Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Wednesday July 8, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Good morning. What's up, everybody? It is Wednesday, July the 8th. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. Welcome back. ⁓ today we want to begin with kind of a simple question, ⁓ and it's one I think we all wrestle with a little bit. It's how much control do you actually have? Let's think about that for a minute. We we make calendars, we build retirement plans, we map out our five-year goals, we schedule meetings months in advance. We buy insurance, we create budgets, we make predictions. And none of these things are wrong. And in fact, many of these are wise and attributable things you should be doing. But somewhere along the way, wisdom can quietly become self reliance. And self reliance can quickly replace our dependence on God. Today we're looking at the book of James, chapter four, verses thirteen through sixteen. James tells us, now listen, you who say. Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why? Do you not even know what will happen tomorrow? What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast and brag, and all such boasting is evil. James is not criticizing the the art or the act of planning here. James is confronting pride. Notice the people say, today or tomorrow, we will go, we will do business, we will make money. The repeated word there is the is the we. There's no acknowledgement of God, no dependence, no humility, no recognition that just the The tomorrow showing up is a gift in and of itself. And James is not saying that planning is sinful or that we shouldn't do it. James is just telling us that that planning without understanding and leaning on God is a very dangerous act. It it quietly will convince you that you have way more control than you really do. One of the greatest illusions in life is really believing that we can make our own plans, that we can control our own outcomes. The truth is every breath we take is a gift from above. Every sunrise is a gift. Every opportunity you're given is a gift. We all say this, but none of us really live this way. None of us are promised tomorrow. And James reminds us that our life is a mist. And he's not saying this to make you afraid or make you fearful. It's to make us grateful. Life is precious because of the very fact that it's so temporary. Look all around us. Our culture is just obsessed with control. We want to control our finances, our Careers, our children's futures, our health, our reputation, our public image, our investments, politics. We want to control everything. We want to control our comfort to the highest degree. And we convince ourselves that if we just organize things well enough, then nothing can surprise us. If we make all the right plans, if we do all the right things, then nothing will catch us off guard. And that's what life always does. The more you think you're in control, the more surprises you've got coming. It can be a phone call out of the blue, a diagnosis, a layoff, a storm, a loss, a relationship dang, ⁓ the relationship change. Doors close all the time. And then suddenly we we're reminded that we were never holding the steering wheel quite as tightly as we thought we were. James is not telling again, he's not telling you to stop making plans. He he's telling us to stop pretending that we're sovereign. And there's a huge difference there. Faith doesn't eliminate preparation. Faith just changes the posture of the preparation. Instead of saying, This is what I'm going to do, a believer saying, Lord willing, this is what I hope to do. That's not weakness, it's worship. It it's recognizing that that as we've talked about here repeatedly, God sees things we don't see. You know, parents understand this. It's we dream for our children. We want to protect them from all of the pain that's out there. We we want to give them every possible opportunity, but no parent can control every outcome. The best parents aren't the ones who control everything. They're the ones who faithfully plant the truth, model integrity, pray consistently, and trust God with the things they can't control and and show that to their children. It applies to marriages too. You can never control another person's heart. You can only control your faithfulness to the relationship. Every election cycle, every economic forecast, every major news headline, someone claims that they know exactly what's coming next. And they don't. History has a way of of humbling humanity. And it we've seen certainly seen examples of this throughout history. The point here, and again, James getting back, the point isn't that planning is foolish. The point is that certainty only belongs to God. Christians should be thoughtful. We should be prepared. We should be engaged, but we should also be humble enough to admit, I don't know everything, I don't see everything, but I know and I have faith in the one who does. In a world of overflowing confident people, and isn't it amazing how the the correlation of confidence and ignorance are often so closely aligned? But in a world of overflowing with these confident opinions, humility can absolutely be one of the strongest Christian virtues to help our witness. He's not trying James isn't trying to make us anxious about tomorrow. He's just trying to free us from the burden of pretending that we're God. We're not. It it's exhausting to try to control everything. I I I see people, I I I have an adogy, you know, y you can try to control the wind or you can adjust your sails. We see people all day who try to control the wind and it makes them miserable. They're banging their head against