Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / September 25, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: What's up friends? It is Thursday, September twenty-fourth. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is the latest episode of Beliefs, Ballads, and Bulldogs. ⁓ what was supposed to be a daily podcast has turned into a just whenever the heck I feel like it lately. I apologize for that. Consistency has not been my strong suit here of late, but we're ⁓ we're here today with a fun episode. We're gonna talk a little bit about some Georgia football and then we're gonna get into our scriptural segment of the day. But the question of the the Georgia theme for the day is who is the number one receiver on this year's team? Seriously, who who's the guy? Because three games into the season, I'm not entirely sure we know, the coaches know, or even Gunner knows who the number one receiver is. And frankly, I'm not sure any of us care. ⁓ to this point, Gunner has thrown 12 touchdown passes. 12 touchdown passes to 11 different people. That's ⁓ that's pretty impressive and pretty darn difficult. ⁓ those of you who follow along this show know that I am a ⁓ conservative and a capitalist at heart, but but our offense apparently believes solely in socialism. Everybody gets a touchdown. Receiver, touchdown, tight end, touchdown, freshman, touchdown. Equipment manager, come on down. Gunner's looking for you in the end zone. And and truthfully, to this point, I kind of enjoy it. We we've always spent years looking for a number one receiver, looking for that next George Pickens, that next Lab McConkey. ⁓ and who who's the guy when everybody knows George's got at the rope? Well, these days it likes the guy is whoever the heck is open. ⁓ this year so far, Craig Dandridge leads us in receiving yards. Sokovi leads us in catches. Tallon Taylor's caught a couple of touchdowns. The tight ends are involved, all twelve of them. We're handing footballs to receivers. And frankly, there's there's no obvious superstar on this offense that's that's demanding twelve targets a game. And right now it's it's been fun. I love watching the ball get spread around and You know, this has got to make it difficult. You know, if if you're Oklahoma coming in Saturday, you know, what exactly are you trying to take away? Okay, hey, we're gonna we're gonna double Georgia's leading receiver. Great. Gunner's just gonna throw it to somebody else. All right, hey, we're taking away the tight end. Cool. Here's another receiver. We'll dump it off to the back. All right, we're gonna drop everybody into coverage on this one and make sure everybody's covered. Well, great. Gunner's just gonna tuck it and run for twelve or fifteen. Frankly, I I've I've enjoyed this. This is as good as I've felt about a Georgia offense in a while. Even without the superstar level receiver. But I'm curious how how you guys feel about this, because obviously there is something comforting about having, you know, the guy. ⁓ when it's third and eight, game on the line, a crucial moment, and everybody in the stadium knows where the ball's going, and it doesn't matter. Brock Bowers was that guy. George Pickett's was that guy. We we love having that guy. Zachariah Branch turned into that guy for us. But there's also something appealing about having a quarterback who can go to the line of scrimmage and think, You know what? I don't care which receiver gets the ball. Somebody just get open and I'll find you. And this Saturday is going to be a really cool matchup. This is this is Oklahoma coming into town for the first time ever. This is two absolute blue bloods of college football. And it's hard to even imagine that as long as these Burgers have been around, this is the first time that that Oklahoma has been to Athens. And the teams have only ever even played once. And if you're a Georgia fan, I probably don't have to remind you of that game. Rosebowl, Sony Michelle, Nick Chubb, Roquan Smith, Double Overtime, Davin Bella be talking junk to Baker Mayfield. One of the greatest football games I have ever watched. And truthfully if I'm being honest, one of the few times I have given up on a Georgia team and then come back to win the game. But now we got Oklahoma coming between the hedges. And, you know, frankly, I I'm kind of getting curious whether any of these receivers are are ever really gonna separate themselves from the pack this season or or whether we just keep playing, you know ⁓ the the Gunnar Stockton rendition of Oprah. You get a touchdown, you get a touchdown, everybody gets a touchdown. But my question is, guys, you know, do you feel better having a true number one? Would you still rather have a Brock, a George Pickens, a Ladd McConkey type? Or are we good with the just rolling through this entire season with Gunnar just keep throwing touchdowns to anybody that has a pulse? Frankly, as long as we're scoring 40 plus a game, I'm not sure I care. God, I can't wait for Saturday. Hi guys, the the theme of the day scripturally is is one that's going