The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Give People What You Have!

Episode Date: June 29, 2018

How do you share your faith with someone who is opposing you or bombards you with question after question? Today Jeff shares three things to remember when sharing about the Catholic Faith. You have the opportunity to change someone’s life, so be prepared to give the world what you have!

This is the Jeff Kavan Show, episode 70. Give people what you have. 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. Hey, welcome to the show this week. I come to you literally from a boat in the middle of Europe on the Rhine River with my wife, and you are a part of our 40th anniversary. And it's a privilege to spend a few moments sharing with you and reflecting with you in the midst of our 40th anniversary. It's been really a great time. Right now, we are in right

between France and Germany, and tomorrow we go to Switzerland. We've been planning this trip for quite some time, and we started off in Amsterdam. in Holland and then went down through Germany, France, and we're going to end tomorrow in Switzerland. And that is where Emily's family is from. Her father grew up in Basel, Switzerland. We're going to spend a couple of days there and spend it with family. But it's been such a good trip, not only to relax, but really kind of eye-opening. And I want to share a little bit of that with you this week because, you know, it's one thing to be in the United States and to try to share your faith. It's another thing to be in Europe and try to share your faith. This last year, I had the

opportunity to go to Ireland. Last year, we did something kind of similar and went to Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, and it's just so interesting to get outside of the United States as a turned-on Catholic and share your faith, or to listen to people and what they are going. through, and I just want to take some time this week to share with you some of my thoughts about you and me sharing our faith. And I want to start by just making one big assumption. And it is a big assumption. I know that there are exceptions to the rule, but if you're listening to this show, it's probably because you know a little bit about me. And you have friends who are serious about the Bible, serious about Bible study, Catholic faith, becoming a

modern day disciple. And you're very interested in these topics. But most people out there have no clue what we're doing here or the friends that we have. And they think differently. And that is what I really ran into, not only on this boat, but in the countries that I visited and talking to some of the people. If you hear a hum in the background and some noises, it is the noise of a boat on the Ryan River. So just to, you don't have to adjust your car radio or your, not your radio, but your iPhone or anything else. Well, it's been good. And I'm struck by just how different we are from the world's way of thinking. And we don't interact with that many people outside of our group of friends. That's one of the things that it really hit me on this trip, is that

we, in some ways, live in a bubble. We live in a spiritual ghetto, if you will. where most of the time we are interacting with people who think like we do. They read the same books. They go to conferences. They watch Catholic television, radio, and they're always on the Internet, you know, listening to podcasts or vlogs, whatever it might be. And we have most things in common, and that's good. I mean, that's our community.

But the thing that really struck me on this trip so far is how different people outside of this bubble really are and how they think differently. They live differently. And I needed to see this. I love to share Christ in the course of everyday life. And I do back in the States always share Christ with people when I have an opportunity. And I have on this trip with my wife, not only on the river boat, but also among the locals. But this week it hit me just how many people do not actively embrace Christianity as a belief or a way of life. I mean, it really hit me just how many people, absolutely, this is not on the radar. They're not on the radar at all, and they don't embrace Christianity. It also hit me how many people do not embrace organized

religion in general. And one of the most common phrases that I have heard on this trip from people that, from people on the boat and people in the cities is that I am spiritual but not religious. I hear that constantly. I am spiritual but not religious. And this is a different experience. I mean, we have been leading pilgrimages around the world for over 30 years. And so we're used to going to Israel, going to Italy, going to Ireland and Greece, in Poland, in places. We know people. We have everything in common pretty much, just like the book of access. But when you experience this type of trip, you go into the dining hall and you know nobody. And every single time you go in, you're sitting with someone different. And it really hit me. How many people don't embrace Christianity? How many people do not like organized religion? I like to say to them we'll join us then because we're not organized. And they say we're spiritual but not religious. And I'm

surprised how many people, if they do confess to be Christians, their personal life in terms of morals is based on feelings, emotions, family experiences, the politics that is spoken of at dinner and the evenings is laced with emotion rather than truth or what does Jesus expect from us or what does the scripture say? What does the church say? Also, I was struck by how many people have absolutely no idea of, nor have they heard of any of my author friends, speaker friends, clergy friends, the bishops that I know, the movements in the United States, whether it be Focus, Stubenville, John Paul II, University, and San, they just

don't know. They know nothing of any of this, no idea. So as we make our way up the Rhine River from Amsterdam, through Germany, through France and Switzerland, I am constantly hearing from guides things like Catholics in this city killed Protestants. Protestants killed Catholics in this city and overtook them and a history that is riddled with power struggle and heartache. And I'm thinking in the midst of all of this. And I know back in the States that people have to deal with church scandal. We heard of a huge scandal back in the church while we were watching the news on this river trip. How difficult it is for us to break through this cloud of history, scandal, not to mention how complicated Catholicism can seem to an outsider.

