When Winning The Argument Costs The Mission | 1 Corinthians | Week 8 | Jamey Bridges

What if the biggest threat to our witness isn’t what the world says about Jesus, but what they watch us do to each other? We start with a simple image: a shirt you’d wear to mow the lawn versus a jersey you’d never treat casually because it represents a name, a team, a homeland. That’s Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 6. If we carry Christ’s name, then our conflict, our speech, and our choices become a public statement about Him. 

We wrestle with why believers were suing each other over “small” disputes, and why Paul calls that a defeat even if you “win.” The deeper issue is identity and mission: we can be right and still lose credibility. From there, we talk about church as family, not a store you review and replace, and we push into the hard, practical work of reconciliation. Sometimes the most Christlike move is laying down pride, stopping the side conversations, and making the call that rebuilds trust. 

Then the question sharpens: Jesus as Savior feels comforting, but have we made Him Lord? We explore selective surrender, the tension of grace and truth, and Paul’s countercultural wisdom on freedom, temptation, and sexual integrity. We end with the hope-filled center of the gospel: you are cleansed, you are made new, and the Holy Spirit lives in you, empowering a different way to live. If this message helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us what reconciliation step you’re taking next.

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Transcript

Welcome And Opening Prayer

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_02 0:16

Jesus, we thank you for this day. God help us. Help us to see what you're doing, not us, you. And God, we lean into you. We lean in what you're saying to the church at Corinth. God, we know that we cannot do this on our own. God, we need you. And so, Lord, we're asking that you would do some amazing things in people's lives. To the person that is lost in this place, God, you can find them. To the person that's hurting today, God, your healer. You are healer today. To the person that is struggling today, God, you are their source. God, more than anything else, I pray that every single one of us would walk out of this place knowing that a price has been paid and you paid the price for us. You laid down your life. I pray that we would walk out of here going, God, I've been through a lot, but I know you love me. I know you love me. God, that is my prayer today in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Jersey You Wear Every Day

SPEAKER_02 1:19

So this shirt right here is not special. I sleep in it. I've done some yard work in it. There's zero value. Don't know even remember when I got it. I'm sure my wife threw it at me. You know, uh one Christmas when we're getting matching pajamas, and we had the boys had the bottoms, and I got this for a top. Nothing special about it. Nothing special. If I lost this shirt today, I'm not losing sleep over it. There's zero value in this shirt. Okay, zero. However, there's another shirt. This one is different. This one is different. This shirt I don't sleep in. I don't cut grass in. If I did my own oil changing, I wouldn't do it in this. Okay, this one is different. It represents something different. Not because it's magical, but because it represents something bigger than me. It carries the name of a team. It represents the country that I love and the country that I live in. It represents people, it represents the sport that I love. The sport that I've given a lot to. It represents that. And Paul spends all of 1 Corinthians, all of chapter 6, reminding the Corinthians that you represent Christ. When Christians take another to court, you're wearing his jersey. When Christians compromise sexually, you're wearing his jersey. When Christians make selfish decisions, you're wearing his jersey. Everything we do says something about the name that we carry. This is the reason why Peter says your speech and your conduct reflect your homelands. There's never been a time in the United States where there's been more people that live somewhere else have come to the United States. And I know you uh American football people hate to hear this. It is the world's number one sport. And they're here. And when they speak, you know where they're from. You know the country they represent. What Peter is saying in 1 Peter is your speech reflects who you represent. So what Paul is saying to the Corinthian church is when you speak, when you have conduct, is it reflecting me? He's again talking to Christians because he's saying this gathering right here is a safe place. It's a safe place just like it was two weeks ago on June 12, 2026. One of the most special sports days I've ever had in my life. And as I'm walking in with people wearing a bunch of these, hugging people that I've never met in my life. Not patting them either. It's like we hung on.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Not politics, not what's going on in the world. One goal. Unity.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Representation. Paul is talking to a church and he's inviting them in, saying, Hey, as a follower of Jesus, I'm asking you to represent him well everywhere that you go. Not just in this moment, he's saying, guys, you you've separated how you act with what you say you believe. Stop that. Don't do that. Yes, this is a safe place, but at some point you're gonna leave here. You're gonna leave and you're gonna represent what jersey are you wearing? That's the question. What are you wearing

