Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Tuesday June 23, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey, good morning, everybody. It's me, Greg Miller. I'm your host of Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. And today is Tuesday, June 23rd. The topic of the day, the theme of the day is don't trade what matters most for what matters now. The scripture comes from the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 16 and 17. See that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau. Who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. ⁓ yeah, choices have consequences. Who knew? It it's a it's quite a sobering story here. You know, Esau obviously Esau wasn't an evil person, he he wasn't a murderer, he wasn't any type of villain. He made a bad decision and he traded something eternal for something immediate. He traded his birthright for a bowl of stew. And it's easy to say, ⁓ I would never do that. I'm better than that. I'm smarter than that. And truth be told, we probably are, if it was framed like that. It's kind of a hyperbolic story, but I don't I don't think any of us would rightfully trade our inheritance for lunch. ⁓ but on a smaller scale, we do it all the time. Yeah, we it's kind of a consistent theme. We've talked about ⁓ you know in several several episodes where you know people don't people don't ruin their lives. People don't end up down a terrible path usually because of one giant awful decision. Usually people that end up in a really bad situation, they ended up there through a series of of trade-offs. ⁓ you know, it's trading character for convenience, ⁓ trading truth for popularity, trading family for career. Trading convictions for comfort. It's it's simply trading long-term purpose for short-term pleasure or short-term peace. The the question that I would encourage all of us to ask is, what are you trading away right now? Every trade feels reasonable in the moment, and and to some degree that's what makes it dangerous. You know, Esau wasn't thinking about his future. He was thinking about lunch, a bin there. You know, it's It's as a father, it's it's missing one of your child's events, and then another, and then another. It's as a husband, you know, putting off having a conversation with your wife, and then another conversation, and then another. And and and one day you are going to come to realize that that those trade-offs weren't to your advantage. They they seemed like it in the moment, it was comfortable, it was peaceful, it was easy, but it didn't work out because you needed to do what you needed to do. You know, I I've I have railed against internet and social media and I and I know it just sound like a grumpy old man, but you know, it it's true. We have we have all become so addicted to the immediate, instant gratification, i instant outrage, good or bad, we want it quick, ⁓ immediate success. Nobody wants to work hard to build something for the future. They just want they want the reward now. ⁓ and entertainment. I mean, Netflix, social media, we we have entertainment at our fingertips, and yet Netflix can't find anything to watch. We are consistently being encouraged to choose what's easy now over what's valuable later. And that's a dangerous, dangerous proposition. A ⁓ culture that is obsessed with immediate eventually will lose sight of what's important. It's just it's human nature. It's gonna happen. The the passage here, and and I don't think this has to be ⁓ said, but the passage isn't about food. It's it's not about it's not literally about trading your inheritance for for lunch, but it is about perspective. ⁓ the author is asking us here to to really think about this and do you understand the value of what God has given you? Or are you willing to trade away that stuff for for temporary satisfaction? The the most dangerous trades in life are the ones that feel absolutely harmless in the moment. Constantly given opportunities to do things and partake in things, engage in things. I think we all need to realize that that not every opportunity is worth the price of admission. You know, sometimes, even in the small choices, you just need to remain aware of what you may be sacrificing to get what you want in that moment. ⁓ and it's it It's it's all around. It it's you know, when you're with people, your relationships, the all the little things we say and do every day, we're all making choices. But are we making choices for the immediate or are we making choices based on on the permanent, the long term? All right, on a lighter note, we ⁓ we're down to 74 days until they tee it up between the hedges and and give me some Georgia football. I cannot wait. ⁓ a lot of memorable names and have worn the number 74 with their time in Athens. You you go way back and you got Craig Hertwig. ⁓ back in the 70s or 80s, you got Guy McIntyre who who hung around the NFL forever. ⁓ then you get more to the current players, big Max Gene Gillis. loved watching him play. ⁓ and he hung around with the Philadelphia Eagles for years. ⁓ big Ben Cleveland, just a mountain of a man out of out of