The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Me Me Me "Meology" vs. Theology

Episode Date: May 1, 2020

Are we living our lives for ourselves, or for God? On today’s show, Jeff talks about perspective and how we can focus our lives on God and not ourselves. Snippet from the Show “If the sole objective of our lives is to make ourselves better, then we miss the mark.” Email us at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get added to Jeff’s shownotes email list! For full shownotes, go to media.ascensionpress.com

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, episode 164, me, me, me, me, meology versus theology. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. 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, talking about a big topic this week, and that is our perspective on everything that we consume and everything we do. Is it focused more on me, or is it truly a pursuit of God? I'm going to give you some scriptures today and hopefully some insight that will open this up, and it's also going to be

a chance for all of us, and I say all of us, meaning myself included, to really check our heart, take a look at our heart and see where we're at in terms of why do we do what we do? Why do we study what we study? Catholic content providers, why do we produce what we produce? What is the goal? What's the end game there? So we're going to talk about that, and I think that the show this week will challenge you. And these are some thoughts that I have been putting together for quite some time.

And just some observations about life in general when it comes to me, me, me, me, me, theology versus theology. I'm going to give you a lot of scriptures, so if you do want the scriptures and you don't have the convenience or the time to write them all down right now, we'll give them to you. All you have to do is text. Jeff Kavens, all one word, Jeff Kavins, at 3377. I can say that at the outside of this program, my hope is that as a result of this show, all of us will grow closer to the Lord. All of us will live our lives in such a way that God will be glorified. And I know better than anyone, I guess, that there's always room for adjustment, isn't there? There's always room to check our perspective and to see how we are living. And that's what I want to do today. Check our

perspective. Are we living for me or are we living for God? Am I working for me? Am I working for God? am I creating for me, or am I creating for God? Am I consuming content on the Internet for me? Or does this play into my walk with God? So when we talk about theology, you know, the dictionary defines theology as the study of religious faith, practice, and experience, especially the study of God and of God's relation to the world.

And when I use the term theology in this show, I'm going to be relating it really to the idea pursuing God with the hopes of doing his will and glorifying the Lord. Now, when we talk about me, meology, well, you can find that anywhere, can't you? You can find it on television. All you've got to do is turn the television on or go online and you're going to see lots of, lots of meology. You can even see it in religious circles. When you listen to some TV preachers, you're going to hear a lot of meology. In my experience, I have actually heard evangelists on television say, when you praise God, it's not for God, really, it's for you. In other words, the act of praising

God isn't really primarily for God. It's to make you feel better. It's to give you a better outlook on life. And that is, in Hebrew terms, baloney, right? That's a that is just not true at all. The study and the awe of God versus the study and awe of self. That's what we're talking about today. The best, you know, one of the things that I have been challenged with in my own life is that at different points in my life, there's naturally opportunities to try to improve myself and try to get better, whether it's, you know, physically or what I'm eating. you know, what I'm reading, what I'm consuming online, ways to sleep better, all kinds of things that we pursue. And let me just say this, that on the outside of this program, that there's nothing wrong with pursuing good in general. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking more about an overriding mindset in life, an inordinate focus on ourselves, rather than focus on God and

glorifying God. The truth of the matter is, the best you is not enough. The best you is not enough. The best me is not enough. If it was, Jesus wouldn't have come to save you. He wouldn't have come to save me if the best me or the best you was enough. It's not really about us, is it? When we look at the story of salvation history, we see clear back at the beginning in the Garden of Eden, And I'll remind you of this, the three things that Eve noticed in Genesis chapter three, she noticed about the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She noticed that it was beautiful, number one, it was tasty, number two, and it will make me wise. Now, in those things, you know, the beautiful, the tasty, and things it makes us wise,

it is not evil in itself, not bad in itself. but when it becomes the object of our heart, it becomes the desire to put ourselves there first, when it becomes everything in our life, we, me, us, you know, that's when it becomes idolatry and that's when it becomes wrong. And both Adam and Eve grasped for the creation rather than the creator. You see, meology is the pursuit of advancing my agenda. even if it's, quote, spiritual work, unquote, for me to advance my agenda or to do things that might put me first, that's meology, meology, and we are consumed with it in our culture, and I fear that it's even moving into ministries and churches, both Catholic and Protestant, you know,

around the world. Theology, in contrast, in the way that I'm using it today, is not the pursuit of advancing my agenda, but it's the pursuit of God to advance his agenda, to advance his will. And so one thing I want to talk about here for a moment today is, what is the perspective that we have when we go about anything that we pursue? What is the perspective? You have when you pick up a book, when you go to a conference, and I'm speaking here about Catholic activities, all things, we'll call it all things Catholic. We'll call it that. What is the perspective you have when you pick up a book? Go to a conference. Listen to a podcast or a YouTube video. Let me tell you what I'm not saying here. What I'm not saying is that anything that

focuses on improving is wrong. No, I'm talking about a general mindset that we take in into life, any area of life. What is your perspective? What is the perspective that you have when you pick up a book or go to a conference or you listen to a podcast, a YouTube video, whatever it might be? Is our perspective that I am going to become better? I am going to become more beautiful. I'm going to become more wise. I'm going to become I, I, I, I. That's one perspective. And to be honest with you, I've found myself at times looking at books or looking at things basically on the sole idea of what's in it for me. Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with reading a good self-help book now and then. But if the sole objective of our

lives and what we pursue is to make me better, then we miss the mark. We miss the mark. We miss the Mark? Is it to just improve yourself? Is it to better serve the Lord? Is it to become that better servant, that better disciple, to go from what I affectionately call fan to follower? So the perspective is very, very important in how we go about learning, studying, and consuming content in general. is it me me meiology or is it is it theology a true pursuit of god number two number one is the perspective number two everything that we create or consume should be for the glory of god and i you know i looked at the scriptures and studied them for this uh this show today and uh and i was looking at how much of our lives should be really devoted to the glory of god and and i came up with all

everything. Not some. Not it's going to help you. You know, glorifying God and having religion is going to enhance your life somewhat. It's going to add some taste in there, maybe some herbs and spices to your life. No. No, what I read in Salvation History in the scriptures is that it's all in. It's everything. We don't have that much time. Isn't it kind of ironic? And I was thinking about this and and sharing it with a friend earlier today, I thought how ironic and how ironic that we spend so much time trying to improve ourselves when the fact is we're dying. Now, I don't want to be Debbie Downer here or Douglas Downer or whatever the word might be, but I want to be real about this. You and I are dying. There is an end date. Why not live like the reward is on the other side?

of our last heartbeat. And the older that I get, the more ironic and funny it becomes, you know, to think of how much time has spent on improving ourselves when the truth of the matter is we are called to die to ourselves and called to give ourselves away and we're called to pick up a cross and carry it. Well, Lord, I'll do that if I can get better abs, you know? If we spent as much time growing in righteousness and becoming like Jesus as we do at the gym or researching healthy foods or meditation techniques, we would change the world. You know what I'm saying? You and I, we would change the world if we put our focus on his will, doing his will every day. I feel actually that there is a need for a call today for a radical, radical change of mind when it comes

to living our faith. That this is our faith, our Catholic faith, our books, our virtual seminars, our every, whatever it might be, is not for the purpose of me becoming the better me. That didn't work. I needed him. I'm lost without Jesus. I am dead in my trespasses and sins. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, Paul says, in Galatians 2.20, but it's Christ who lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me. I like what Paul says. Paul says in Colossians 317, and whatever you do in word or deed, do everything. Do everything. Do everything. Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Isn't that

powerful? Man, that challenges me, you know, in what I create, what I listen to, what I consume, that way I spend my time. Whatever you do, it's not about you. The best you isn't going to make it. Whatever you do in word or deed do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. And he goes on in the same chapter in Colossians 3, verse 23, and says, whatever your task, work heartily as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Beautiful. I like, I like the way he words that. Whatever you do, everything, do everything, whatever your task, it's sort of all-encompassing, isn't it? It's very all encompassing. Well, I'm going to take a break when I come back. I'm going to show you that in Jesus