Why Christians Fight In Court

SPEAKER_02 5:20

and how are you representing? And then he says this. Verse 1. Verse 1 says this. When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers? Don't you realize that someday the believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can't you decide even the little things among yourselves? Don't you realize that you'll judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go out to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I'm saying this to shame you. Isn't there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? But instead, one believer sues another right in front of unbelievers. This is perhaps two of the verses that again shocks not just them but us. Even have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers. His concern is not simply legal action. His concern was the church was destroying its witness. We often win arguments, but we lose credibility. What Paul is saying is when followers of Jesus treat one another like enemies instead of family, we damage the witness way more than we realize. Imagine you invite neighbors over to your house, and as you're eating dinner, your two kids just go at it. I mean, straight up fight. This happened with our boys one time in actually the sensory room when it was the soccer room, when it was the game room back in the day. My boys, three and a half years apart, they went at it. Imagine this happens. Man, they're going at it. Do you think your neighbors leave and go, what a great family? Do you think they're talking about dinner? I don't care if you catered it. I don't care if it's the best steak in the world. They're talking about the fact that your kids went at it. And it destroys the witness of your family. What Paul is addressing is listen, this is the picture I want to paint. The church wasn't just disagreeing, they were dragging each other before. And if you do some research, it is stupid things. These are not major things, these are small disputes, and he's addressing something different. Believers who are unwilling to love, unwilling to forgive, unwilling to resolve conflict as the family of God are in trouble. And this is the question for us. When the world watches us disagree, do they see Jesus or just another angry culture? What do they see? See, in chapter five, Paul confronts something publicly, unrepentant sin, things that were happening inside the church. In chapter six, the Corinthians were more influenced by Roman culture than by the kingdom of God. This is what he's addressing. He's saying, listen, you care about protecting yourself, you care about winning at all costs, you care about fighting for your rights, which he really gets in that in the next couple of chapters. You care about canceling anyone that hurts you. You care about never admitting your wrong. Sound familiar? This is the culture we live in. And Jesus is saying something basically different. He's saying, listen, the church is a family, not just some organization. You're a family. His concern isn't, again, legal proceedings, his concern is identity. How people view the church. You don't take family problems to strangers, is what he's saying. You don't do any of that. I think a lot of people treat church like Costco. Or Target or Sams, whoever it is that you go. If I don't like something, I'm gonna complain, I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna post about it, and I'm gonna find another place. That's what Paul is saying. And what Paul reminds us is this isn't a business, this is family. And families have conflict. Healthy families have reconciliation. It's not a question of if we have a conflict, it's a question of when. It's like if I say to you right now, has there ever been a moment when from this stage I've said something that offended you? No show of hands. Has there ever been a moment that you sat with your husband and he said something and it just hit you the wrong way? Your kids say something. You're you're like we had a bunch of