North Georgia. ⁓ big old Bears strong, country strong guy. ⁓ big Ben Cleveland was with the with the Ravens for a while. And then currently on the roster is a guy who I'm gonna tell you, I think might be one of the more underrated and unsung heroes on this year's team. It's gonna be the center Drew Bobo. ⁓ Drew is a little ⁓ I think, underrated coming out of high school. ⁓ the Drew catches a lot of ⁓ what I think is unfortunate and unwarranted ire from the from the dog fans, mostly because he's the son of former quarterback, former offensive coordinator, and current offensive coordinator, Mike. Run the damn ball, Bobo. ⁓ I I think being Bobo's kid gets Drew a lot of crap that he doesn't deserve. Drew's a heck of a center. I think Drew's in contention for all SEC honors this year at center. And if you watch the games he missed last year, his absence had an absolute impact. The the center is the glue of the offensive line and and Drew's no different for us. So having Drew back and healthy and ready for the fall, I think's gonna be a big deal. Seventy-four days can't wait to watch Drew and the boys suited up and start mowing through those teams on the schedule. As we get into something ⁓ a little more serious, the the the current event subject of the day is ⁓ is one that I've I've been aware of and and kind of wrestling with myself here for for as long as I can remember, and it's should the Bible be in public schools and who gets to teach it? There's there's been an ongoing debate for about as long as I can remember, about Bible passages ⁓ in the school systems. And You know, as a as a Christian, my first reaction is absolutely kids should know the Bible. But as I think a little deeper into it, my my second reaction comes to kind of go, all right, hang, hold up. Who's who's teaching it? You know, why are they teaching it? How are they teaching it? Are they treating it as truth and history? Are they treating it as a a historical literary document? Or is this some sort of political decoration? ⁓ I think the state of Texas right now is is considering requiring a some public school reading list that that have some Bible passages, have some Bible stories, and obviously this is drawing a whole heck of a lot of national attention. You know, it's something that we have to we have to weigh this out one way or another. You know, as Christians, we should want the Bible in school, but we gotta make sure it's being taught the right way. The the conversation I don't think it is just about, you know, do we want the kids exposed to scripture? It's more so do we want the government and the education sister, do we do we do we trust the education system to teach it right? The more I wrestle with it, the more I think, you know what, that the Bible doesn't need the government to make it powerful. You know, as Christians, we obviously we should never be ashamed of scripture. The the Bible, and and our society has completely lost sight of this here in the last 40 or 50 years. The Bible absolutely has shaped Western civilization, American law. Literature, morality, civil rights, language, and our understanding of human rights and human dignity. ⁓ Don't ever forget, go back and read some of the actual historical documents written by the founders of this nation. Most all of them were serious Christians. They had a daily relationship with God, believed in prayer, went to church, all the things, and we have just gotten away from that. This this nation was founded by Christians and on Christian principles. And don't let anybody ever tell you otherwise. Kids should absolutely know the Bible stories if they're going to understand history, art, literature, culture. The Bible is that influential in all of those arenas. But here's the caution. If if we allow the state, quotes, to to teach the Bible, then the state may also flatten the the impact of the Bible or they may politicize the Bible or or misrepresent it altogether. ⁓ this is this is something I've I've wrestled with, you know, for the last 20 or 30 years, I I feel like sometimes that even when the Bible is taught in schools or is taught to young people, man, it sometimes it just comes across and is is presented more like the fairy tales that kids are also reading and learning at that time. You know, the the story of Noah, the story of Jonah, the story of Moses, and some of these things that that are taught in the Bible, some of these epic stories and some of these miracles performed by God that actually happened. are taught along the same lines and in the same vein as some of the fairy tales and myths that kids know aren't true. And I think that sometimes makes makes young people lose sight of what the Bible is. The Bible is a historical textual document that was intended to tell us exactly what happened in the world. You know, Deuteronomy chapter chapter six, verses six and seven tell us this is straight from this is the word of God. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. Well, that's pretty much black and white, point blank, yes. The Bible, God is telling us to teach the Bible to our children. But I believe that this this passage I think is putting the the primary responsibility on on parents and on your own households, not on politicians, bureaucrats, or anybody on the school board or education system. Second Timothy chapter three verse sixteen says, All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. This is this is meant, I think, to remind us that that the Bible, the the Word of God is not just classic literature. It is God's word. So we should abide in it, we should follow it, and we should treat it with more reverence, not less. I always try to break these things down into kind of three simple points. It's ⁓ it it just helps me organize my thoughts. The the first point here is Christians should in no way ever be embarrassed by the Bible in public life. The the Bible is not some fringe book. Like I said earlier, it it absolutely shapes this nation and and has shaped civilization. If if we're gonna have students read Greek mythology, Shakespeare, Darwin, the Federalist Papers, Frederick Douglass. Martin Luther King and any of these things, well then they should also understand the the biblical language and and biblical stories. The the second point is that you know we can't allow the Bible to be reduced to to a political prop. A Bible verse on a reading list is not the same as discipleship. ⁓ the the Ten Commandments poster on the wall it is not used as repentance. a state approved excerpt is not the same as a child being formed in the fear and instruction of the Lord. That that comes to the parents. You know, I schools back, I grew up going to private Christian schools, and you know, every week on Friday we had a Bible verse we had to memorize and be able to write down by memory. That was a academic activity that was in no way helping me scripturally, and having that as part of my education in school was not in any way a religious thing. The the third point is that that parents cannot outsource spiritual information. And this is this is the one that hits home. If your kid only hears scripture when the school system assigns it, that's not an education problem, that's not a school system problem. That's that's a you problem. That that problem's at home. You know, I'm I'm glad to see our our culture acknowledge the Bible's importance when and on on the rare occasions that that happens. ⁓ you know, I I'm glad. I'll be glad if if schools can stop pretending that Christianity had nothing to do with the foundation of this country. it's we just seem to sweep that part of things under the rug. ⁓ but I don't want ⁓ lazy Christianity and and and to think that government reading lists can do what we as parents and and role models and and you know churches and and should really be doing along the lines of discipleship. We can't leave this to schools, even if the Bible gets back in the school system. It's not the teacher's job, it's not an educator's job to to raise your kid up. The Bible should be a part of the school system, but we should not allow the school system to take the main role in teaching Bible stories to our kids. So, you know, in summary, I yeah, ⁓ let's let students know the Bible. Let them let them study Genesis and Exodus and the Psalms, and God knows we should all study the Proverbs. Let them let them know about the Sermon on the Mount and and teach them the parables and and the moral foundation that shaped this world. all came from the Bible. But we can't get caught up and we can't get overly ⁓ satisfied if if the government that the the same government that misunderstands our faith now wants to curate our faith. You know they have they have criticized us and and and Christians have been persecuted by the government and and now all of a sudden they're they're opening the thought process of well maybe we'll support some of this. Don't let this don't let this blind you don't don't don't all of a sudden think that That things are going to change just because the Bible gets back in school. It's still on us to fight the good fight. The Bible belongs in our homes, it belongs in churches, and it belongs in our hearts. It should be studied in school, but it should never be turned into a political mascot. When you really think about it, and this gets back to you know to what we started talking about, it's it's making trades. You know, if if you The trade-off of maybe getting the Bible back into schools is that maybe we feel a little more at ease and maybe we don't teach it as well at home. You know, every day we're making trades. And the question isn't whether or not we're trading, because we absolutely are. The question is whether we're trading up, we're trading down. Are we trading temporary for eternal? Those things matter. Think about the verse we read. It's it's it refers back to the Jacob and Esau story. Where Esau gave up his entire inheritance for a bowl of stew, make you want to wonder, like what are you holding on to right now? What has God given you that's way too valuable to trade away? Don't sacrifice what matters most for something that only matters now. As always, get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.