip it tight, two things will happen. You're on the road to losing it, and you're not giving me any space to put any more into your hand. All the things that many times that we deem so important in our lives, it really isn't that that important. There are things of importance, but I think sometimes the things that we're holding on to so much, so much, so much. In reality, really, what we're holding on to is just pride and fear. Envy. And I I don't know about the Spirit of God this morning. I'm just saying to you, loosen up a little bit. Loosen up a little bit. Because there's some things that the Lord wants to put in your hands, into your life, but you're you're hanging on to certain things so tight you can't do it. Years ago, I was working with a couple where there had been infidelity in the marriage. And the and the wife was working so hard to try to, because it was the husband that had the infidelity, and the wife was working so hard to try to try to make things work and everything. And and they came to see me one day and I got this picture. And it was like she was standing outside of this revolving door, the revolving doors, and and or or she was in these revolving doors, and she was running so fast, circuit, and I saw Jesus standing there kind of like this. He said, if you would stop and let me get involved, I can heal this. And I told her that. I said, if you will stop, because you're trying to make things happen. And the Lord said, Stop, let go, and let me get involved, and she did, and God healed that marriage. Today they're thriving with their grandparents, and amazing things happen. Some of the things that you're just so fearful of. A whole lot better. Amen. I don't know, maybe that's for somebody. I don't know. We'll see.

Character Matters More Than Image

SPEAKER_01 6:33

We're in the series of 1 Corinthians. We're going to be in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. If you want to turn there in your Bibles. Hold up your Bibles. Oh, I love that. The book. Now, I'm not against you techie people that have it on your head, but there's something about just being old-timey, right? The book. The book. I had a wise man tell me many years ago, he says, when you see someone carrying a Bible that's falling apart, their life probably isn't. And I bought this really expensive Bible years ago and it just won't fall apart. I just wanted to put that out there saying, well, your Bible looks pretty good. Did you find First Corinthians chapter four? The title to today, even though I I kind of put these words on this, because it kind of is a summation of what Paul is dealing with in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, is when character matters more than image. When character matters more than image. See, here's what Corinth was known for three things. It's wealth, its indulgence, and its immorality. Rita, it's so good to see you. I've been praying for you. Amen. Well, if we understand the context and look at it and get into it, we understand it's very relevant for today. And how we can apply this for today. Here's something I I love theology. I'm a student. I study. I study theology. I study a little bit of philosophy, enough to be dangerous. I studied quantum physics for a little bit, enough to be dangerous. Stuff like that. You read about 15 minutes of it and your head hurts so bad. It was like, wait. But here's what I've come to understand about this. We need to understand theology to the degree that it becomes realology. Meaning what? We can take it and apply it in our lives, okay? It's not just information. We're going to talk about that in a little bit. But it's actually something that transforms our life to where we can live from it. That's what this is all about. This isn't just information about God. It is, it will tell us that, but it's it's to bring us into a transformational relationship with Him, not just transactional, transformational relationship with Him. Okay. What this letter does is it helps us to stop and evaluate our lives from am I succumbing or how much am I succumbing to the gravitational pull of the character of our day? Because our culture has a character, much like what I just talked about, Corinth, one of it's all about wealth, it's all about, you know, indulgence, and it's a very immoral character culture that we live in today, right? I was thinking about our character, because I'm going to talk a lot about that today, and where our character's at and what we do and how we get to where we're at. And Hemingway's classic, The Sun Also Rises, is I love this. So one of the characters in there was asked how he went bankrupt, and his reply was this two ways. Gradually and then suddenly. The actual, the reality of it is, is that the suddenly was just the fruit of the gradual. I did this last service because my wife was here. I had a $50 bill in my pocket. And I pulled it out. I said, this $50 bill is my $50 bill. Now that my wife knows I have it, it's our $50 bill. And then suddenly it's her $50 bill. That's how it works, right? That's called gendered math. I don't understand it. It only works for one gender. It never works on the other side. Much of our life, the things that we're experiencing, that seems to be suddenly is a reality of unattended to graduals.