Winning Arguments While Losing Credibility

SPEAKER_02 10:40

kids at our house not too long ago, and one of them called me fat. It was awesome. Nothing like the honesty of like a 10-year-old or whatever. And you're like, okay, that hurt a little bit. What do I do with that hurt? This is the question. The question is, what do we do when somebody says something that we have to reconcile? We have to do something with it. I gotta talk through it, I gotta, I gotta walk through it, I gotta, I gotta wrestle with whatever happened. Because sweeping it under the rug or pretending that everything's okay just carries over into all the other relationships that you have. And here's the worst part. The worst part is when we believe whatever has been said. When we believe it and we take it as truth or facts and we run with it, and now what is this? This is now identity issues. This is what Paul's addressing. Your identity, who what you're known as? They're not even talking about the great things that are happening, they're talking about how much you're suing one another. How much you have disputes, and not just disputes, you're taking them to people who don't believe like you. That's why he's saying, is there not someone among you that can mediate these situations? Is there not someone that you can talk through? Do people know us more for what we're against or for how we love each other? It's ultimately what John 13 is saying. The world will know that you're my disciples by the way you love. Do they know that? Because this is the training ground. If you can't love and do life with people in here with similar jerseys on, you'll never be able to do it at work. You'll never be able to do it at school. If you can't learn how to reconcile and figure out life in this space, then we're doing it all wrong. We're no different from any other organization, any other corporation, any other nonprofit, and he's saying the church is called to be different. Because here's ultimately what's happening. They were winning the argument, but they were losing the mission. I think we focus so much on being right that we lose the mission.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Yeah, you can you can speak truthful things, but at what cost?

SPEAKER_02 13:03

What cost? Again, everybody, nobody's remembering everything you say. They're not remembering everything you say, but they'll always remember how you made them feel. Always. And this is what Paul is saying. Instead of working toward reconciliation, they wanted victory. They wanted to win. They celebrated winners, Jesus celebrates peacemakers. Peter said, if at all possible with you, live at peace with everyone. It's very countercultural. I think sometimes we're so focused on being right that we forget our mission is to make Christ known. And this is what he's talking about. Again, up until this point, it's been about 40 to 50 years, and the gospel has spread across Roman culture because Christians loved each other differently. Like that's why it was spreading. It was spreading because they were doing things different. Now Paul is seeing some things that they've fallen back into, and because of that, he's willing to address it. This changed the world because they displayed a different kingdom. Sometimes losing is actually winning. Make that make sense. Paul says in verse 7, why not just accept the injustice? Leave it at that. Why not let yourselves be cheated? That statement alone sounds outrageous in our culture because we've been taught to defend every right. Am I more concerned about being right than representing Christ? I'll throw another one at you. When we leave this place and conversation is happening in your car, you're gonna say, What'd you think about service? Man, I could, I wish. I wish I could be in your car.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

That first song that really didn't do anything for me. That light kind of hit me in the eye. And I don't know, it was kind of hot in there. Sound had a little ring to it. I don't know. Just I just didn't uh it just didn't do anything for me. I could only imagine what my eyes will see.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Changed the question. What did God think about today? What did God think about today? See, when I when I leave this place, hear me. This is learned. This is learned what I'm about to say to you. When I leave this place, it's not how well did I do. It's God where you glorify me. God, did you change people? My job, your job is not to change people. When we mix up that role, we mess things up. If it was up to us to change people, so you hear people say, like, well, I didn't want to say anything because I I too am struggling in an area. Well, ultimately, what we're saying is I've also not given up an area to Christ because this isn't about am I following Jesus? It's about am I making him Lord? This is what Paul is addressing. Am I making Jesus Lord? Am I surrendering every part of my life or just the parts that I'm comfortable with? Just the parts I made a mess of. It's easy to surrender your addiction when your addiction has cost you so much. Well, now I'm in jail and now I gotta pay this money. Lord, here I am.

Reconciliation Over Rights And Preferences

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Would you take it? And he's like, Well, if you would have asked me before, you probably would not have been in jail. So stop surrendering the things that you're comfortable with surrendering, or trendy and surrendering. Surrender everything. The question isn't, am I forgiven? The question is, Jesus Lord of your life. Then everything's off the table. Everything, my money, my time, my plans, my future. Is he Lord of that? Or am I selecting and choosing what I give him to? Outside of that, Lord, I think I got this taken care of. This is what's happening. They're giving him everything, their wealth, their power, but sexually they're doing some messed up stuff. That we found out last week. He said, Well, even pagans aren't doing what you guys are doing. Why are you not surrendering that? And now we got all these problems. Have you ever thought that maybe the problems we have or are experiencing or the consequences of our disobedience? Oh, you can't say that, Pastor, you can't say that. People are gonna feel bad. Did Paul not just say, shame on you? I've heard people say, like, oh, don't carry shame into it. Shame has to play a role. It has to play a role. If you don't feel ashamed of something, you're gonna keep doing it. Oh, I'd be oh gosh. I gotta keep this. Well, I already tell you it's gonna be you're gonna be here for a second. David said this. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. They are mighty who would betray who would destroy me. Being my enemies wrongfully, though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. David is saying, I'm more concerned about reconciliation and the unity of the church than I'm willing to say, I've not done anything wrong here, but I'm gonna own it like I did. What Paul is saying is, why not just let the injustice happen? Why not just let yourself be cheated? For what? For the sake of the gospel being spread. For the sake of there might be a day where someone comes back and says, Do you remember two years ago, three years ago, five years ago, when when I you allowed this to happen? And here's what I learned. I learned that you surrendered your pride and allowed me to be right in this moment to what? To live at peace with everyone. I'm not asking you to be a coward. I'm not asking you to not stand up. But can we understand that the Lord says I'm your defender? The Lord says you don't have to make a big deal about everything, you don't have to go to everybody and talk about the injustice that is happening, which is what we do. I'm gonna come to you so that I feel better about me and I get you on my side so now we can team up with them. And don't pretend for a moment everybody else is doing it and not you. That's 99% of our posts on social media is about us. It's about us. Look at this, look at that. You rarely put up the mistake. I mean, this is, and then we live life this way. We live life in the way of going like this is how great it is. And you're like, it's it's not actually great, but I can't say that out loud because I want you to understand that I'm a good Christian. And Paul's going, you guys are missing the mark. It's all about your rights. You know what we should be known for? We should be the best at reconciliation. Oh, crickets. The whole message of Jesus is that he reconciled us to himself, and then we pretend like reconciliation isn't part of being a follower of Jesus. Am I am I making I mean, who have you written off? Who have you avoided? Where have you chosen being right over being reconciled? I don't think you need to leave here and start a Bible plan. I think you need to leave here and call somebody. I think you need to leave here and apologize. We might need to leave here and say, hey, listen, do you remember three years ago when I said this off-color comment and you got mad at me? The Lord reminded me of that today, and I want you to know I'm sorry for it. Now tell me, if you think that that person will think differently of Christianity than before you called them. So am I, am I known for reconciliation? Are we known for being a reconciling church? Or have we justified being right and