to be hard for a lot of us to listen. But the the question is simply put, what if you're wrong? ⁓ and I don't want you to answer that question too quickly because likely the quicker you answer it, the more you might actually need this message. Think about it. Seriously, what if you're wrong? What if something that you believe with absolute certainty just isn't true? What if you have misunderstood something? What if the person or what if something that somebody told you was wrong? What if the video that you watched online left an important piece of information out? Or what if the article you were reading online was misleading? Or what if the person that you trust completely only gives you part of the story? What if the thing that you have repeated time and time again isn't actually the truth? Could you handle that? Could I handle that? I'm becoming more and more convinced that that one of the biggest problems in our culture. Isn't simply the the origin sources of misinformation. It isn't ignorance, it isn't even stupidity. We've always had all three in our world. The bigger problem is that people don't know what they're talking about. And a lot of times they don't know that they don't know what they're talking about. And somehow they're the most talkative and confident people in the room. We have we have led ourselves to confuse confidence with knowledge. There was a time where not knowing much about something might prevent you from speaking on it. Apparently, we've moved past that inconvenience in today's world. Today you can hear about something for the first time ever at 8:30 in the morning, and by 9.15, you're trying to hold a masterclass on Facebook. Something happens, and immediately there's a clip, there's a headline, and then somebody reacts to the headline, and then somebody reacts to the reaction. And before we've ever even figured out the facts and the details of what Happened, everybody's got an opinion already. Not a question, not I wonder what happened, not maybe we should wait for more information, not well, I haven't looked into this enough to have an opinion. No, we've already got a conclusion. And usually it's a very loud one. We've created this bizarre culture where saying the phrase, I don't know, makes us feel weak. And truthfully, it might be one of the most intelligent persons we can say at times. Saying I don't know requires you to possess something increasingly rare these days. It requires it requires you to possess an awareness of the limits of your own knowledge. Shocking, I know. The Bible has a word for this. In Proverbs chapter 18, verse 2, we're told, we've used this verse a lot already. It says, A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. If that verse If that phrase wasn't written for the society we live in today, I don't know what else is. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding. He just wants to express his side, what he thinks. But think about that. The scripture here is not merely criticizing the fool because his opinion is wrong. The problem is that understanding wasn't even the objective. He wanted to speak. He wants to be heard. The fool wants to tell everybody what he thinks. The fool wants to win the argument. The fool wants to make his point. Whether he actually understands the subject or not. Understanding it and knowing he's right is secondary to him. And if that doesn't describe an enormous amount of the modern conversation, I really don't know what does. We we deal with this all the time. We have been put into a society where it we feel like everybody has to have a take all the time. But why? Like, why do we have to have an opinion on everything? Seriously, why why is this necessary? Something happens in Washington, something happens overseas, a court case makes the news, a celebrity does something, a doctor says something, some scientific study gets published, ⁓ there's a there's an economic report that gets released, there's a war, there's a shooting, some controversy involving people we've never met in a city we've never visited, concerning a subject we've never studied. And yet somehow we become experts. We can't let ourselves say, well, I don't know enough about that situation. We've got to give our opinion. We've got to give our thoughts. I I've started to believe that that being able to utter the phrase, I don't know enough about that to speak on it, is one of the greatest senses of or evidences of maturity we could possibly have. I hate to admit this, but there are a lot of things that I don't know. There are a lot of things that you don't know. And here's something we probably don't say often enough. There are things that you currently believe and think you know that are not correct. There are things that all of us currently believe that are wrong. And the trouble is, we may not know which ones. Obviously, if we knew they were wrong, we'd stop believing them. But somewhere inside of my understanding of the world are incomplete facts, bad assumptions, misunderstandings of things, and things I was flat taught or told incorrectly, things that I've misremembered, things that I haven't investigated enough. And things that I am simply wrong about. Same with you. And I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just telling you the truth. This is human condition. We are wrong. Confidence cannot be mistaken for evidence. And I think this is where our current society really gets us in trouble. Confidence is very persuasive. Let's not kid ourselves. If somebody looks into a camera, Candace Owens, and tells you, let me say what really happened. They say it confidently with no hesitation, no uncertainty, no nuance. And we have to think. Human nature tells us, well, maybe this person knows more than I know. Maybe they're maybe they're plugged in. Maybe. Or maybe this person is just really comfortable being wrong. Those are not the same things. Maybe they're right, but maybe they just don't care if they're right or not. They're just trying to get attention. You know, you can be loudly wrong. You can be passionately wrong. You can be sincerely wrong. You can be intelligently wrong. You can be educated and wrong, popular and wrong. You can be followed by millions of people and still be wrong. You can be standing behind a pulpit and be wrong. You can be standing behind a microphone or in front of a camera and be wrong. And yes, you can host a podcast and be wrong, but I'm not. Confidence doesn't transform an incorrect statement into fact. It just doesn't matter how confidently somebody says something. Volume doesn't ⁓ doesn't turn an opinion into truth. And repetition clearly doesn't make something that was wrong into something that is right. A lie repeated 10 million times is still a lie. And let's be real, the the internet has absolutely made this worse because now, whatever you believe, you can find somebody to tell you that you're right. ⁓ you think your doctor is wrong, huh? There's a guy online that'll support your theory. You think every doctor besides your doctor is wrong? Well, there's another guy on line that'll support that theory. You think the economics or the economy looks great? I got a video for you. You think the economy is collapsing? Well, I got a video for you too. You think a particular politician is an absolute genius? ⁓ I've got some video feeds I need to show you. You think that same politician is an idiot? Don't worry, there's probably a feed for that too. And eventually it leads us to do something very, very dangerous. We stop asking ourselves. Is what I am seeing or reading or consuming true? And we start asking ourselves instead, does this agree with me? And those are completely different questions. One of them obviously leads towards the truth. The other leads towards a prison that you have built for yourself, where every voice inside your head tells you just how smart you are. Proverbs keeps going for 16 verses later, in verse 17, Proverbs says, The one who states his case first seems right. Until the other comes to examine him. It's incredibly poignant in today's world. The first story always sounds convincing until you hear the other side. We've all had that happen. Somebody will tell you an argument, and obviously they're telling you their side of an argument, and you're thinking to yourself, well, I can't believe that person did that to you. Well, then you go talk to the other person, and about four minutes into that conversation, you're thinking, ⁓ okay, but there appears to have been some more information than what I was given. That's Proverbs 18, 17 for you. And we all should know this. This happens every day to all of us. Anybody who's been married for longer than 15 minutes knows there's at least two sides to every story, likely three. But when it comes to everything else, we just hear one version of each story and we go, hey, I've decided that's case closed. I know where I stand. We don't continue to investigate things to get to the truth. We immediately jump from that first instance of knowledge to prosecution. We don't begin with information and arrive at a conclusion. We begin with a conclusion and then go shopping for the information, so to speak. We've already decided what we think. Now let's go looking for evidence to support it. And trust me, the internet is happy to provide it always. So if I like somebody, it's not hard to find information to show that they're good or make them look good. If I dislike somebody, it's equally not hard to go find something to make them look bad. If something supports my argument or supports my beliefs or supports my politics, it's easy to believe it as soon as I read it. If it goes against what I already think, suddenly I become Sherlock Holmes trying to dig in and figure out how to debunk it. Who funded this study? Who owns this publication? What's their agenda? And again, those are all valid questions, but those should be questions that I ask on both sides, whether I agree with it or not. That's where intellectual honesty gets uncomfortable for all of us. The truth doesn't matter only when it helps your team. The truth