rules, regulations, which I obviously do not see the Catholic Church as a church of rules and regulations. I see the church as a church that has taken the time to show us how to walk, and if you're not on that walk, it certainly can look like rules and regulations. But how do we blast through this? How do we communicate with people? Sitting down at the tables on this cruise, conversations would begin. And once it got out that I'm a Christian, I'm Catholic, I write, I speak about the faith, I'm a Bible teacher, you're riddled, literally riddled with questions. Questions usually about this fog of scandal, history, women, priests, you know, on and on. And I was thinking to myself, wow, I mean, I'm somewhat prepared. I've been through school. I do this all the time. I study. And I was

a bit overwhelmed with, how do I know the answers to all of these questions? You know, how am I going to respond to all of this? Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like overwhelmed with all of the apologetic questions or trying to answer for the church or for history? And all you really wanted to do is tell people that Jesus loved them and he had this amazing plan for their life? Almost every, and understand where I'm coming from when I say this. Okay? Because you probably have run into this as well. By the way, I'm getting to some good news here, because I want to share with you about how I do think we respond to this. But almost everyone I met so far on this pilgrimage, there's some exceptions, but almost everyone that I have met so far is not impressed with the Catholic Church.

Now, you say, well, that doesn't surprise me. That's my own extended family. But this is a reality, is that in this cloud, most of the people that I'm running into aren't impressed. And we are, you are, I am, but they are not impressed with the Catholic Church. And so, you know, one of the things that I'm careful of when I'm sharing Christ with people is that I stay on target with what I'm talking about, and that is that I am communicating the life-changing power and relationship with Jesus Christ that I experience, and that I'm not leading with, let me introduce you to the Catholic Church, because then comes all these questions that I have to answer. And I have no problem talking about the Catholic Church, but I'm finding

that if I lead with that, I'm going to have to spend quite a bit of time answering questions rather than leading with Jesus Christ. And then I can let them know that, of course, I am Catholic, and I did everybody. I shared that with everybody I talked to on this trip that I am Catholic and that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I ran into a statistic not too long ago, and I don't think that anybody could really argue against this statistic, but it's a statistic that blows my mind. And the statistic is that the vast majority, it's something like over 95%, the vast majority of Catholics

will go their entire life, their entire life, and not once lead someone to Christ, other than their children. This is crazy. This is crazy that we would go our whole life and that we would be engaged in conversations with people, in relationships with people, and not lead anybody to Christ. And I got to think it in myself, you know, if it seems so dark in Europe, in Western Europe, in terms of the faith, and then we come back to the States, and on Easter Vigil, we have four people coming into the church, and in a huge church, then I have to ask myself, can we sustain this and grow? Can we remain healthy with this growth rate? And then I started thinking, well, who can change this?

And the answer is, honestly, you and me. If you're listening to this, chances are you are excited about your faith. We are the ones that have to turn this around and begin to evangelize and begin to make disciples and share Christ with other people. I think sometimes we start to live our lives as though, as I mentioned earlier, we're in a bubble or a religious ghetto, and that we are just with the people who we think like, and we are comfortable with that. We learn to communicate with people in that ghetto, in that bubble, and outside of it, we're frozen. We don't know what to do. We don't know how to share with people who are deep into philosophy and new age movement and same-sex marriage.

in gender identity and proper pronoun usage and so forth. And you were like, I don't know what to say. Well, I do have something that we can say and share. So how is the world going to hear about Christ if we continue with the way we evangelize right now in the church? How is the world going to hear? Once you engage people in conversation about Jesus, you will suddenly realize, that you have to be prepared to answer hundreds of questions and world views, not to mention political views, as I said,

I think we need to return to some basics. If we're going to communicate this message of Jesus Christ with the world, that's what I want to share with you. We're going to take a break when I come back. I'm going to share with you just a few points that have really hit me on this 40th anniversary of my wedding to my bride. We are on the Rhine in Europe. We are talking to the world.

And I am hit by how many people don't know Christ and how can we begin to share. You're listening to The Jeff Gaven 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 tie all of this together, then you're just like Jeff Kavins 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 story that tied. 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 to the show coming to you from the Rhine River in Europe. We are today between France and Germany. going to be in Switzerland tomorrow, where my bride grew up visiting her grandfather in Basel, Switzerland, and her dad grew up in Basel, Switzerland. I've been talking in the show here about just how it has really struck me, how distant the world is from this message that we proclaim, yet they have the same needs and desires that we have. You know, I ran into the most interesting statistic back in Amsterdam on this trip, if you've never been to Amsterdam, that is an unusual city. Not only is the Netherlands 50% under sea level, but it is a city that rides bicycles. I mean, they ride bicycles everywhere.

There's something like, I don't know how many millions of people are in Holland, but they have there's even more bikes than there are people in Holland. And it's also, and it's also Also, of course, the famous Red Light District of Amsterdam, not a place I go to, but there's that. You can walk through the streets and smell the pot in these little stores, and it's just a different kind of city. Yet, the international studies show that of the industrial nations, something like 26 of them, Holland is number one in terms of adults and children being happy. Yes, right. And the list is actually very, it's very interesting, this list. The Netherlands is number one. Sweden, number two. This is for being happy. Denmark, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Greece, Poland. These are the industrial nations. Well, the United States, I think, is 23rd out of the 26. And I'm not sure how they're determining whether, you know, how how do you really become happy? And that's a whole different thing we'd have to look into.

But the fact that the world would say that the people in Holland are the happiest people in the world, well, if they don't have Christ, there is still a deep something in their heart that is unfulfilled. And communicating this to a people that think so differently than us is very difficult for most people. So what I want to share with you is let us not be overcome by the cloud of history, scandal, or the complexity of the church, or the way that we share, you know, the way that we stay within our own bubble. We can't let these things keep us from sharing with the world. Now here's a scripture that I really was meditating on when I've been here on the river. And that is Acts chapter 3 and verse 6.

And this is Peter. And some people have been begging for silver and gold and asking Peter for silver and gold. And Peter said this to them. And I think this is key to sharing Christ. He said, I have no silver in gold. gold. But what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Let me say that again. I think this is a beautiful scripture. Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I have, I give to you, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth, walk. And I think that hidden here, it's not so hidden, but in this text in Acts Chapter 3 in verse 6 is the key to evangelization and making disciples, sharing Christ in a culture that does not respect Catholicism, does not respect organized religion, does not think in the same way that we think about the world or about marriage, about sexuality, about heaven or hell, about sin, just nothing in common with us. So I don't have silver and gold, but what I do have, I'm going to give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Walk. So the point of this scripture is this. We need to start to give the world what we have. We need to give them what we have. And I'm going to go through that here in just a little bit, but give them what you have. Don't give them what you don't have. And this is usually what we focus on. I mean, if you're honest, and I have felt this way. before, too, sitting around a table with people I've never met before, asking me questions,

and I don't have answers for all of these questions, but what I do have, I can give to them, and I did, okay? So give people what you have, not what you don't have. I'm reminded of the feeding of the 5,000. Remember that? On the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee, 5,000 people were hungry, plus, it was 5,000 men plus family. They were hungry, tired. And the disciples said, send them away. But Jesus didn't. He said, no, we're going to engage these people. We're going to engage these people. How? You give them something to eat. Well, the disciples say to the Lord, I, we don't have much here, okay? Let's just put it this way where it broke when it comes to lunch stuff today. And they said, you want us to deplete our banking accounts and just give

everybody a meal as a result of that. Jesus asks them a question. He said, what do you have? Go look. That, my friends, I think is the key to sharing in our culture, not just Europe, but in the states or wherever you happen to be in the world, is to give people what you have. What do you have? Go and see. In their case, they came up with five loaves and two fish, yay. But it was enough. It was enough because it was in the hands of Jesus, and Jesus could do something with it. And I want to share this with you. If you will give these people in the world who do not respect the Catholic Church, do not respect organized religion, are caught up in New Age movements and so forth, if you stop trying to give them what you don't have, and give them what you have,

in the hands of Jesus, he can do amazing things because he fed 5,000 people with two loaves, five loaves and two fish. So let me ask you this. What do you have? What do you have that you could share with people? What do you have? What I mean by this is, is what have you been given by Christ? what's in your heart? What benefits have you perceived in your own life, your marriage, your children, your health, your mind, your peace of mind? What have you experienced in terms of justice, mercy, kindness, endurance, your family, Eucharist, sacraments, Bible, whatever it might be. What have you received? You can give this to people and nobody can take it away from you and nobody can say, well, no, that's not true. No, it is true. This is what I have received from Christ.

And as I share this with other people, as the disciples share the five loaves and two fish, he can take it and do amazing things. Now, I do think that there are three things that we must constantly pay attention to when it comes to sharing our faith. Number one, my friends, we have to know our story. We have to know the story of Salis. salvation history. This continually, continually rings true in my mind that if we don't know this amazing story of salvation history as laid out in the Bible, we are going to be at such a disadvantage in sharing with people of what God's plan is for their life. I say this in all charity. If you have known, for example, about the Great Adventure Bible study or any Bible study

that lays out all of salvation history, and you have known about it, and you have not buckled down and learned it, you have to go back and do that. If we're going to engage the world, we have to know our story. I'm going to put in the show notes a link to the Great Adventure timeline chart, which will link you to the 24-week timeline, but I can't encourage you enough learn the Bible, learn salvation history. Don't just learn stories from the Bible, but learn about God's plan for mankind. Because when you share with other people, you're going to want to draw from the story. You're going to want to draw from how God treats people and what's expected of us. So, number one, we have to know our story if we're going to have anything to give to people

when we engage them on a ship on the Rhine River in the middle of Europe. Okay. So number one, got to know our story. Number two, we must not be afraid to tell our story about God changing our lives. If we're going to have any impact on this world, it will not happen if we don't tell people what God has done in our lives. Theological symposiums, yay. Conferences, yay. Books, yay. Cs, tremendous. But if it doesn't come from you, if you don't share with people what God has done in your life, the basic message that we've talked about this before. I had a show called a, you know, sharing a cup of curigma, the churigma, show 48, a cup of curigma. Go back and listen to it. If we don't know that basic proclamation, what are you going to share around the table on a boat on the Rhine

river in Europe? Number one, in that corigma, God loves you. and has a plan for your life. And that's the basic message is that God does love you, and he has a plan for your life. Yeah, but what about church history? Fine. God still loves you and has a plan for your life. But what about the scandals in the church?

We can talk about that. But God loves you and has a plan for your life. But it seems so complicated. You guys don't eat fish. Fine. But God still loves you. We can talk about all that. God loves you, and he has a plan for your life.

and that sin has gotten in the way, and we need to repent, or as the catechism says, reorient our lives to Christ, reorient our lives to God. This is the good news, and if we don't begin to share in our own language in our own way with people, what God has done in our lives and the miracle that's taken place in our hearts, folks, this is as good as it gets. We have to break out of the bubble, and we have to know our soul. story. We have to know how to share our faith with other people, and you don't have to have the answers to a thousand questions. But just one, how did he change my life? Number three, we must pray.

I truly don't think much is going to happen unless we become people of prayer. We are out here trying to change the world, but we cannot do it in our own strength. We cannot do it in our own wisdom. We cannot do it in our own knowledge and power. We must be people of prayer. We must pray for Amsterdam. We must pray for all of the Netherlands and Germany. And we must pray for France and Switzerland. We must pray for the United States. We must pray for Africa. We must pray for all of the world that Christ would make inroads into people's hearts and that he would raise up disciples and that he would bring people to work in his vineyard. We must pray. So three things. We must know our story. We must start telling our story and how he has changed our lives.

And we must be people of prayer. In other words, his story, salvation history, and our story, the proclamation of the corigma, with an ounce of boldness, is the key, I believe, to start to see change lives. Because God will confirm the the message with power and signs and wonders. But the way we're going right now, if we're relying on books, CDs, conferences, TV, and radio, as they say in Greek, it ain't going to change. It's not going to be what the world needs to hear, and that is a real living story of someone who met Christ. All these things are so good, so valuable, so useful in the kingdom of God, but they're not the answer to changing the world.

It's always started with people telling other people, and particularly pray for our young people, because most revivals in world history started with the young people. As I said, you can't answer every question out there. You don't have to. You can tell people what Christ has done in your life, though. Think about this for a few minutes. What has Christ done in your life?

How has your life been affected by the gospel? If you can't answer that, you need to take some serious time and meditate on this question and begin to let it become a part of your social interaction DNA, that God has changed my life. You know that non-denominational churches in America did not grow as a result of sharing deep theological insights? As important as they are. How did it grow? stories, experiences, one person sharing with another, and now over 50% of these non-denominational churches are ex-Catholic. Are you happy? Tell people. Tell people that you're happy. We have to get

over the hurdle of fear and boldly, lovingly engage people in conversation. Again, the vast majority of Catholics will go their entire life and not once lead someone to Christ, beyond their children. The vast majority of Catholics, besides a marriage or their children, will not stand up in church next to somebody else on Easter Vigil, saying, this person has come to Christ. And I, it brought them to Christ.

Will you commit to evangelizing? Will you commit to activating your faith and spreading the good news? Will you commit to being an activated disciple, a modern disciple of Jesus? This is the only way that it's going to happen is if we will start to share with each other, let's do it, let's become activated disciples,

let's become modern disciples, let's begin to overcome our fears and share with people what Christ has done in your life. No, I don't have the answers to a thousand questions, but I do have the answer to the most important. important one, and that is what Christ is done in my life. So this week, focus on giving someone what you have. By that, I mean share with someone what Christ is done for you, and what He has given you. Peace, direction, hope, mercy, justice, kindness, faith, endurance, family, Eucharist,

His word, sacraments, saints, children, grandchildren, healing, peace of mind. What has Christ given you? Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have, I give to you. Will you do that this week? I'd love to hear from you. my email is The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com, the Jeffcaven show at ascensionpress.com. I'd like to hear from you and what you think about this

and how you might respond to this. I do think, truthfully, that if we don't do these things, we're going to continue to lose people. And we have to start to proclaim the gospel, something that will attract people to Jesus Christ, and it's not about church growth. It's about bringing people to Christ, and that's how the church grows. There's a lot of emphasis now on how do we make our church grow?

No, that's not the main focus. The main focus is how do we bring people to Jesus? And it comes through us in the simple stories of transformed lives, and that's what people are looking for. And I have found that as I share with people about my transformed life in Christ, the questions about history and scandal and complexity, just melt away. I'm Jeff Kavans, and I'm here in Europe today sharing with you in the middle of our 40th anniversary

to my lovely bride, Emily, and I just want to take a few minutes out of our trip to share with you some of my thoughts on this trip. Let me close by praying for you, and again, I've said this before, but it really is helpful. Go to iTunes and rank the show, leave some feedback. It's always helpful. It's helpful for the algorithm. as sharing with other people, if people are looking for a particular topic, Google Play as well. We appreciate your support and always encourage you to go to ascensionpress.com, look up the

Bible studies that we've put together in the various other studies. My good friend, Father Mike Schmitz and others have some tremendous tools that will help you become that disciple that goes out there and shares at tables on the Rhine River in the middle of Europe. So I appreciate all of your support. Let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Lord, I thank you today for the experience of spending time with my bride our 40th here on the Rhine River in Europe. And Lord, even on this anniversary date, this anniversary week, I should say, you open my eyes constantly to the need out there. And Lord, I pray I'd be a faithful servant in responding to the darkness and the desperate lives.

that are crying out in the world, and that I would not focus on what I don't have, but I would focus on giving them what I do have, what I've been given by you. And I pray, Lord, that all my friends who are listening would do the same, that we would take inventory and begin to share with other people what we have and to trust in you to confirm the message. I love you, Jesus, and I thank you for asking me to follow you. You have so transformed in my life. you have given me purpose you have given me a life that I never thought possible and I give you praise and glory

and I thank you for my wife and our 40 years in our family in Jesus name amen the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen God bless you have a great week