The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Episode Date: November 9, 2018

Following Jesus Christ is not a applicable to a comfort zone. Jesus tells us to “be not afraid” for a reason. We need to go through changes, even painful ones, to be the people God calls us to be. This means we have to get out of our comfort zones. For more detailed shownotes, go to media.ascensionpress.com/category/the-jeff-cavins-show/.

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, episode 89. Get out of your comfort zone. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show.

Welcome to the show this week. Hope you're doing great walking with the Lord as an activated discipline. At the time of this show, my new book, The Activated Disciple, is about to come out. And you can go to ascensionpress.com and pre-order your copy. We'll put a link in the show notes. Really excited about it. It's been the work of several years trying to put together a book that would really help people to be an activated disciple, to take their faith from simply being a fan of Jesus to a follower of Jesus, from simply studying, which is good, to actually doing doing the work and living the life of a disciple.

And today I want to talk about getting out of your comfort zone. I have been challenged recently. In fact, last night, Father Mike Schmitz and I were in Minneapolis, and I have an eight-part activated disciple teaching I'm doing, and he joined me on that last night. And he had some really great things to say about becoming an activated disciple that really made me think. And I thought, well, I'm going to talk a little bit about getting out of your comfort zone this week.

And that's not something that I think you need to hear. I know I need to hear it in my life. Before we get to that, I want to say something about the new Great Adventure Bible. People have been writing me and asking, you know, how do we get this new Bible in other countries? So I'm going to share a little bit of that with you. And in the United States, they are now coming back in stock now. We just sold out so quickly, it was amazing, but you can go to ascensionpress.com and you can now buy that great adventure Bible. But all you need to do if you're outside of the country is go to ascensionpress.com forward slash pages forward slash international.

And I'll put that link in the notes. And you can locate the closest international distributor. And you can go ahead and you can get your great adventure Bible. I think you're going to enjoy it. I think it's a game changer. If you're not familiar with it, we've taken the great adventure Bible study and baked it right into a fantastic Bible that is red letter edition, a beautiful cover, beautiful maps, great articles by some of the country's great scholars like Dr. Mary Healy, Dr. Peter Williamson, and Dr. Andrew Swofford. And I worked on that as well. And we have the Bible timeline chart right in the Bible.

and we have 70 callouts along the 14 narrative books so that you can really get a sense of the movement of salvation history. I think you're going to, I think you're going to really enjoy it. Well, let's talk a little bit about getting out of your comfort zone. How have you been living lately? Is it comfortable? Are you in the zone? Things going well. You've got the fortress built, food in the freezer, venison in the freezer now for all you hunters here in the fall,

which by the way I went hunting the last few days and I didn't get anything but a priest friend of mine got a dough and his friend got a dough and I just sat there in the woods and prayed I got God but you know the comfort zone you have everything going for you got your clothes you got your car everything paid off the comfort zone it's really really good well we got to get out of that comfort zone we have to get out the number one thing that Jesus said when he was teaching was be not afraid. Now, I got to thinking about that. Be not afraid. Why would Jesus say, be not afraid? Well, he said that more than anything else as far as repeated phrases, but why would he say it? I think, I really do think the reason he said it was because he knew

that if you were going to follow him, if you were going to answer that call when a rabbi would issue the invitation, Lech Achari, come follow me. If you do it, you know what, he's going to take you places that you've never been before. He's going to have you doing things you've never done before. He's going to have you meeting people that you've never known before. And so following Jesus is not a comfort zone. There is a certain comfort zone in knowing him and spending time with him and reading scripture and being comforted. But if you think that following Jesus Christ, second person of the Trinity, facing a world of sin and broken, is a comfort zone. My word. This is not a comfort zone. This is, in some cases, a battle zone.

It's a killing field out there, if you will, to quote that movie. It's a tough place to be sometimes, and you're going to be persecuted at times. And that's why I think Jesus said, be not afraid. And I remember John Paul II opening up his pontificate with those words. Be not afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. of getting out of your comfort zone. Now what I want you to think about this week is I want you to think about over the weekend and I want you to think about where you're at and what Jesus might be calling you to. Maybe there's invitations right now on the table from the Lord to grow, to expand your understanding, to get involved in something, to give a talk, to lead a study, to teach a church,

to go on a mission trip, to say to your spouse, looking her in the eyes, I love you, and I'm so sorry for what I said or what I did. Psychologists tell us that change is painful. Don't we know that? Have you ever moved? I remember moving from Minnesota in 1990, where I was very comfortable, had just built a house in the Twin Cities, and the Lord was calling me to Dayton, Ohio. And I thought, Lord, I just got comfortable. I just got in the groove. And the Lord was calling us to Dayton, Ohio, and we had to drive all that way. We packed up. We sold the house. That was painful, you know. I remember driving our daughter to Steubenville, Franciscan University. And we drove from Minnesota, a two-day trip out to Ohio. And I remember dropping her off at Franciscan University. It was so