Lordship Means Surrendering Everything

SPEAKER_02 24:47

How are we gonna treat them? We're gonna be mad that they laugh. We're gonna welcome them with open arms. One thing I say to every person that comes in and says, Jamie, I feel like we're supposed to go to another church. Jamie, I feel like we're supposed to move. My first statement is God bless you. Can we pray for you as a church? Can I bring you on stage and in front of all the people say this couple right here would like to go to another church? We want to bless them. We want to send them. I want to make sure. How many times? I don't care how long you've been here. How many times have you seen that happen? A few. He's been here for a long time. A few. You know why? Because forgiveness and reconciliation aren't on our minds. It's on being right. It's on my preference. This is what Paul is addressing, you guys. Paul's saying, in a culture that is desperate for authenticity, in a culture that wants something real, will we be the church that gives it to him? Are we going to keep pretending by smiling and not answering the how you doing question? Are we going to keep pretending? This is what Paul is saying. Are we known for this? And then Paul says, stop redefining what God has already defined. He says this in verse 9. He says, Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin or worship idols or commit adultery or are male prostitutes or practice homosexuality or are thieves or greedy people or drunkards or are abusive or cheap people. None of these will inherit the kingdom of God. One of the strongest passages in all of the New Testament. Paul lists lifestyles inconsistent with the kingdom. And he lists many of them. Not one. He says, greed, drunkenness, sexual sin, adultery, theft, slander, or swindling. He's saying all this because the issue is not one category of people. He's talking to sinners of which we all are. He's not singling out, he's putting us all in the same pool. He's saying all of us are like this. All of us are sinners. If this ever becomes about us and them in the same building, we've missed it. We've missed it. In this room, it's not us and them, it is we. We are all sinners. We all fall short. Don't judge someone differently because they sin differently than you do. Now, with that said, are there different consequences of sin? Absolutely. Absolutely. But what he's addressing. And then this is the greatest verse in scripture, in my opinion. Verse 12 or verse 11. Some of you were once like that, but you were cleansed. You were made holy. You were made right with God by calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. The church should never celebrate sin, but we should never forget it. Grace. We should never forget grace. Truth without grace is cruelty. Grace without truth becomes compromise. Jesus offers both. And then in verse 12, he says, freedom that you now have, this isn't permission. You say I'm allowed to do anything, but not everything is good for you. And even though I am allowed to do anything, I must not become a slave to anything. He's saying, You're saying I have the right. Paul answers, but not everything is beneficial. We ask, as American Christians, we ask, can I? Paul says, Should I? We're saying things like, Can I spend

Grace And Truth For Every Sinner

SPEAKER_02 28:55

more energy finding loopholes to holiness? What he's technically saying is, will this help me become more like Jesus? Is what I'm experiencing, is what I'm spending my energy. Is it helping me become more like Jesus? Who is what? A reconciler. One who forgives, one who extends grace, one who offers peace, one who keeps his mouth shut when he needs his keep his mouth shut. I've always heard people say, like, takes a lot of courage to speak up. It takes the same courage to shut up. The question is, am I discerning when? Am I discerning when? Let me ask this. Because I think this is important to know. Verse 18, he says a couple things. He says, run from sexual sin. He doesn't say manage sexual sin. He doesn't say be careful around it. He doesn't say set boundaries with it. He says run. Okay, that's noted. Right? Just like a pilot doesn't say how close can I fly to the mountain? Loose. Does a pilot say how close can I get to the mountain? No. He asks, How much margin is going to keep everyone alive? This is what Paul is saying. Run from sexual sin. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price, so you must honor God with your body. This passage is one of the clearest and most countercultural teaching in all of Scripture. In Paul's day, the city of Corinth normalized sexual immorality in many ways. The American church is facing a similar challenge today. Culture says, follow your desires, and Jesus still says, uh-uh, follow me. Follow me. Follow me. Why? Because sexual sin has unique consequences. See, I think the American church often asks, how close can I get without crossing the line? What's technically a sin? Paul asks a different question. Why would you stay anywhere near something that could destroy your intimacy with God? Why would you risk the jersey that you represent by

