The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Jesus and Radical Individualism

Episode Date: May 13, 2022

Is truth something that we each get to decide for ourselves? In this episode, Jeff explains the difference between valuing the individual and the radical individualism that is so prevalent in our world today. Snippet from the Show The individual matters and has inestimable value. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together and living as activated disciples. This is Episode 270, Jesus and Radical Individualism. Thanks again for joining me, my friend. I am looking forward to talking to you today, especially. after watching just a few minutes of the news this week, which I'm sure you have or you heard from somebody else. It's like a sport that you've got to warn people about. You could come out, confused and injured after, you know, listening to what's happening all

around the world, especially in the United States, with politics and Hollywood and law and jurisprudence, you know, the Supreme Court and all these different things. that are happening. In fact, they've been happening for a while now. It's almost like we're in a jaguar, where the news just plain looks like it looks right now. And I know that in talking to people, they can feel discouraged when they look at the news and then they start to forecast their own lives or their children's lives. And they, you know, they kind of hang their heads and say, boy, I just don't know about it. I don't know what's going to go on here. So I want to, I want to address that today with this topic called Jesus and radical individualism. If you want the show

notes, I do have plenty of scripture, as always, and you can get the show notes by texting my name, one word, Jeff Kaven's, J-E-F-F-F-C-A-V-N-S, and you can text that name, Jeff Kavins, that's my name, to the number 3-3-7-7, which is about as, it's about as biblical as you can get for, you know, for texting. 7-7-7. Well, you know, an encouraging word is not always a positive word. I think you probably know that. And when you were growing up, your parents probably took you aside more than a few times and said, let me tell you something.

And it was an encouraging word, but it wasn't necessarily a positive word because they were trying to get something across to you, which would result in better behavior, going down the right path, avoiding trouble, whatever it might be. When men and women of God speak into a culture, they must be honest, and not only honest, they must be clear, and to the point. And there is such a temptation today, and I know this firsthand, and prior to coming back to the Catholic Church, I was a pastor of an independent church, so I certainly know the temptation of this, a temptation to continually tickle ears with

messages of personal growth and ongoing self-realization. And I know that there's an opportunity to talk about personal growth, and we certainly do on this show, plenty of times throughout the year. And I'm not drawn to this personally, because I know who I am. I know who I am in Jesus, and I know the patterns in the Bible of God using Israel's enemy to deal. with their unfaithfulness. So when I look at what's happening in the country right now, I don't just look at it one way, and that is, wow, other groups have got the upper hand and we're not doing enough, and we just got to work harder. I don't look at it that way, to be honest with you. I think there's more to what we are going through, and it might surprise

you, but I think some of the blame is squarely put back on our shoulders in the way we've been living, and whether we are quiet or we're not doing the word of God, we're not training our children. No blame there, you know, individually, but, well, we'll look into it. You know, recently I spoke to the graduates of a catechetical institute. In fact, it's called the Catechetical Institute. Out of the St. Paul Seminary in the Twin Cities, over 6,000 students have graduated from this two-year experience of going through the entire Catechism. to learn how to walk in the teachings of the church with the four pillars in the catechism. And they're just amazing students.

And Archbishop Hebda was there just a couple days ago. And I gave the commencement address. And by the way, if your parish is interested in a two-year catechetical institute experience, the seminary is now doing it. Now they're working with people around the country and parishes, and I'll leave that contact information for you in the show notes. I would highly recommend it. But every class in that institute is named after a saint, and I think we're up to 15 saints

now, 15 classes that have gone through a two-year cycle. And by naming each class after a saint, it gives the students a model for their two-year experience, and most times, most times, I probably could say. all times, there is a correlation between the name of the class and what is happening in the world. This class that we just graduated was St. Anthony of Padua. Now, about a year ago, I went to Portugal with Marcholino di Ambrosio. We had a wonderful time in Portugal, but we went to the church where St. Anthony of Padua was baptized. You typically think of him as being in Italy, but he was born in in Portugal. Now, while there are many wonderful things we could say about St. Anthony,

the one thing that people remember most is what? You're right. Tony, Tony, right? It's when you lose something for some reason. And I'd like to dig into this more in the future. If you know the background of this, send me an email, the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. Or put it in the comments, you know, online or Apple or Google. But the one thing that he is known for is finding what you lost. And I reminded these students that there are some things that are lost out there, some things that are lost in our culture. And maybe all of us need to ask for the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua to say, you know, St. Anthony, some things are missing. Some things are gone. There's some things that are lost in our culture. We need some help. We need really