painful that we dropped her off at the cross up on the hill if you've ever been to the campus. And I told my daughter, Carly, I want to drop you off at the cross because this is the place of change. We prayed for her. And we came back home and we were sitting in our house after two days back. And everybody was kind of holding back the tears because it was the first time that we had a family member that was gone in all those years. And every night we would kneel down at the kid's bed and we would pray and that night we knelt down and I looked over and Carly wasn't there and I started crying and my middle daughter said to my wife she says what's wrong with dad? She says well you know when change comes sometimes it's hard and it takes a while to to deal with

it and Carly's gone now and life will never be the same and I remember Jackie looking and saying I'm over it and we started laughing she was over it because she got Carly's big bedroom. But it was painful. Change is painful. So painful, in fact, that most people will not willingly change unless it is less painful to change than to remain status quo. Now, all of us have comfort zones for many reasons. We can all stand only so much company. We can only, you know, stand so much work or sleep. We overdose on good food as well as junk food. Another adage that we oftentimes will go back to, you know, and we resist change in our lives and getting out of the comfort zone is, well, you know, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Same message.

We get a view of life like a map, and we become increasingly more unwilling to question or change our map of life. We get set in our ways. Another word for it is inflexible. Inflexible. Or the seven last words of the church, we've never done it that way before. Man, how many times have you heard that at church? We've never done it that way before. We've never done it that way before. I can tell you right now, there are dioceses that need to get out of their comfort zone. They need to start doing things differently. Not the status quo. Not the status quo, not the comfort zone of go out and come up with a few ideas, come back for a meeting, give a report, and go back. No, that's not working. We need to make changes in our parishes. We might need to do things differently.

I'm not talking about doctrine. I'm not talking about the tradition of the church. I'm talking about becoming activated disciples. We might need to do things differently. I feel very strongly about that. I've seen a lot of Christianity in the rut in the ditch. It hasn't gone anywhere. But we all have changed. We do grow up from infancy. The fact requires that we make some changes. we do go to school. The fact demands that we do some adapting. I'm going to do. I'm going to send you. I'm going to put a picture in the show notes. It's one of the most precious pictures of my life. And I didn't know about this picture until just a few years ago. When I went to kindergarten, I walked up the big steps of the school

all alone and my mother standing behind me, waving. And as I turned around to walk up the steps, my mother took a picture of me and that was one of the biggest changes of my life but if i didn't make that change i couldn't have gone to elementary school and if i didn't go to elementary school i couldn't have gone to junior higher high school i'm going to put that picture in the show notes because it always reminds me the times they are a change in as bob dillon said the comfort zone's a dangerous place to live oftentimes because there's no growth no adventure no place for dreams and some people Some people believe that moving outside of your comfort zone is really the secret to staying young. Small children grow by leaps and bounds because they are willing to take risks and to make mistakes,

and they're willing to ask a hundred times a day. Why? Why? Why? As we grow older, are we willing to try new things? Do we ask why? What's frustrating is to live in the comfort zone when we serve a God who said, He said, I can do immeasurably more than all that you could possibly ask or imagine, Ephesians 320. So I'm going to challenge you this week to move out of the comfort zone. When I come back from the break, let's talk a little bit about moving out of that comfort zone this week. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Reading the Bible is something we as Catholics know we should do, but let's be honest, it can be kind of complicated. Even though it's a complete story, the Bible isn't really one book.

It's more like a library, with dozens of books and dozens of genres. There's poetry, prophecy, and prose. There are apocalypses and revelations, historical accounts, and allegories. No wonder it's difficult to keep a finger on the story of God's love and plan of salvation for his people, the thread that keeps all of it together. If you're wishing there was a simple guide to help you talk, all of this together, then you're just like Jeff Kavans and Tim Gray. That's why they wrote the book, Walking with God. Walking with God is a single book that traces the story that ties the Bible

together. It helps you to understand the big picture of the Bible. If you're looking to read more of the Bible, walking with God will help you do it with confidence, peace, and clarity. You can find out more and order Walking with God on ascensionpress.com or on Amazon. Welcome back, talking about moving out of the comfort zone. I don't know about you, but living in the comfort zone after a while can become just, well, just plain boring. And I have always wanted that adventure. I remember reading a book as a kid growing up, made into a movie. Maybe you saw it's called My Side of the Mountain. And it's a lot of about a boy who leaves the New York area and he goes into the cat skills and he lives off the land

subsistent living in a tree. And I read that when I was a kid and I read it over and over. And I thought, oh, man, I want to do this. Oh, I'd love to go on an adventure like that. That kid got out of the comfort zone for sure. And maybe you want to do that. Well, let's talk about that. You know, Jesus continually challenged people to move out of their comfort zones into new arenas of growth. In fact, to be a disciple was to repeatedly encounter situations that were outside of their comfort zones, to go out and to encounter people that they never spoke to before and do things that they never dreamed of doing before. Walk on water. That's not something you'd do on a Friday afternoon.

