Undeniably, no other team in college football has been a bigger disappointment than Florida State this season.
Coming off of an undefeated regular season and an ACC championship in 2023, the media selected the Seminoles during the preseason as the favorites to win the conference title again this fall.
Needless to say, those predictions have not panned out.
Florida State sits last in the conference with a 1-9 record. An offense that was supposed to be one of the conference's best has proven to be anemic.
The Seminoles have scored more than 20 points only once (21 points in their season opener), and the unit currently ranks dead last among the 134 FBS teams in scoring offense (13.3 points per game).
I'm not highlighting Florida State to add insult to injury for what has been a forgettable season but to challenge us on the assumptions that are leading us astray.
Florida State convinced most media members that they'd be an elite team that would contend for a spot in the 12-team Playoff, but once Florida State was tested, it revealed that those assumptions proved entirely wrong. When that wasn't the case, the team misled us into believing they were contenders.
As followers of Jesus, we must always seek the truth because our assumptions can get us into trouble.
It is a wonderful blessing to learn from Bible teachers and gain wisdom from mature followers of Jesus. However, we must always test everything we hear to ensure we aren't being misled.
When listening to Christian preaching or teaching, we assume nobody intentionally leads us astray by teaching things that don't align with God's Word. We want to assume nobody claims that God directly spoke to them with a revelation or prompting if He didn't.
Yet, the New Testament is saturated with warnings about false teachers and prophets. In fact, 26 of the 27 New Testament books discuss false teaching, and numerous books have false teaching as central themes.
While we certainly don't want to assume the worst in people or believe that every person is trying to lead us astray, we also need to be diligent not to think that everything we hear from people claiming to be Christians is biblical or coming from God. We need to confirm that what they are saying is true.
1 John 4:1 (NASB) says, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Christianity is not a spectator sport, even when listening to people teach or give messages. God has commanded us to test what is said to see whether they align with His Word.
When we assume that the information we receive is truthful and biblical, we open ourselves up to the possibility of deception. This fact should be especially concerning because God has stated that there are "many" false prophets worldwide.
Scripture even tells us that many people who are deceiving others will do so in a way that can be difficult to recognize because of some resemblances to authentic Christianity.
Speaking of false apostles in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (ESV), the Apostle Paul says, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds."
That means we must be aware and discerning.
Sometimes, football teams head into the season disguising themselves as contenders, but then we realize they're actually pretenders. On the flip side, other teams considered contenders prove to be ones once they've been tested during the season.
So today, let's appreciate the amazing biblically-based pastors and teachers we learn from while also diligently studying God's Word so that we know how to rightly discern truth from falsehood and guard ourselves against the influence of those attempting to mislead us.
As 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NLT) says, "…but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good."
I'm Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me Your truth. Please help me gain knowledge and discernment to assess better how things align with Your Word. Teach me how to be diligent in testing things in a way that is pleasing to You. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.
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