Day, there was a difference, there was a difference in how they approached learning and how they approached conferences and how they approached seminars and books and studies and everything else. There was a difference, and that difference makes a difference. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show. Every one of us is made in the image of God. We are unique, worthy of love, and called to greatness. In this world, though, we can be distracted from that truth and begin to doubt God's love is real. You see, we live in a world that tells us we are not smart,

attractive, thin, or rich enough. It is easy to focus on the ways we fall short of worldly perfection and forget that we are already made perfect. We are already enough. I'm Danielle Bean, author of You Are Enough, what women of the Bible teach you about your mission and worth. You Are Enough dives into the stories of women in the Bible so that you can fully see God's plan for your life. To order, visit ascensionpress.com or Amazon.

And welcome back. We are taking a look at the topic of me, me, me, meology versus theology. and taking a look at our perspective on life and why we consume what we consume and why we create what we create. Is it about us? Is it really about us becoming, you know, wise and able to deal with life in every single way? Is it about me and my reputation and my likes on the internet and all of that? Or is it really about God? Are we created by God for ourselves? or are we created by God for God? Are we created for our will or to do His will? You know, some of this goes back to our perspective on learning in itself,

and perhaps the greatest difference between the Jewish people of Jesus' Day and modern Christians is how we understand the relationship between education and life. When I say education, I'm talking about books, I'm talking about CDs, I'm talking about seminars, I'm talking about school, college, reading, listening, you name it. For many today, education, and I'm going to call this all things Catholic again. I think it's easier just to say all things Catholic. For many today, all things Catholic are merely the ticket to get to the next level in life, like education, right? It's the, we get to the next level in life. If we struggle through grade school and high school,

studying, we hope that what? We're going to get good grades so we can go on to, a college. And if we just get through college, we're going to possess a diploma, and it's going to show our future employer that we're prepared. We're prepared. We paid the price. You can hire me. I'm reliable. And all too often, education or reading is separate from the details of living. Disengaged from a greater purpose in life and merely represents steps taken toward a best better life. And that's sometimes I think what happens when we pursue all things Catholic is that we're just, it's merely, it merely is steps toward a better life for ourselves, for ourselves. I want to study that so that I'm better at dealing with this or I'm better at that. Now, don't get me wrong

again. There's nothing wrong with being better in every perspective of life, whether it's child raising or your finances or marriage or your emotional health, nothing wrong. But again, what's first? You, me, or God, and pursuing His will. I thoroughly believe, my friend, that pursuing the will of God in every area of your life, you're going to do better in the long run, which is not the goal, but you're going to do better in the long run than by pursuing. everything with the hopes that you will somehow get ahead. There was and still is a difference between Greek and Hebraic views of learning. The Jewish philosopher, one of my favorite, Abraham Joshua Heschel. In fact, he was quoted in some of Pope John Paul II's encyclicals, one on faith and reason in particular.

He made an interesting comment. He said, and I think it's a very astute observation, he said, the Greeks learned in order to comprehend. The Hebrews learned in order to revere. Modern man learns in order to use. Isn't that powerful? That's very, very powerful. Three distinctive perspectives, the Greeks learned in order to comprehend,

just to comprehend and to understand and have that knowledge, you know? And the Hebrews learned in order to revere. to worship God, to love God. And modern man learns in order to use. To bake and we owe the formulation, knowledge is power. And this is how people are urged to study. Knowledge means success. And the unfortunate thing is that we can take that mindset into our spiritual life. And by spiritual life, I mean every aspect of life. And we can study to do what? simply to go to the next level or to use that knowledge for ourselves.