doesn't need to meet for my political party. The truth doesn't need my favorite commentator to agree with it. The truth doesn't even need my podcast. The truth doesn't need me. I need the truth. That's how that relationship should work. And here's where as Christians we have to hold ourselves to accountability to be different. This bothers me in particular when when I see or when I can call to account for Christians doing it, because we claim to follow Christ who Quite clearly called himself the way, the truth, and the life. Truth isn't supposed to be some tool that we use when it's convenient. We're supposed to love the truth, even if it embarrasses us, even if it proves that we're wrong, even if somebody I dislike tells the truth, what they said is still true. True is always true. If somebody I admire, however, says something false, it's still false. Just because I admire them doesn't make it true. And that shouldn't be complicated for us as Christians. Our allegiance should be and has to be higher than the tribe we support, has to be higher than politics, higher than personalities, higher than pride. The truth belongs to God. And look, here's where maybe this message gets a little bit uncomfortable because right now it's very easy, and I'm sure every one of us is doing this. It's not hard to think about somebody else with a message like this. Most of us probably already have somebody in mind. You know exactly who needs to hear this episode, right? And you're thinking to yourself, hey, I'm gonna send this to them. Please do, by the way. Share this as much as you can. But hang on a second. Before you send it to somebody else, maybe Proverbs isn't giving us ammunition just to identify fools. Maybe it's giving us some wisdom so that we don't become one. So for forget about the other people for a minute. Forget about all the external examples of what I'm talking about, where ignorance and confidence seem so dangerously linked. Ask yourself, what about yourself? What about me? When's the last time somebody changed your mind on something you actually held some pretty sound beliefs in? I'm talking really changed your mind, not just got you to agree to go along and get the argument over with. When is the last time showed you some information or showed you a different way of looking at something that made you not only think to yourself, but come out and admit, you know what? I was wrong. There was something I didn't know, and that changes my opinion. When was the last time that you have apologized for an opinion simply because you had the facts wrong? It's okay to change your opinion when new facts emerge. When's the last time you discovered something that you had shared to someone else and you found out it wasn't true? Did you go back and correct it? Did you go back and make amends for spreading something that was that was false? When's the last time that you disag or when's the last time you listened to somebody that you disagreed with? Not so that you could respond and tell them your opinion. But because you genuinely wanted to understand theirs. If you can't remember the last time that happened, we've got a problem. And I think we do. There's really only two possibilities here. Either you've somehow become the first human in history who's right about everything, or you've become somebody who's difficult correct. And I think we all know which one of those is more likely. If you can't remember the last time somebody has changed your mind or changed your opinion, It's probably because you're one of those stubborn people that just refuses to be changed. And those people become very difficult to communicate with. I said it in the in the prelim to this show. Being wrong isn't the worst thing. Being wrong isn't the most dangerous thing. And that's what I want to be the heart and the spirit of this message. Being wrong isn't the most dangerous thing. We're all wrong at times. Everybody is wrong sometime. The dangerous thing is for those of us who are uncorrectable. If you refuse to be correctable, then that's where the real trouble comes in. If you're wrong and teachable, you can learn. If you're misinformed and humble, somebody can show you the truth. If you misunderstand something, but you're willing to listen, that embodies change. You can make those changes. But if you're wrong and refuse to accept the idea that you might be wrong, or if you're wrong, but you're always absolutely convinced that you're right and you interpret. Every attempt to correct you as an attack, that's where trouble comes in. Because how can you help someone who simply can't even conceive of the possibility that they need help? People who don't believe they need help are very unlikely to accept it. Enter Apollos. And this is where I love what happens in Acts chapter 18. We're introduced to a man named Apollos. ⁓ chapter 18, verse 24 describes him as an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures. So this isn't an idiot. This is someone who who's educated and grown up in the in the Jewish scriptures. This isn't some uninformed guy who's just running around town running his mouth. The scripture says he's eloquent, he's knowledgeable. He had been instructed in the ways of the Lord. He was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus. This guy knows some things, but as with all of us, his understanding was incomplete. Verse 26 says, Priscilla and Aquila hear him speaking, and then They took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Love it. More accurately. Apollos knew a lot, but he didn't know everything. And apparently, in his case, he was teachable. He didn't say, Hey, do you know who I am? Do you know where I went to school? Do you know what? No. He doesn't say any of that. Do you know how many people were listening to him? A bunch. He didn't hold any of that gun. He didn't attack Priscilla and Aquila. He doesn't immediately question their motives. He doesn't block them on social media. He doesn't call them haters. He didn't even start a rival podcast. What he did was he slowed down, he listened to them, and he learned. And then God uses him even more powerfully after that. Correction in no way diminished Apollos. And don't miss this part of it because I think this is a hard thing for us to deal with in today's society. Being corrected didn't make Apollos look stupid. It made him wiser. It didn't destroy his credibility. It improved his level of understanding. It didn't make him weaker. It in fact made him more useful. Somehow we've developed this ridiculous idea that changing your mind means you have lost. No, sometimes changing your mind means you're finally on the right side. You learned something, you learned the truth, and now you're on the right side. If I believed something yesterday, And today shows me some con somebody shows me some convincing evidence that I was wrong. The intelligent response isn't to defend yesterday's incorrect position now that I have new information. Choosing to defend an ignorant position until you die is just stupid. Just admit it, say, Well, I was wrong. Change your mind, learn, grow, move on. Moving on is not weakness, it's wisdom. We we're so embodied with pride. And that pride unfortunately makes us absolutely stupid at times. Pride will make an absolutely intelligent person behave so foolishly. Eventually, protecting your ego becomes more important than discovering the truth. And everybody around you sees it. We've all seen this. You've probably seen this in an argument. You may have even done this in an argument. I I know I have. Halfway through the argument, you realize, you know what? I think they're right. Lord knows we all hate that moment. It's a terrible moment because now you got a decision to make. Do I simply say, you know what, you were right, I was wrong. Or do we move the goalpost and change the argument? Do we bring up something unrelated? Or do we attack their tone of the argument? Or do we find one tiny detail that they got wrong so we can win? Or do we pretend that what their argument even is exactly what we were arguing or what we meant? Some of us would rather take the entire ship to the bottom of the ocean than admit we were on the wrong boat. Brother, that's pride, and it is not healthy. Look, scripture doesn't let us off the hook here. In Proverbs chapter 12, verse 15, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. Chapter 18, verse 13. If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. And then in James 119, one of my favorite verses again, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Do you notice the pattern here? Listen, hear, understand, receive counsel, then speak. Our culture has almost completely reversed this order. We speak immediately, we get angry quickly. Eventually we might listen. And then if we're lucky, we come around to some element of understanding. And then we wonder why everybody hates each other and can't communicate. I think we need to recover the use of these four words. I might be wrong. It's tough. Try saying them. It won't kill you. I promise. I might be wrong. Just four words. It doesn't mean you don't believe in anything. This isn't some sort of relativism. There is truth. There is right and wrong. And there are things that I believe very strongly. There are things that scripture teaches clearly, and I'm not going to pretend that I'm uncertain about them just so everybody feels uncomfortable. Humility doesn't mean that nothing is true. Humility means truth exists. And I am also capable of misunderstanding it at times. That's all we need to say. We're not trying to change the goalpost. We just need to say, hey, truth exists, but sometimes I might not be on it. I can have conviction without pretending that I'm omniscient. Christians, we should be the most correctable people in the room. ⁓ think about Christianity itself, that our entire faith requires us to admit, you know what? I'm not God. I don't know everything. I don't see everything. My heart can deceive me. My judgment can fail. I need wisdom outside of myself. Occasionally I need correction. Always I need grace. I need a savior. So, how in the world did we as Christians become people who act like we've never misunderstood anything in our life? It that doesn't fit. If anything, following Jesus should make us more teachable. And Proverbs chapter 9, verse 10 says. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom starts when that proper hierarchy gets established. God knows I don't. God is God. I'm not. And once we accept that, well, then we don't have to defend every opinion like the entire kingdom of God depends on me being the one who's right. Ask yourself this: this this is the challenge for today. Take something that you believe very strongly, something that might even make you emotional, something Something political, something cultural, something theological, something about another person, and ask, what would it take to convince me that I'm wrong? It's a serious question. What what evidence could possibly change your mind? Is there any? Because if the answer is nothing can change your mind, then you're no longer investigating truth. You are defending your identity. And those are very different things. If no evidence could ever change your belief, then evidence isn't the reason you believe it to start with. That's pretty deep. Think about that. So check this before you share it. It's just a simple thing. Before you share something, just ask, do you know it's true? Not do you agree with it? Not do you want or hope it's true? Not, would it be hilarious if it was true? Because some things really are good out there. And not even does this make somebody I dislike look terrible? Just ask yourself, is this true? Because we shouldn't be spreading lies as Christians just because it helps our side. And putting a Bible verse in your biography does not make false information holy. Trust me. If we claim to represent Christ, then there is only one way to do it, and that is to make the truth matter. We have to listen to people we disagree with. Not everybody. Some people out there are absolutely ridiculous. Look, life is short, but occasionally listen to somebody intelligent. Listen to somebody who you know to be a compassionate, quality, intelligent person. But that they disagree with you. Listen to them and don't listen for ammunition. Listen for understanding. Ask yourself, why does this person believe this? What information could they be looking at that I don't see? What do they understand that may be adult? And look, we talked about this. Maybe after having a conversation, maybe after listening to this person, you still think they're wrong. Nothing wrong with that. They might be wrong, but you'll understand them better. And understanding doesn't require that you agree with them. But at least now you are understanding on a different level and you're understanding and disagreeing with an actual person instead of just a cartoon version of them that somebody else created because of a few things you believe. The question isn't whether or not you're wrong, because you are sometimes. And so am I, somewhere about something. We're all wrong. The question is: what happens when the truth confronts you? Do you get defensive? Do you get angry? Do you attack the messenger? Do you search? Desperately for somebody to support your side. Do you protect your ego? Or do you do what Apollos did? Do you listen? You learn, adjust, grow. Maybe today one of the greatest signs of wisdom isn't having the answer. Maybe it's knowing when you don't and being willing to admit it. Maybe one of the strongest things you can say is, I don't know, instead of, I know I'm right. Look, maybe sometimes you just need to say, look, here's what I believe. Here's why I believe it. And if I'm wrong, I want to know I'm wrong. Because I'm not interested in winning an argument and losing the truth. I'm not interested in defending, I'm not interested in defending something false just because admitting I was wrong would embarrass me. I'm not interested in being the loudest person in the room. I want to be teachable. I want to be correctable. I want to be wise. And above all else, I want the truth. So before you spend today correcting everybody else, Ask God to show you where you need correcting. Before asking why everybody else is so misinformed, ask whether there's anything you've believed without fully examining. Before calling somebody else ignorant, just remember how much you don't know. And before you hit post, maybe take another look, make sure it's true. Proverbs tells us, I love this verse, a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Don't be that person. I'm gonna try not to be. And when somebody shows us they're wrong, good. Thank them. Learn something. Change your mind. Keep moving. Being wrong isn't the most dangerous thing. Being so proud that nobody can correct you is. Get in your Bible. Say your prayers. Ask questions. Listen before you speak. Love truth more than you love being right. And every once in a while, have the wisdom and humility to say, I don't know, or I was wrong. That'll do for today, guys. As always, God bless.