One scripture provides an example of one of the disciples moving out of his comfort zone as he responded to Jesus. Remember the Sea of Galilee? and Jesus had just fed the feet, you fed the 5,000. The 5,000 was getting out of the comfort zone. I remember that so well as you read scripture that Jesus had 5,000 people plus, and the disciples said they're tired, they're hungry, go send them away. And Jesus said, you give them something to eat. Ha!

Jesus, that's way out of my comfort zone. I only have a few thousand dollars in the bank. I'm not taking that out to feed all these people. and Jesus said, what do you have? And they went out and they got five loaves and two fish. He said, that's enough. You see, sometimes when Jesus asks us to go out of the comfort zone and we do, we find that it's not as bad as we thought because he's there.

Isn't that neat? He's there. He's not throwing you out to the wolves. He's not putting you out there and saying, well, you go figure it out. He says, I'm asking you to get out of the comfort zone and speak to that guy at work about me. And I'm asking you to start praying with your spouse. and I'm going to be there with you. I'm not going to leave you alone. When Peter stepped out of that boat, he stepped out of his comfort zone, didn't he? He got out of the boat, which was the comfort

zone, and he began to walk on water. And I remember that so well. They saw Jesus in the middle of the night, and they screamed. It's a ghost. And he said, no, it's me. And Peter said, if it's you, ask me to get out of my comfort zone. If it's you, ask me to get it out of the boat and come to you on the water. And Jesus said, come. And he did. And Peter was the only one in that boat that day that got out of his comfort zone and knew for sure that that was Jesus. But then what happened? Yeah, he took his eyes off of Jesus and his fear started to get the best of him. Well, fear will keep us in a circle of what is predictable and comfortable. My friend, get out of that circle. Get out of that circle and begin to do the work of a disciple of Christ, be bold, be courageous, be charitable, loving.

Fear kept God's people in an inappropriate comfort zone when it was time to enter the land that he had promised them. Read Numbers, the Book of Numbers, Chapter 13. In Chapter 14, God was calling the Israelites out of their comfort zone, out of that bondage that they were so used to, he brought him out into the desert and then he said in the book of numbers go up and look at the land of canaan it's flowing with milk and honey i'm going to give it to you and they said came back and said no we can't do that 10 said no to joshua and caleb said we can do it we can get out of our comfort zone god said you like the comfort zone all right for every day that you were up in the land you know spying it out you're going to spend a year out here and they were out there for 40 years you know

fear does strange things to people. Why would they want to go back to Egypt? Why would, why do we want to go back to that which is predictable? Don't we want to go on the adventure? You can just hear God's people saying, oh, to be back in Egypt. Yes, we were slaves. Yes, we were nobody's. But at least it was predictable. Is that our goal? Is predictability what we're shooting for? Is that what it's all about, or obedience on a daily basis, like the Starship Enterprise and Star Trek, going where no man has gone before. That, my friend, is what discipleship is all about. You might remember Genesis 12, Abraham, what did he do? God called him to leave his comfort zone of Err of the Caldez, and he said yes. And he left there, and he walked 600 miles northwest to,

to Heron, and then 400 miles south into the promised land. 1,000 miles of getting out of the comfort zone. But it was because Abraham got out of his comfort zone. You and I are sharing in the blessings today. Zakias got out of his comfort zone, didn't he? He stepped out of his safety and respectability, climbed up into a tree to see Jesus. And this is key.

We leave our comfort zone to see more of Jesus. and Zechia stepped out of his comfort zone into a focus, to focus on Jesus, which changed his life. A quick review of the Gospels indicates that in Matthew, Peter is mentioned 24 in 24 verses. In 11 of the 24 references, Peter looks like or sounds like he's making a mistake. To get out of your comfort zone, you must be willing to make mistakes. mistakes. You must be willing to become, I'll say, radical in following Christ. In the gospel of Mark, Peter 11 out of 20 verses, where it looks like he might have been making a mistake, doing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing, or in some way missing the mark. In Luke, 7 out of 18,

in John, 10 out of 19. Greatest quarterbacks complete only six of 10 passes. The best basketball players only make one half of their shots. Major League baseball players make first base only 40% of the time, and that includes walks. Top oil companies, even with a consultation of expert geologists, they find oil in only one well and ten. What was it that Jesus saw in Peter? I believe he saw a man who didn't wear masks, a man who showed himself as he was. I believe he saw. He saw a man who saw, in Peter a man who could change, a man who could be shaped, a man who could grow. He saw in Peter a man who made mistakes, but who could move beyond those mistakes. That's getting out of your comfort zone. A young man went off to college. And I'm going to get ready to end with this, just a challenge. A young