Gradual Drift Then Sudden Collapse

SPEAKER_01 11:58

I pastored long enough to hear these words way too many times. I don't know how my marriage got here. I don't know how my finances got here. I don't know how my business got here. I don't know how my spiritual life got here. I can tell you. It's because of the graduals and then the suddenlies. We need to be attentive to every aspect of our life. So that we don't go from suddenly to suddenly to suddenly. We'd be attentive to what we're doing every day, how we're doing it, the motives behind it, the intentions, all of those things. I've also had people tell me when they act a certain way, when they let their character begin to diminish and they act a certain way. Well, that's just my personality. No, it's not, it's your character. My personality is. No, it's not, it's your character. And you are a character, okay? So let's get into 1 Corinthians chapter 4. I'm

Stewards Of Christ Under Watch

SPEAKER_01 13:25

going to read to you verses 1 through 5, and then we'll go from here, okay? This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy, or another word, not translation would say faithful. What Paul is saying here is that if people, if you have the mark that you, or the declaration, or the proclamation that I'm a follower of Jesus, he said you're marked, and people are going to watch you, and they're going to watch how you steward what it is that you've been given and who you are as a believer. People watch you for two reasons. If you're a Christian, if you're at work or wherever you're at, and you say, I'm a believer, I'm a follower of Christ, and everything. They'll watch you for two reasons. One is they want to see you fail, so they can go say, that doesn't work. That Christianity stuff doesn't work. That's the importance of character because it's not just diminishing or blemishing our lives, it's putting a blemish on Jesus. But they'll watch you for that reason to see if it will see if it fails. The other reason they'll watch you is it's to see if it works. Because if it works for you, it might work for them. And that I think is the most important aspect of that. People seeing that this life following Jesus, it works, meaning what? We're walking with more peace in our life, we've got more joy in our life. It doesn't mean we have any less challenges than anybody, but how we handle those challenges can be completely different than how they would handle them. And they say, well, if it works for them, it might work for me. Maybe it'll work for me. For years I was like, I don't want to be a part of a churchy Christian thing. That's for grandmas and little kids, not for me. But there came a point in my life where I was so desperate that I wondered, because I was watching other people, I wonder if I could have that. And for a long time I said, I I want that. What they had. The peace that they had in their life, the joy that they had in their life, because my life was not there. It was full of turmoil and chaos and all kinds of junk. I said, I don't like. And finally one of them said to me, It's not, it's not about what we have, it's who we have. It's a who, not a what. Let's read on. Paul goes on to say, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any court. In fact, I don't even judge myself. I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not therefore acquitted. Paul says, I try to live my life through authenticity and in accordance with the will of God. I have no, I don't know of anything, but there could be some flaws that other people see. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the motives of the heart. That each one will receive his commendation from God.

Social Media Image Vs Real Life

SPEAKER_01 17:07

In a world that is so intoxicated with image, they have a social influence, and not all of it's bad. I'm not saying that. But there's this, you know, they portray one thing, but do we ever really get to know someone behind the scenes, what they were what they really lived their life like? It's what I call, it's like the wizard of Oz. Remember that when they actually, you know, the Oz was as great and mighty, and they open it up and it's just this old man behind the thing, you know. By the way, you'll notice we don't have anything up here today. Pastor Jamie told me before he left, he says, Mike, don't break anything. I come in here today, and this isn't working. And I know they're gonna blame me. I know those guys back there, they're gonna blame me. So the old man did it. We don't, I don't know what he's but you're talking about image and all this thing. And so I know this individual that's uh kind of out there on social media influencer image, and I know them well enough to know the the behind the scenes of who they are. So they're out there doing all this, you know, promoting social women, doing all this product, you know, promotion, all this stuff and everything. But here's the reality behind the scenes: they actually have a job that they get to work from home, the privilege of working for home for a large company. And they're responsible for you know salespeople calling in and then helping the salespeople with certain issues and different things and everything. But the salespeople can never get a hold of them. Why? Because they're never there, because they're out doing their social influencing deal. And I see them and I see, oh, that's see the the different things they don't know. That's during the day. That's interesting. And some of the people on their team tell me they can't get a hold of them. Ah, I might know why they can't get a hold of them. What is that? Creating this image, it's a character issue. Because they are getting compensated, they're getting compensated very well for their job. But they're not there. Why? Because they're out trying to create an image. And I'm just using that to say, how many times do we allow those kinds of just little gradual things? Is that we want to try to portray ourselves with this rather than living from a place of authenticity. Think about that. There's nothing wrong with being real, right? So if you're struggling with something. I mean, through the years, uh I came up through a church craze that, you know, if you said anything was wrong, it was like, ooh, you know. You know, you can't say that. Ooh. My arm's broken. Don't say your arm's broken. But it is. That's doubt. That's fear. No, it isn't. It's being real. Now, can I believe God to heal it? Yes. But the reality of it is, and I'm choosing that as kind of a ridiculous example to say many times that's what we do in our lives. Here's what Paul was saying when he said, moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. Faithfulness is the minimum requirement. It's not, oh, we've reached the pinnacle. No, faithfulness is where we start, being faithful to what it is that God has entrusted us with. Because the reality of it is God has entrusted this us with his reputation. I don't know about you, but I take that very serious. That my life is going to reflect the honor, integrity, and person of Jesus Christ. Am I perfect? No. Just get around me. Okay. I'm seventy-two years old. I know you don't believe that. Some of you are like, oh, I didn't know you were that young. Here's one of my biggest challenges. Can I? Be authentic with you today. Be real with you today. I'm 72 years old. You know what my biggest challenge is? I don't like anybody telling me what to do. And my wife will support that wholly. But I need people telling me what to do. And one of the things I tell the young couples I'm working with as are you know beginning to pastor and all those different things, and I'm working with is you need accountability in your life. You need people in your life that are gonna shoot straight with you. You need people in your life gonna tell you when you're being stupid. Amen? So you you all that was your opportunity right there. I have accountability people in my life.

Accountability That Protects Your Character

SPEAKER_01 22:57

I have an 85-year-old like Italian man who has mentored men for decades. And I meet with him periodically. Because in accountability, it needs to be eyeball to eyeball, not this social media or whatever. No, you need you need people that can look you in the face, that can read you. The windows, your eyes are the windows to your soul, they can look into your soul. And there's times I've been sitting with him and he would reach across the table and he would say, Michael, knock it off. Quit thinking that way. Quit talking that way. And I'm like, yes, sir. My flesh like it? No. Our flesh is not like accountability. But you know what? You know the reason that he's talking to me that way? Number one, because he loves me. And number two is because he wants you to see me finish well. He wants you to see me fulfill all it is that God has called me to do. That's why he's willing to talk to me that way. We need people like that in our lives. Somebody other than ourselves. Okay? All the men said amen. And ladies, you need someone in your life that's gonna speak truth and love with authenticity to help you be everything that God created you to be, and to help bring out of you everything that God has infused into your life. You need that's what accountability is for. What is the bottom line and what accountability is about is so that we keep our character pure and right. Today's culture worship results, an instant reward. You like fast results? Think about this. You and I over the last decade, the last ten years, I can give you an eleven second second. What am I saying? Because the data we're living in. Because we have access to so much information and knowledge. And the more uh it's out there, the less value it has within our culture. You know, it's becoming more valuable in our culture, and I will tell you in the next decade. This is just me. I believe that the one of the most sought-out commodities in the next decade will be this wisdom. Wisdom. AI can't give you wisdom. Hey, I can give you knowledge, AI can give you information, but AI can't give you wisdom because wisdom comes from applying knowledge or information, the experience that comes from wisdom. And that's what why we need each other is to just be wisdom into each other's lives. Is to help one another. I need I need your wisdom, you need my wisdom, because we have we're all at different levels and dynamics of experiencing. Again, I work with a lot of young church planters, and one of the things I tell them right up front is I will not tell you what to do. That is a responsibility of the Holy Spirit. But I can tell you what not to do because I have the scars to speak from. I tried that and it didn't work. What is it? That's wisdom. What faithfulness does is it compels us to stay. It compels us to stay. Stay

Wisdom And The Discipline Of Staying

SPEAKER_01 27:50

is the narrow, difficult road that Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter seven. He said narrow and difficult as the way that leads to life. What is it? Staying is that narrow and difficult road. Maybe it's staying when marrying it's hard. Maybe it's staying in church when it gets messy. And I'll tell you what, church can be messy. Why is that? Because we're messy people. We're messy people. When you bring a bunch of messy people together, guess what happens? You have messes. Earlier today, there's Hayden and Hayes and I were wiping off the counter in the coffee bar out there because it was dirty, sticky. And Hayes is wiping off. I said, Hayes, you know what that is? He goes, What? I said sheep droppings. Bible says you gotta love me. Why is it? Because you people things get messy, right? You know, before you were married, the house should keep the house clean, then the kids start coming along. What happened? Right? I can remember my twins. There were times I opened up their bedroom doors and just shut it. I was like, dear God, there could be things living in there. But you would never know how long it's been in there and what it is. You know, people are nothing. Maybe it's staying in friendships when it requires more effort. Maybe it's staying in prayer when it feels empty, maybe it's staying where you're at when everything in you wants to leave. Think about this. FOMO. You all know what FOMO is, fear of missing out. The fear of missing out has caused many people to miss out. I've watched that. FOMO has caused many people to miss out. So sometimes your staying isn't about you. Sometimes your staying is about somebody else. Sometimes you staying in the fray, sometimes you staying in the place isn't about you. It's about somebody, it's about others, the benefit of others. Think about this. Jesus stayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus stayed on the Via Della Rosa. Aren't you glad he stayed? Jesus stayed at Galgotha. Aren't you glad he stayed? Jesus didn't stay in the tomb. Aren't you glad he didn't stay? So let's move on. And first, I'm just going to kind of give you some overviews here. In 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 6 through 13. And reading this, that just reminds me of something. Actually, it's like read the read of Pride and Prejudice. Anybody ever read Pride and Prejudice? Jane Austen's great novel. Basically, the context of the novel is societal expectations, rigid class structures, and flawed first impressions. So societal expectations, verse 6. Paul says this, don't go beyond what is written. What is he talking about? Don't let your pride go wild. And verse 6 also he said, there will not be one, or talking about rigid class structure, he said, then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over the other, this class thing, oh, my Paul and My Apollos, all this is this class structure, it's this, you know, type of thing. He said, Don't let that happen in your lives. And then the flawed first impressions in verse 10. Paul says, We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are so strong. You are honored. Can you hear Paul's sarcasm? Can you hear that? So then verses 14 through 20. Paul says in verse 17, he says, For this reason I have sent you Timothy, my son, whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ, which agrees with what I teach everywhere and in every church. You hear what he what he was saying there? He says, Timothy will, you know, affirm to you that the way I preach and the way I live are the same thing. And then verse 20, it says this, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. I think about John 15 in that verse where he talks about Jesus, it talks about abiding, abiding, abiding. If you want to be fruitful, you've got to buy, you've got to stay in there, you've got to stay connected, right? What's interesting about that is John 13 and John 16, both of those chapters talk about what? The power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. So operating in this level of faithfulness and staying is a lot of times, most of the time, all the time, the power that we allow the Spirit of God to work in our way, the way that we allow the Spirit of God to work in our life, and the influence that we allow him to have in our lives. Not just power to do, but power to be. See, you have to invest in your character. Think about that. What am I doing to invest in my character? Because everything in you leaks, right? We're leaky people. Hope leaks, vision leaks, patience leaks, faithfulness can leak in our lives. So you have to, your character can leak. You have to invest in them daily. What you feed your soul shapes your character. Think about this. I love these words. Think about this. Listen to this. Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny. Your image can open doors, your character determines how long you're going to stay in that room. My prayer has been for years, Lord, give me character that is greater than my gifts and humility that is greater than my influence. Because it's so easy to get off on those things. A lot of times in the churches that I speak at, they'll introduce me and people will stand up and clap and hoot and holler like you guys didn't. My wife was with me one of those times, traveling, they got up and they're, oh, you know. And she leaned over to me and she goes, Don't get used to that because you're not going to get it at home. What was she trying to do? She's trying to bring me back to a reality. The real, staying real. Because if we're not careful, we can allow certain things in our life to get us to think that we're more important than what we are or something that we're not, and all those things. There was this individual, a British theologian, and ended up becoming a significant member of Parliament years ago. His name was William Wilberforce. Anyone familiar with William Wilberforce? And he was attributed to him being almost the single force behind the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Phenomenal individual, great theologian. And if you go to the North Transipt of the Westminster Abbey today, you will find a statue of him in these words attributed to him, commemorating his life. And part of what it says about him was this, and I love this. What a renown. Someone who became such an influence on the character of the culture of the British Empire. And when I read that some time ago, I thought, Lord, how he was just a man, right? One individual who is attributed to fixing the character of an empire. How much, how much could God do with us? We want to complain a lot about our culture, right? The things that are, but what are we doing to fixing the culture of our character? You say, well, how can I do that? By beginning to influence the culture that's around you with your character, with what people see, what people hear from you. That's how you and I become a force like William Wilberforce to fix the culture of our time. Last scripture comes from Titus chapter 2, verse 7. It says this above all, set yourselves apart as a model of a life nobly lived. With dignity, demonstrate integrity and all that you teach. And the greatest way that we teach is not with our words, it's with our lives. Live your life with no gaps. Let there be no gaps in your character. Determined to live a no-gap life when it comes to your character. I remember a number of years ago I was in London, and when I the first time I went to use the tube, if you any have been there, that's a subway. They call it the tube. And I went to get on the tube, and the tube pulls up, the subway pulls up, and the doors open, and you hear this voice. It says, Mind the gaps. Mind the gap. What are they talking about? There's a little bit of gap between the platform and the train car. And mine the gap. Mind the gap. And I've never forgot about that. I thought that's a great life lesson. Mine the gaps. Be attentive to make sure there are no character gaps in your life. None of us are perfect. Okay? We're gonna make mistakes,

Mind The Gaps Leave A Legacy

SPEAKER_01 40:15

but don't let your mistakes become your excuses for not minding the gaps. Won't you stand with me this morning? Don't let your character legacy just be written about you when you die. Let it be read, let it be experienced every day. A couple of weeks ago, I was driving over to the office. And I've I'd been, I'd right before that, I'd been out speaking everything, and I'd been approached about writing a book. I've had a number of people approach me about writing a book. And I'm like, write a book? Why would I want to write, you know, knowledge and last days knowledge will increase, says Daniel. Why would I want to write a book? Why would I want to write a book? And so I'm thinking about this: write a book, write a room, write a book. And I felt like the Lord spoke to me while I was driving down Interstate 270 in my four-wheel drive truck. Drinking a Starbucks coffee, don't hold that against me. I felt like the Lord said this. Instead of being focused on writing a book, he said, I want you to be focused on living your life in such a way that others will write about you in their books. I was like, oh, we took this to a whole other level. And that impacted me. Because it tied in with something the Lord spoke to me back in January. When I asked, I said, What do you want me to focus on personally for me this year? A lot of times I'm praying, what do you want me to speak to the churches? I go, I said, What do you want me to focus on for me? What do I need? And he goes, I want you to focus on this year, investing in your character. I thought, oh, there's something there. Right away, I went, oh Lord, what have I done? But what it was is he was in, he was this with this message is your character can leak. It can be gradually, gradually, and then suddenly. But he said, make sure you're focused. Make sure you're focused on your character more than anything else. See, I want to leave an imprint on the lives of my family, on the lives of my wife, my kids, my grandkids, and now my great-grandkids. I want to leave an imprint on their lives. I thought about this too this week. How many generations will it take before they quit talking about me and my family? It's determined by the imprint or the influence that I have from my character. They'll remember my character. Probably some of my antics. But how many generations will it take before they quit talking about us? Some thoughts for you today. Because I want my great great grandkids talking about the great-great-great-grandpa. Not that he was a preacher, not that he was, but he was a man of integrity. Amen. As we go back to Paul said we're to be stewards of something that's so valuable in our lives, because this is it. So Lord, I pray. I pray that we hold precious and valuable to the things that can that we can take years to build, but be can be gone in such a moment. But I thank you that you're a God of grace, you're a God of restoration, you're the God that makes all things new. And I pray for those in this room that maybe they're struggling with some things about their own self-image, about their own life. I did that for years because I knew what a dirty rotten scoundrel I was. But your love broke through. The reality of your forgiveness broke through. The hearing of you calling me son broke through. That's the kind of breakthroughs I'm praying. The people within the sound of my voice today experience today, this week, next week, the months, the years to come in Jesus' name.

unknown 46:18

Amen.