Admitting You’re Wrong

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching my undergrad, Randolph-Macon College (RMC), play football. I don’t watch a lot of sports on television anymore, so I tend to keep up with sports primarily through the radio.

However, I discovered that my small college live streams football games, so I decided to tune in. Was I in for a treat! My alma mater went into half time up 42-0 and ended up winning by 30 plus points when it was all said and done.

One series of plays got me thinking about where the RMC football program is now compared to when I was there thirteen years ago. On that particular series, RMC was moving down the field and were close to scoring a touchdown. As they approached the end zone, they ran four straight plays giving the ball to the same running back and running it in the same direction.

Predictable, right?

Then, they ran what looked like the same play to the opposite side. Again, predictable by football standards.

But instead of handing the ball to the running back this time, the quarterback pulled the ball from the running back, reversed direction, and threw a pass to a literally wide-open receiver in the end zone for a touchdown.

There was not an opposing defender within ten yards of the RMC receiver!

After my one year of playing at RMC, I was bitter and I never thought they would be really good at football. Now, they are a perennial conference championship contender and have made the playoffs several times. I have to admit that I was wrong!

This whole dynamic got me thinking about why we as people find it so hard to admit that we were wrong about something.

For some of us it is pride. For some of us it is misinformation. For others it is stubbornness. Admitting we were wrong about something shows weakness, vulnerability, fallibility on our parts.

For many people this mindset prevents them from putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. To admit they need a Savior is to admit they are messed up. That they do not have all the answers. That they are not perfect. That they are wrong.

If we are not wrong, if we never sinned, we wouldn’t need a Savior. The irony is we all have said at some point in our lives that we are not perfect. That everyone makes mistakes…

So why do we deny Jesus, or disobey Him, so strongly?

John 3:19-20 says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”

The answer is simple. We don’t like to admit we are wrong because it signals that there is someone who has set the mark for what is right and wrong, and that ‘someone’ is not us.

This week, I encourage you, as I have been reminded myself recently, to admit you were wrong. Maybe it is admitting you were wrong about the way you handled a situation. Maybe it is admitting you were wrong in the way you treated someone. Maybe it is admitting you were wrong about Jesus.

Regardless of the circumstance, admit you were wrong, seek reconciliation, and embrace the forgiveness and grace Jesus has provided and follow Him.

Anyway, I was just thinking…