the wall. It's exhausting. Some of us are trying to carry responsibilities that God never asked us to carry because we're trying to control outcomes that belong in his hands. So maybe today the invitation's pretty simple. Work hard, plan wisely, lead courageously. Behold every plan with open hands. Before you end your day, ask yourself, where have I been trusting my plan more than God's providence? Where am I demanding certainty instead of exercising faith? And what would I change if I truly believe that God is already in tomorrow? He is. All right, guys, we're gonna break it up with a little lighter news. ⁓ we're gonna roll back to our countdown till Georgia football, 59 days. ⁓ this is a very rare number, but one that immediately popped up in my mind was ⁓ double J Jordan Jenkins back in back from the mid-2000s. Jordan was an absolute solid stud linebacker for us. Played little inside and outside. Wasn't the flashiest guy, wasn't the wasn't the most overall talented or gifted guy, but easily a team leader and a guy that you could absolutely win with a guy that's got that kind of talent and that kind of heart. on a 22-person football roster, you'd take 10 to 12 Jordan Jenkins and be very happy with it. ⁓ made a ton of plays for us and went on and hung around the NFL for darn near a decade. ⁓ just always seemed like the kind of guy you would want on your team. Real inspirational team leader, good dude all around. So 59 days till Georgia football, Jordan Jenkins days, wherever you're at, double J, God bless. I hope you're doing well. As we as we move on to the second topic of the day, ⁓ we want to talk about something that that has been in the headlines all over the place and it just seems to be getting worse and worse every day. It wanna talk about character. And and truthfully, we want to talk about character from the standpoint of does it even matter? Do do we still even care about character at all? And you know, we gotta be honest here. Everybody says character matters until character becomes a little inconvenient for something they desire. Everybody says truth matters and until truth you know destroys one of their arguments or until truth unlike un unleashes some light that shows something on their side. Everybody says justice matters until justice costs them power. You know, accountability matters until accountability shows up at your front door. We all demand these things, but we only seem to want to demand them in one direction. And that's that's where we are today. We're we're talking about the the Senate race in Maine, where the Democratic nominee Graham Plattner is obviously facing some some serious sexual allegations, ⁓ sexual assault. It seems like more and more stuff's just coming out every day. You know, now some of the top Democrats are are calling on him to withdraw. There's there's some pressure. I believe the deadline is July thirteenth for him to be able to withdraw and and Get a replacement in there. We're not here today to try Graham Plattner to determine whether he's he's guilty or innocent. You know, ultimately that that will matter, but that's not what we're gonna hear, what we're doing here on this podcast. The allegations are very serious, but let's remember allegations are not convictions. Accusers, on the other hand, should not be mocked or dismissed. You have to let this play out. The truth matters, evidence matters, and due process matters. But This story raises a bigger question than the candidate, the party, or the race. And the question is this do we still care about character or do we only care about winning? We live in a country where people love to scream, believe victims, when the victim is on the other side, or when the accused is on the other side. But when it's on your side, they scream it's a political hit job. We live in a country where people demand accountability for their enemies, but are quick to offer explanation for their friends. The same country where people want someone disqualified on Monday, but they'll tell you to wait for all the facts to come out on Tuesday if it's somebody on their side. None of this should matter what colored jersey you're wearing or what side you're on. That's not justice. That's tribalism wearing a judge's robe. As Christians, we're called to be better than that. Scripture tells us in the book of Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 17, the one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him. It's wisdom. The first story you hear can sound very convincing. The first headline can feel very decisive. The first emotional account you hear somebody tell their story can absolutely grab your heart. But wisdom tells us to slow down, listen care carefully, examine all of the facts, and seek the truth. It doesn't mean you dismiss people who come forward, and it doesn't mean you always protect powerful people. It doesn't mean you hide behind due process because you don't want your side embarrassed. It means you're committed to the truth. Not convenience. Scripture also tells us in the book of Proverbs, chapter 20, verse 11. Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. Character matters, conduct matters, patterns matter. What you do matters, and that's a reflection of who you are. Who a person is when the cameras are off matters. And that's something our culture, I think, is trying to forget a lot. Politics has trained us in a lot of cases to ask the wrong questions first. We ask ourselves, can this person win? Before we ask ourselves, can this person be trusted? We ask ourselves, you know, will this person vote the right way? Instead of, is this person worthy of leadership? We ask, you know, does this person help our cause? Does this person help our side? But maybe we should be asking, what does this person's life reveal about their character? And look, I'm not trying to downplay any of this. I understand politics is about policy. And I understand that elections have consequences, judges matter, taxes matter, policy matters, schools matter, it all matters. I'm not pretending like the leadership of the of in elections and all the stuff that we're getting back down in. I'm not trying to pretend like any of this is irrelevant. But if we decide that character no longer matters because policy matters more, we're making a very dangerous trade. Eventually, you don't just elect flawed people, all people are flawed. Eventually you start excusing corrupt people. And there's a big difference between flawed people and corrupt people. A flawed person can repent, a flawed person can own their sin, a flawed person can come around and tell the truth, and a flawed person can be corrected. But a corrupt person uses their powers to avoid accountability. They expect loyalty without honesty. They hide behind the team. And a corrupt person knows that their followers will defend anything as long as the other side is worse. And we see this. All the time. And this is a very dangerous pattern. Let me be very clear. We all know which way I lean, but this is not a Democrat problem or a Republican problem. I do believe it is more pronounced on one side, but this is a human problem. Democrats do it, Republicans do it, churches do it, businesses do it, college football programs do it, families do it. We all go out of our way to protect the people we like, and we're so quick to prosecute the people we don't. We demand transparency from our enemies and ask for grace for our friends. We call it accountability when it hurts the other side, but we call it betrayal when it hurts us. God does not grade on a on a partisan curve. And that's that's the line we have to sit with. That's that's what we have to wrestle with. God doesn't say tell the truth unless your side needs a win. God doesn't say defend the vulnerable unless it hurts your candidate. God doesn't say care about character unless the Senate is at stake. And God doesn't say demand integrity from the other side, but strategy from your own. It's not who God is, and that's not who God calls us to be. God is not impressed with any sort of loyalty dressed up as righteousness. And that's where we as Christians have to be very careful. If we only care about morality when it helps our argument, we don't care about morality. We care about advantage. If we only care about victims when the accused is on the other side, we don't love justice. We love leverage. And if we only care about due process when the accused is someone we like, we don't love fairness. We love the protection of the legal system. If we only care about character when it costs the other side something, we're not in love with character. We love winning. I love winning, but we all need to love character more. This is something that I think this should convict all of us. And again, myself included, I love to win, but sometimes I need to focus on other things. The temptation is real. When when the person in trouble is someone you already dislike, it is very easy to believe the absolute worst that's coming out. You know, on the other hand, when it's when it's somebody you support, it's it's easy to demand caution and exercise patience and wait for more context. The truth simply doesn't depend on team colors. Justice shouldn't depend on polling numbers, and character shouldn't depend on whether the candidate can win. Now We have to be careful here, and all of this stuff will hopefully flush itself out. An accusation is not the same as proof. A headline is not always true, and a person should not be destroyed by a rumor. False accusations do happen. Political timing is always suspicious, and media framing is certainly going to be biased. All of that is true. But it's also true that powerful people can do terrible things and count on their allies and their power to get away with it. It's true that victims are often afraid to come forward and accuse the powerful people. It's true that institutions have often covered up corruption to protect their reputation. And it's true that parties, churches, schools, and all organizations from time to time choose image over the truth. So the Christian response here can't be simplistic. We can't be people who believe everything, but we also can't be people who dismiss everything. We have to be people who seek the truth with courage. We have to be people who care about victims and fairness. We have to be people who refuse to use due process as a shield or believe victims as a weapon. We can't use either of those. It's all about the truth. We need both compassion and examination, seriousness and restraint. We need justice and truth. And it's not always easy. In fact, it's usually pretty hard. Wisdom is harder than outrage. Outrage is easy. Outrage lets you pick a side quickly and just start swinging. Wisdom makes you slow down and examine and seek the truth. What's true here? What's just, what's righteous? What honors God? And that's where I think all of this matters well beyond the scope of politics, but because all of us will face this test somewhere. And, you know, we can point to this main Senate race, but maybe it's not about a Senate candidate. Maybe it's maybe it's someone in your church, maybe it's a coach, maybe it's your boss, maybe it's a family member or friend. Maybe it's somebody you know that's got influence, money, charm, power, and all those glorious things that we all look up to. And then something comes out and it's a pattern, it's an allegation, it's a hidden sin, a serious failure. And then the question becomes for us: what do we care about most? Protecting the person, protecting the institution, protecting the brand, protecting a win, or do we care about protecting the truth? That's where character is revealed. It's not just their character. Ours too. If we protect somebody we know is doing evil things, that is a bad reflection on our character. How we respond to someone else's scandal often exposes our own heart. Do we want the truth or do we want control and power? Do we want justice or do we want an advantage? Do we want righteousness or do we just want our team to survive? Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 2, nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Very sobering thought. There are there are hidden things, but they will not stay hidden forever. Eventually the truth will come out, patterns will show up, and eventually what's done in the dark will find the light. When it does, we'll find out who really values righteousness and not who only valued reputation. So today I'm not asking whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. I'm asking whether you're honest. I'm asking whether your principles still work when they might cost your side something. I'm asking whether you care about character. When accountability gets a little bit uncomfortable. Because a country that excuses corruption on its own side will eventually be governed by corrupt people on both sides. A church that covers its sin to protect its image will eventually lose its credibility and ability to witness. A family that avoids truth to protect the peace will eventually become dysfunctional. And a business that rewards results without character will eventually rot from the inside. And finally, a soul that keeps justifying dishonity for a good cause will. Will eventually stop recognizing dishonesty at all. So what do we do? First, what do I tell you every day? We tell the truth, not the convenient truth, not the partisan truth, and not the truth that helps our side. The truth. Secondly, we we try to refuse to rush to judgment. We we don't destroy people based on a rumor. We don't confuse an accusation with a conviction. We listen, we examine, and we seek what's true. Third, We refuse to protect power at the expense of the vulnerable. We're not going to dismiss serious allegations just because the accused is useful to us. We're not going to treat people like collateral collateral damage in a political war. And then fourth, we remember that character matters. Policy matters, winning matters, elections matter because they have consequences, but character still matters and it has to matter more. Leadership is not just about some what someone promises to do with power. It's also about who they become when they have that power. And then finally we we examine ourselves. But before we point across the aisle or point the finger in the other direction, we need to ask ourselves: do I apply this same standard to myself? Do I apply this same standard to my side? Do I defend people I would condemn if they belong to the other party? Do I suddenly become careful and nuanced when it's to protect someone I like? Do I make do I demand facts for my friends, but accept rumors for my enemies? That's the test. And it's a test many of us fail, and many of us will continue to fail. But followers followers of Christ should not be people of selective morality. We can't. We should be people of truth, people of justice, people of integrity, people who remember that God sees what the cameras miss. God hears what the press conference doesn't hear. God knows what the campaign denies. God knows what the institutions are bearing. And God is not fooled by any of our slogans. So today the question is simple do we still care about character or do we only care about winning? Because if winning becomes more powerful than the truth, eventually we'll all start lying to win. We're already seeing it. If power becomes more important than justice, we will eventually protect injustice just to keep power. And if the tribe becomes more important than righteousness, we'll eventually call evil good, as long as evils wearing our team colors. Scripture doesn't allow that, so we are called to be better. Let's be careful with our accusations. Let's be serious about the evidence. Let's be compassionate towards those who come forward. And let's be fair to those who are accused. Let's stop excusing our side while prosecuting the other. And let's remember that no political victory is worth surrendering your conscience. Because God does not call us to win at all cost. He calls us to walk in the truth. And the truth is still worth more than power. All right, getting back to our our main theme of the day as we get ready to wrap up the episode and go back to the the the book of James. James is not telling us to to stop dreaming. He's he's reminding us to dream with the humility that God's ultimately in control, to build with humility, to lead with humility, to parent with humility, to live with humility. The future isn't resting on your shoulders. It never was. God has never asked you to carry tomorrow. He's only asked you to trust him today. So make your plans, set your goals, pursue everything you can possibly dream of. Try to be as excellent and great as you possibly can. But don't confuse that careful planning with ultimate control. The strongest faith isn't the one who knows exactly what tomorrow holds. The strongest faith is the one that knows who holds tomorrow. As always, guys, get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth.