Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Monday June 29, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Good morning and happy Monday to everybody. Today is June twenty-ninth, twenty twenty-six. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. But if you're watching this, you already know that. The ⁓ the message of the day is is faithfulness before greatness. And the ⁓ the word comes from the apostle ⁓ the gospel of Luke, chapter sixteen, verses ten through twelve. And it says, Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little Will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy and handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? Today's world tells us all to dream big, and Jesus is simply telling us to be faithful in the small things. Those are not competing nor conflicting ideas, but they are often pursued in the wrong order. In the Gospel of Luke here, Jesus has given us a principle that cuts against almost everything our culture celebrates. He says, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. Notice where Jesus starts here. He's not starting with influence. He's not starting with wealth or power. He's not starting with success. He's starting with trustworthiness or otherwise faithfulness. And that's because God is not impressed with what we can accomplish. God is looking more towards who we become while we accomplish those things. We live in a culture that pushes us and is obsessed with the next level. It's always the next level. We want a bigger house, a bigger paycheck, a bigger platform, more followers, more recognition. And Jesus is just boiling it down and asking us a simple question. All right, that's great. What are you doing with what I've already blessed you with? I think that's a question we we all should be wrestling with because if we're not faithful with today's opportunity, why would we expect God to entrust us with an opportunity tomorrow? You know, sometimes we pray for more responsibility to be given to us, all while neglecting the responsibilities that are sitting right in front of us. You know, we ask God to expand our influence, and God's just asking us to be faithful in serving our families and friends. We ask for greater opportunities. And God is asking us to honor him and the opportunities he's already blessed us with. We ask for a bigger platform. He asks us, Are you speaking truth on the platform I've given you? That's the that's the rhythm of the kingdom of God. Faithfulness precedes fruitfulness. And then Jesus goes even deeper. He says, If we are faithful with worldly wealth, if we're not faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust us with true riches? In other words, money, worldly wealth, these things, it's a test. Not the prize. The question isn't simply how much you have. The question is how faithfully have you stewarded what you've been entrusted with. And that principle extends far beyond business or finances and money. It's how are you stewarding your time, your marriage, your children, your friendship, your talents and abilities, your influence, your opportunities. Every one of those is a gift that has been entrusted to you for a reason. Finally, Jesus asks us if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another. Who will give you what is your own? You know, our our culture teaches entitlement. And it's just getting worse day by day. Scripture teaches stewardship. Before God calls us to lead, he usually calls us to serve. And nobody wants to hear that or do that part. You know, before he calls us to oversee much, he often watches how we care for the little things. And that's true whether it's business or Parenting or ministry or in really any arena of life, you could apply that. How you care for the little things, it's absolutely going to reflect what you're what you're blessed with for big things. So maybe today's challenge isn't to ask God for more. And I know we all do. Maybe today's challenge should be asking yourself, am I being faithful and stewarding the things that God's already blessed me with? Because one day we're not going to stand before God and answer for someone else's opportunities or missed chances. We're going to answer for our own. And the words we're all looking to hear when we arrive at those pearly gates is well done, good and faithful servant. But the to achieve those words, the work begins long before the big moments start popping up. To to achieve that status, to achieve those words and hear those words. I mean that begins in every quiet decision you make when you're alone. It begins in the unseen acts of honor and integrity and just doing the right thing when nobody's looking, and you even know you can get away with doing the wrong thing. It bel it it begins with just an ordinary Monday or Tuesday of just doing the things God's called you to do. It begins with responsibilities that no one else even notices. Faithfulness is rarely glamorous. But throughout scriptures, we are constantly reminded that faithfulness is absolutely one of the qualities that God is looking for and values most. So don't despise the small assignments. Don't overlook an ordinary day. Be faithful where you are. And trust God with what He's going to give you next. 68 days till UGA football, and that's a big deal for some of us around here. ⁓ as I was scrolling through the roster, sticking with our our daily theme here, there is ⁓ there is no 68 on the current roster, so we had to go into the rear view mirror to find one. And as I was scrolling through the historical 68, a name popped up and put a smile on my face. It's ⁓ McCris Burnett, offensive lineman number 68 from the over in the West Georgia, Columbus, Lagrange area. And if you don't know, ⁓ let me assure you something. They they take high school football very seriously over there. ⁓ Chris was a multi year starter on the offensive line in Athens. I believe he was an academic, all American guy. ⁓ just a supreme example of a student athlete, never got in any trouble, just a just a good representative throughout his entire time at Athens. ⁓ went on to, I think, sign with the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent after the draft, never really gained any traction or hung on. No idea what big Chris Burnett's up to now, but ⁓ if you're out there, Chris, you are and always will be a damn good dog in my Well we've ⁓ we we've started here getting into a little bit of current event stuff and and discussing some some topics that are that are being bandied about in society and and we're gonna get to one today that's that you can't go out in public without hearing about it, and that's that's the immigration issue. You know, I I think the idea that the the way I wanna package this and want to frame this is, you know, can we have the the talks? Can we have the needed discussions about immigration and how it should be handled? without losing our minds and more importantly, without losing our soul. The the Supreme Court has has recently sided with with President Trump administration on on a couple of immigration policies, ⁓ including one to end the temporary protective status for for certain certain groups of Haitians and Syrians who've been here for you know a decade or so. ⁓ and and so they're they're restrictive reviving a restrictive border metering policy that that is intended to limit the asylum access. ⁓ you know, Reuters goes to describe this as, you know, the court is largely accommodating Trump's restrictive immigration agenda, and critics are warning that this ruling could expose vulnerable migrants to deportation or danger. Well, I'm sorry, but if you're here illegally, deportation is something you should be exposed to. Quite simply, a a nation has every right to protect its borders and control the coming and going of people in in its systems. But as Christians, we've got to make sure that we don't harden our hearts in the process of trying to fight for those rights and to to demand the border security and immigration policies be what they should be. We can't be hard, we can't be cold, we can't be callous. You can be for strong borders, you can absolutely support a strict vetting process, you can be for deporting people who are here illegally, and certainly for deporting people who are here illegally and and are criminals. No question, you can be for all those things. You can be against the chaos that we saw at the border for four years under the Biden administration. But none of that requires mocking the desperate people who are trying to get here. It doesn't require dehumanizing families or pretending that in some way God doesn't care how we treat these people because they're not like us. That's simply my case. They are born and made in the image of God, and we need to treat them as such, even if they don't belong here and can't be here. Leviticus chapter 19 ⁓ 33 34 tells us when a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall love him as yourself. That's God telling us how to treat people when they're when they're here or when they are somewhere other than where they they call home. But there's other side of that comes from the book of Romans, chapter thirteen, one through five let everyone be subject to governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God's servant for your good, but if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoers. Therefore, if it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment, but because of a matter of conscience. I mean this is this passage is bandied around all the time, but this to me this is clearly recognizing the need for law and order and for institutions to establish and enforce those systems to maintain said law and order. It's biblical. Immigration is is one of those issues where everybody wants to win the argument. And that's not just immigration. This is everything. This applies across the board. But not everybody wants to keep their soul while winning the argument. People these days have become so just addicted to winning the argument that they'll lie, cheat, and steal to win it. And let me tell you something. If you are having to present lies to win the argument, you're not winning an argument. The art of winning an argument is to sway another person's opinion on said argument. If you have to lie to sway them, you're not really swaying them to your opinion. You're just telling them, you're getting them to agree with something that's not even true if they do agree at all. So you have to say, look, the left in this case wants to wants compassion without order. And us on the right, sometimes I guess we get a little guilty of wanting order and lose the compassion. Scripture is is calling us here. Scripture says Don't be sloppy in either direction. Both are important. Order and compassion are both necessary for a functioning society. As we break it down and we we get to our three points like we always do. Point number one, first and foremost, borders are not unchristian. A country has not only a right but a responsibility to protect its citizens. A country that has lost control of entry, cannot enforce laws and do things like we were for four years. is not protecting citizens from anything. Therefore, it's this is you know this is not a case of hatred. I I can only speak for myself. I don't hate anyone who's trying to get here for for whatever reasons they're trying to come. But it is our responsibility and is the government's responsibility to steward what we have here. Cruelty is not courage. Some people talk about immigrants like they're insects, and that is not what we're called to do. They are they are i it they're not trash. You know, this is this is not a biblical form of masculinity to to behave this way. And it's not patriotism. It's just it's a deadened conscience and and forgetting the fact that no matter what somebody's going through, they are still a child of God. The real failure here is is in the leadership. Ordinary Americans, people like us, are are being forced into a false choice of either accept chaos or accept cruelty. And this is what happens when the folks in charge refuse to build a system that is both lawful and humane, secure and serious. And that's what we need. I don't believe compassion means letting everybody in, but I also don't believe conservative conservatism means looking at suffering people and not caring what's going on and not trying to help. We can secure the border without losing humanity. We can enforce the laws without enjoying and taking Solace in the pain of others. And we can love our country without forgetting that every person at that border was also made in the image of God. The question isn't whether or not America should have a border. Of course it should. The question is whether we can defend that border while still remembering who we are before God. If we win the policy argument, but we lose our compassion completely, we may secure the country, but we may have damaged the soul of it in the process. That's it for today, guys. As always, get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.