man went off to college. Apparently his mother had packed his suitcases in the process of putting his clothing in drawers at his dorm room, he discovered two long, narrow pieces of cloth among the shirts and his socks and his underwear, and they were neatly folded and ironed. At first he didn't know what they were, but when he looked at the design on the cloth, he recognized the pattern. At last it came to him. These were the strings of his mother's apron. She had cut them off for him. She cut the strings of her apron because he was out there now on that adventure in life, a place that was scary, a place where you'd have to take some chances, a place that might be uncomfortable. I wonder what apron strings are holding you in a comfort zone, and they need to be

snipped. Break out of that comfort zone. You know, the key. to breaking out of the comfort zone is eyes on Jesus. Eyes on Jesus. If you will put your eyes on Jesus and you will read his word and you will listen in your heart and prayer every day and ask him, what do you ask of me? What do you want me to do? I believe with all of my heart that you will hear him asking you and inviting you to do things you've never done before. Maybe you're standing at a coffee shop and you overhear the guy ahead of you talking about how he's on his way to the hospital because his daughter is very sick. Do you have the nerve to ask, can I pray for you as he leaves? I couldn't help it overhear you and your daughter's sick? You mind if I pray for her?

Can I ask what her name is? You say, oh, I could never do that. Listen, don't stay in the comfort zone. You hear of someone in your church who's in desperate need, a single mom. who doesn't know if she can put her kids through school. And you're thinking to yourself, you know we got a tax return and we do have a couple extra thousand dollars, God, are you asking me to help that widow? Oh, that's uncomfortable, but it's the work of the kingdom. Do you know if someone who is dying of cancer and you have the idea that maybe I could pray for them, maybe I could go to the hospital and pray for them, get out of the comfort zone?

Have you said something to your spouse recently or one of your children where you felt like, man, that was bad. That wasn't good. But I don't have the nerve or the strength to just own up and say, I am sorry. I was an idiot at the time. Forgive me. Get out of the comfort zone. Are you used to life day in and day out, not praying and just kind of praying when possible in the car? Get out of the comfort zone. Establish a time of prayer in the morning to meet with Jesus. Establish a quick time in the evening, like the examined prayer, to go over your day. Have you not been giving at all to your church? Is that dollar bill that you put in the offering gone from church to church to church, while the $100 bills go from casino to casino? Get out of your comfort zone and step up the giving.

Getting involved in your church, time, talent, treasure. Get out of your comfort zone. Reading scripture. on a daily basis. I don't have time for that. Get out of your comfort zone. Get out of your comfort zone. Does it take a drink every day to get through? Get out of your comfort zone and follow Jesus. It's just a challenge this week. I felt very strong about that. You know, just after I was listening to Father Mike Schmitz last night, we were talking him. And it really had a great point last night. He said, he said, saying no to a thousand good things is critical to becoming a disciple because you need room to say yes to one great thing. If you say yes to one great thing that's out of the comfort zone, it means you might be saying no to a lot of things, maybe a thousand things, and saying

yes to Jesus in saying to him, you're taking responsibility for what Father Mike said last night was the pace and structure of your schedule. The pace and structure of your schedule. Right now is the pace and the structure of your schedule comfortable. Is it comfortable? Take responsibility for the pace and the structure of your schedule and begin to live in that life of a disciple that may be out of your comfort zone. Let me pray for you and pray that God will lead you this week, perhaps out of that comfort zone. Maybe you are thinking in the last few weeks, you know, I've got to do something different. And you're listening right now saying, I cannot believe, Jeff, you're talking about this. this is what I've been thinking about. Shall we pray? In the name of the Father and the Son and the

Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friend right now to you and I ask you, Lord, to speak to their heart as to what you are calling them to. And as you speak to their heart, Lord, I pray that what will ring in their heart and echo in their heart is your word. Be not afraid. Lord, we don't want to live a mediocre life. We don't want to just live an average life. We want to follow you. And we know that's going to take us to places we've never been before. Give us the courage and the strength to follow you, the courage to get out of the boat and walk on water. This week, Lord, may we be very sensitive to your voice and what you are calling us to. We pray this in the name of Jesus, and we ask for the intercession of St. Peter, pray for us, St. Peter, that we too could walk on water

this week. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. My friend, I hope you do have a great week and by the way if you want to get a hold of me my email is the jeff caven show at ascensionpress.com if you got your new great adventure bible write me tell me what you think of it make a video send it in love to hear from you have a great week outside the comfort zone