seriously need some help. Well, what could be lost? Well, I want to take the words of Jesus here as sort of the structure for what I'm talking about today and ultimately challenging you to get involved in. Jesus said, he said, in John 14, he said, I am the way and the truth. and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Pretty straightforward, isn't it? I love that. Jesus says, I am the way and the truth in the life,

and no one comes to the Father except through me. Now, when Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life, those three things, way, truth, and life, he doesn't just kind of water that down. Jesus doesn't merely say that he is one of the ways, does he? Jesus doesn't say merely that he knows truth, and Jesus doesn't merely say that he has life, you know, a form of life. He doesn't say that about any of them, way, truth, or life. But the one word that makes Jesus different from all religions is the word, the. It's the word the,

T-H-E. In fact, that would be a good T-shirt, wouldn't it? Put that on the back of your shirt. the you're you're bound to get people to stop you and say what is the what's that about and you can tell them well jesus is the way jesus is the truth jesus is the life he said i am the way the truth and the life now one of the one of the areas that we have lost in modern culture and i would i would put this at the feet of Christians, many, many times. And that is, we have lost our way. We have lost the way. We've lost the way. And what I mean by that is, is this worldview of Jesus. How many Christians can sit down and actually articulate the worldview of Jesus on nearly any topic that's brought up on the evening news. Now, in Matthew chapter 11 in verse 29, and I'll put that

in the show notes for you so you can stay on the road there. And by the way, it's nice to accompany you sometimes in the car, you know. It's killing two birds with one stone. We get to talk together and you get to go to work or wherever, shopping, or going to Grandma's house, wherever it might be. But Matthew Chapter 11 talks about the way. And Jesus said in Matthew 1128, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. And then he says in verse 29, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for my my yoke is easy you know my burden light and so you've got to ask yourself the question when when jesus said take my yoke upon you when a rabbi in the first century said take my yoke upon you it meant something specific

and the specific meaning was take on my worldview take on my worldview now as i started at the top of the show, you can watch the evening news and it becomes very apparent very quickly that what's happening in the world does not match the worldview of Jesus or the way of Jesus. It doesn't match the particular way that Jesus recommends that we live. In fact, when we watch the news, we see all kinds of other ways. out there. And the response to that is not just to sit back and say, oh, boy, you know, times they are changing, as Dylan said. What we want to do is we want to pick up his way. And we want to teach his way. I have a little bit more to say about that, a little bit later on here, about

about the family and the way of Jesus, the worldview of Jesus being taught in the home, or what the Jewish community would have called the McDashmaat, the small temple. a very small temple your home and that's where the way is taught that's where the way is uh is lived and by the way pun intended i guess the early church was called the way i'm looking at a bible right now and i'm reaching over here on my desk i've got a bible called the way it was given to me back in 1971 and uh that was a big term back then that was taken from this idea of the way Jesus said, I am the way. And so this Bible was named the way.

The second thing, number one, which what's lost is the way, both out there in the wild. But what about your life? Is the way really important, the way? And the only way you're going to learn the way is to get into scripture and to get into prayer and understand the saints and understand the sacraments and to understand the sacraments and to understand. the entire economy of God, the plan of our father. Okay, number two, people have lost the truth. Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, not a truth, not a good truth, not a alternative truth, the truth. And when people ask me that, I remember one time speaking at a university, and I had a Jewish representative and a Muslim representative and an atheist

and then me. And one of the questions that came up was, do you all think that you have the truth? And I was a Catholic, obviously, you know, I'm Catholic. And I think they were expecting me to say, well, you know, we all have our truths. And I have my truth and you have your truth and Catholic Church has her truth and, you know, all that kind of stuff. But I didn't. when the when the moderator asked me do you think that you as a Catholic have the truth I looked around at that room filled with people and I looked at my fellow participants up at the head table and I said yes and you could hear in the room kind of a oh my gosh you know who does that guy think he is I said yes I do think that

the Catholic Church has the truth because the truth is not a concept. The truth is a person, Jesus Christ. Yes, I do believe that we have the truth. And afterwards, it was, I believe, the Muslim lady came up to me. She said, well, I don't agree with you. She said, I do appreciate you being forthright and honest. I say, well, thank you. May I invite you to the RCI? No, I did. But we can't back down from that. Don't be chicken. Yes, Jesus is the truth. So what about all those people, the pygmies, and other people who never heard about this and they die?

Are they going to go to heaven? Well, if they do, it's because of the sacrifice of Jesus, even if they didn't know him. And that's up to God. And Paul talks about that in Romans chapter 1. All right. So the truth. People have lost the truth. We now live in an age of unparalleled.

old individualism. This individual, the individual, rather, cries out in the streets that truth is what serves them, what they believe, and what they desire becomes the servant of truth. Everyone else must cater to them. And even if they are a minority of one, this radical individualism is tearing us apart and eroding the we that has held us together. one of the distinguishing marks of Christianity is that the individual matters and carries inestimable value but this is different than individuals determining what is truth for the masses separate from God the catechism says in paragraph 357 being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person who is not just something

but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession, and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead. This philosophy of radical individualism comes frightfully close to becoming a religion of individualism with the new trinity being made up of me, myself, and I, the family who has long held that they have the right and responsibility to raise their children are now being told that they must give preference to ideologies and idolatry that are at odds with long held Judeo-Christian foundations. So St. Anthony,

help us. We've lost the way. We've lost the truth. Help us to live the way and live the truth in our culture. I'll be back with the third one, life right after this. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ chose corrupt, broken, imperfect, sinful men to be the foundation of his church. And because these broken and perfect men chose to remain in relationship with Jesus, they became saints. And they were used by Jesus to transform hearts and minds 2,000 years later. I invite you to check out my book, Broken and Blessed, where you'll find practical tools to overcome habitual sin, to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to walk with an imperfect church

toward a perfect God who is calling all of us to perfection over time. To order the paperback book or audiobook, broken and blessed, visit ascensionpress.com or Amazon. All right, you came back for the third one. Thank you so much.

And again, all the show notes are available to you, even the catechism number 3, 5, 7. I've got that in show notes for you. All right, we're talking about radical individualism in Jesus, and Jesus says he is the way. He is the truth, and he is the life. He doesn't make bones about this. He doesn't deny it.

He's not sheepish. He's not saying, come on, guys. I mean, you know this is a talk, you know, and I'm just trying to make an emphasis. He is the way. He is the truth. and he's the life. It's a good thing to say on the way to work. Okay, so people have lost the sanctity of the life. It's true. I'm not going to back down from it. We have a problem in our

culture with life. What is life? We have a big problem. We do. Needless to say, the lives of the unborn is still center stage in the news. Turn on the news tonight. I guarantee you. Everybody's talking about it. And most of the people that are talking about it, not afraid to talk about it. We cannot sit on the sidelines and watch the news like entertainment and then bemoaned the situation that we're living in in our country. We have to get involved. We are not far from a dangerous shift taking place in our culture, a shift that results in the individual proclaiming, I am the way and the truth and the life. It is my way, my truth, and my life that matters. So what do we do to stem the tide? Well, oddly enough,

the answer has something to do with truth, but not ours, God's truth. I believe that we should start with repentance. I really believe this with all of my heart, repenting of our silence and complacency. Everything that is changing in society has behind it a crowd of people who are working with a new vision and energy. Complain if we will, but they are not sitting back and doing nothing. I don't, however, think that the battle is won with deception and selfishness and violence and simply arguing in the street. Certainly is a place for arguing a point.

Habakkuk, chapter 1, verses 5 through 7, said something very important. The prophet spoke of the rising of a huge. nation. Back in Habakkuk, listen to what he said. In context today, listen to this. Look among the nations and see, wonder and be astonished, for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe, if told. For lo, I am rousing the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who marched through the breadth of the earth to seize habitations, not their own. dread and terrible are they their justice and dignity proceed from themselves man their justice and dignity proceed from themselves that's really something you know when we talk about repenting uh there's more to repenting as a people than just simply saying i repent you know i repent i repent i

repent, repeating it like it's a charm or some kind of word that if we say it enough, something's going to happen. There is an inner work of the heart when we repent that is a radical reorientation of your life to God. That's what repentance really is. It is a radical reorientation of your life to God. And it is our orientation. I'm talking about ideology here. it is our orientation as Christians in America that I think has left a great big hole in our culture for other ideologies to jump in with fervor, with zeal, with great enthusiasm. No, repentance is not just yelling out the word repentance. It is a radical reorientation of your life to God.

Listen to what Daniel said about repentance. He says, we have sinned and done wrong. wrong. Now this is in the context of Judah being taken away into Babylonian captivity in 587 BC. Nebuchadnezzar's the leader of Babylon. We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances. To us, O Lord, belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness because we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets.

All Israel has transgressed thy law and turned aside refusing to obey the voice. And the curse and the oath which are written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against him. the way the way then the truth and the life are taught and experienced in the context of real life this is what we have to focus on real life real home real marriage real children real work real entertainment real finances i'm convinced that truth emerges not in arguments but in the lives of Jesus disciples. Again, not by arguing, but by living the truth. Freedom is the result of living the words of Jesus. And I'm convinced that as the world becomes increasingly addicted

and discouraged and anxious, the people of God will stand out and broken people will ask us to give an account for the hope that is within us. Our children, our children will learn. what truth is, not on cable news, or state universities, but our children will learn what truth is around the kitchen table at home and around the altar at our parishes, and in the context of the Trinity, Father's Son, and Holy Spirit, which is family. Our response to radical individualism is to demonstrate the way, the truth, and the life in the context. text of the family. You have a family. You have a parish family. And you have been called to live in the family of the father. And that is a wonderful invitation. You know that we cannot sit back

and just wring our hands and complain and say it's not like the old days. Because the truth of the matter is the old days are gone. They're never coming back. And we don't necessarily want them to come back. We want the new days. We want to see that God is doing something new. He's doing something fresh. Can you sense it? Can you see it that God is doing something fresh in our culture? He's raising up people who can cry out for justice. He's raising up people who can speak truth, proclaim the way, protect and nurture life. Jesus is the key here. He is the key here, my friend. Now, some closing thoughts about this. I mentioned to you at the very, very top of the show that encouraging word is not always a positive

word, and positive in the sense of making this feel really good. Sometimes, it upsets us. Sometimes it ruffles our feathers, you know, it digs up the ground and that needs to be tilled so that God's word and his seed can take root. But I like what Isaiah says. Isaiah says, in Isaiah chapter 60, one through three, which will be in the notes, absolutely free, he talks about how the light will come out of the darkness. And he says, rise, shine. For your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples. But the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness

of your rising. I love that. That's a great verse. Very, very apropos. Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness, the peoples, but get this, but the Lord will rise upon you.

And his glory will be seen upon you. And the nations are going to come to your light. if we live it you are a light set on a hill my friend do not put a bucket on top of you and hide that light let it shine listen don't be afraid don't be afraid of the circumstances that we're in respond with with the way and respond with the truth and respond with life and affirming life we do need to be heard in the street definitely we need to be heard in our parishes we need to be heard in our parishes we need to be heard at our teaching institutions. But I would say more than important than anything is the truth needs to be taught and heard in your family at the kitchen table. This is where

it begins. As the family goes, so goes the world. John Paul II. Well, we look at the way the world is going right now. You've got a pretty good idea where the family is at. That's what we've got to change. We do. My friend, I hope that this has been some encouragement to you in terms of where we're at and radical individualism. We do love the individual, don't we? But it's not the individual that tells the masses what their truth is and then forces them to adhere. That's not what we are about. It's not what we're going to do. But the truth that we will advance is Jesus. It's Jesus. Let me pray for you in your family today. And I'm your brother. I'm here with you. And I just want to encourage you.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, O Jesus, I thank you for my friend. And Lord, I lift up my friend and their family and all that they're going through. And I pray, Lord, that you would help them to arise and shine and let their light shine and the glory, your glory, rise upon them, oh God. Yes, there is thick darkness out there. But, Lord, you are the light and you are the one that we

reflect. Help us to be a part of key situations out there in the world. Schools, whether it's government or in our neighborhood, but certainly our home. Help us to be the light that shines in this world. And help us, Lord, in being equipped with truth and an understanding of life. Lord, bless my friend. May your peace that passes all understanding fill them now. And your joy lift them up. May they be joyful this week in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. My friends, share this with your friends, will you? Just take a moment today and share this show with five people who need to hear it and need hope. Love you. Look forward to seeing you next week. Thank you.