Run From Sexual Sin With Margin

SPEAKER_02 31:45

showing someone something different than the real Jesus? Why would I risk that? I think for most of us, we spend more energy defending temptation than we do fleeing temptation. We defend it. We live in a culture that says, My body, my choice, do whatever makes you happy. Your identity comes from your desires. And Paul says, counterculture, you do not belong to yourself. You're not the owner, you're the steward. This is not yours, this is his because he's the creator. I didn't make any of this, I didn't create anything. I'm not the maker. He is. He is. My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Not my help, his help. Again, the question today is Lordship. You've made Jesus your Savior. No doubt. This is what Paul's addressing. He saved you. No doubt. You've called him Savior. It sounds good, feels good. God, would you forgive me my sins? Would you wash me clean? It's not what he's questioning. He's questioning, have you made him Lord? I give you my money. I give you my time. I give you my marriage. I give you my kids. I surrender it all to you. It's yours. What have we not surrendered to him? And ultimately, here's what he's saying. And this changes everything. The Holy Spirit lives in you. This is the game changer. He says, listen, the Old Testament, you had to go to the temple, it represented God's presence. Now you are the temple. You are the place that he dwells. Paul is asking, would you invite him into what you're watching, into what you're eating, into what you're drinking, into what you're texting, into what you're saying? Are you inviting him into it? And this isn't about legalism. This is about a living aware that God is with us. Why? Because he says, I bought you with a high price. The price was the cross. The gospel motivation isn't behave because God is angry. It's live differently because Jesus loved you enough to die for you. And because of that, his spirit now lives inside of you. Which what causes us to live different. That's his point. This is what the Holy Spirit produces, Paul says to the Galatian church: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentle, faith, self-control. He says, This is what the Holy Spirit produces, but when I follow my own desires, this is what it produces. When he's Lord, I'm submitting, I'm surrendering. And this is what Paul is addressing, you guys. Paul's addressing, what have you not surrendered? And he brings it back, guys. You know this because you once were like that. Not anymore. He's addressing the people in the room who have said, like, yeah, I remember. I remember what it was like. I remember how hard it was. He's addressing the people who are excited by the fact that they once were lost, but now they're found. He's addressing the people in the room to have the joy of the Lord, not because of what they've done, but because of what he's done. He's addressing you know that there was probably at least three times that I cried wearing this jersey at that game. I'm okay to admit it. I looked over at my sons and got to experience that with them. One of my good friends, I got to experience that with them. I got to see the team, the country that I I love this country. I'm not a Christian nationalist. I'm a Christian who loves his nation. If you want to call me a nationalist, then call it me. I love where I live. I'm not knocking it, I'm not downplaying it. I believe it's the greatest country in the world. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay with saying that. It doesn't mean it means we align politically. None of that matters. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about for me that day, there were moments where I broke down because of what I was experiencing, what I was experiencing with myself,

The Spirit In You Changes Living

SPEAKER_02 36:25

what I was experiencing with my daughters, with my wife, with my friends. I'm I'm emotional about it because it was that. Just like when you're here. And a word is said and it breaks something. And you go, Man, I can't do this on my own. I need to forgive. I am holding back something. I am struggling. Because if we can't look across this room and go, man, I got ought against that guy, I gotta fix this. You're never gonna fix the ought that you have with your coworker, with your mom, with your brother or sister. If we can't do this here, we'll never do it anywhere else. And this is what Paul is addressing. He's saying, we represent Christ where we go. Stop pretending that you can be this over here and be this over here. Marry them, marry them, bring grace and truth together and live different everywhere you go. Everywhere you go. If you're in this room right now, one thing I would love to do is if you're here, number one, know this. You may not believe this yet, but know this. If you're here, we want you to be family. And I say that because I don't want anybody that carries something in here to leave with that same weight. I want you to be able to come in here and say, I can I'm free to be honest and to lay it down. So if you're in this room right now and you go, listen, I'm carrying something that is heavy, that is bigger than me, it's a struggle, and I've not given that to the Lord. I've not surrendered that to the Lord. I've tried to fix it, it's not worked. I need to surrender this. I need him to be Lord over blank, and I don't know what blank is. I don't know what it is, I don't know what you're going through, but here's what I do know: there's a God that loves you, there's a God that's for you and not against you, there's a God that wants to walk with you. Psalm 23 tells us this. He wants to walk with you, so I can't promise you whatever it is that you're facing, it poof goes away. But I can promise you there's a God that's gonna walk with you, no matter what it is. And listen

A Moment To Lay It Down

SPEAKER_02 38:55

to me. Maybe it's not about that going away, maybe it's about you surrendering it to the Lord. So if you're in this room and you would say, Listen, I need that today, I'm gonna ask you to stand your feet right now. I'm just asking you to stand. Simple. Just stand. Again, this isn't a moment about finding out what it is, it's just you're saying today I'm surrendering this place of my life that I've yet to surrender. Casey, go ahead. I just want Casey to sing this over you.