Five steps to financial freedom, you know. We can go on and on with different areas of our life, you know, three ways to become a supernatural mom or dad. Well, that's good, and I would be a fan of that for sure. But I have to ask myself, is this about just me being a good parent? or is this about me being a good parent to serve God and his purposes, his grand purposes that go beyond my own agenda? So we need to examine ourselves and locate our heart.

We study all things Catholic to know and serve God, not merely to get ahead. And we watch YouTube videos, what? Not just merely for ourselves, although there is an area for entertainment in life, I'm not going to be that strict and you know it, and we all have fun. But if I'm trying to learn something, is it for me to become a better disciple of the Lord? Am I a fan or a follower of the Lord? Do we study and engage in all things Catholic simply in order to comprehend or to simply use it for personal gain? We study, engage in all

things Catholic to revere, to be in awe of God and to serve him. And so theology points to doing God's word for His glory. In the first century, the disciples of Jesus did not share the views of modern man when it came to learning. They did not see a dichotomy between spiritual things in secular life, as we so often do today, don't we? There's my spiritual life and then there's my secular life. All learning in Jesus' day was related to real living, and all living was informed by faith. As Proverbs says, by wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established. By knowledge, the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24, verses 3 and 4. to the Jews of Jesus' day, study was not separate from worship.

Study was worship. Study was considered a beautiful way to worship God, and its full expression was the doing of God's word. This is a stark contrast to the way many people study these days. They study, gain the information, underline their paragraphs, and then how can I use this versus, the act of studying, being a way of worship, and taking the information that you have obtained and putting it into practice as a disciple to glorify the Lord. And someone might say, well, I do do that,

and I would say, I do that too, but sometimes I think I do stray from that, and I want to study simply to make myself better. It would do us well to reorient our minds and our hearts when it comes to education. And when it comes to learning, rather than seeing education as a series of hurdles that must be overcome or personal gain, we should see learning as a valuable opportunity to worship God with all of our heart and all of our mind and all of our strengths. And everything we create as Catholic content creators even should be for the glory of God, for the glory of God. It's a valuable opportunity to create something that will cause people to worship God with all of their heart, mind, and strength. Amid all of our spiritual or secular learning, when we live our

lives as committed disciples of Jesus, we must ask ourselves, how can the knowledge I am gaining lead me into a deeper relationship with God that will result in honoring God? Meology is focused on self. Theology is learning who God is and what his plan is and the purposes for my life, and how can I glorify him? Meology versus theology, meology oftentimes produces envy, jealousy, comparison, competition. Jesus said in John chapter 10 versus 10 and 11, I came that they might have life and might have it out more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Notice the emphasis there in John chapter 10.

I came that they might have life. That's Jesus. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. The goal and the emphasis here is not my abundant life, although we do share an abundance of grace and riches in Jesus Christ. The focus is Jesus Christ. I came that they might. might have life and have it abundantly. So what we do glorifies someone, doesn't it? It either glorifies ourselves or it glorifies somebody else or it glorifies God. Matthew 5 in verse 16, Jesus said, Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven. That's a beautiful scripture, isn't it? That is really, really good. light so shine. Let it shine, okay? Let it shine before men that they may see your good works.

You should have good works, but it should result in what? That they will give glory to your father, who's in heaven. So we don't show people our good works so that they would see our good works, and they would make comments on our good works and honor us because of our good works. No, we need good works, but good works should lead to people noticing and saying, I'm going to glorify God in heaven as a result of what we are doing. Psalms 115 and verse one says, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory for the sake of thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness. Those of you that are involved in creating content in the Catholic world and those of you that are involved at work and schools and those of you that are involved in plumbing and electric

electricians and education and homemakers and whatever, whatever situation you are in, you have to ask yourself, are you branding yourself, or is Jesus the brand? Let me say that again. Are you branding yourself or is Jesus the brand? You can't do both. We are all in one way or a number. other. We are in the business of branding ourselves, our companies, or we're branding, the brand is Jesus. And I know that in my life, I have felt the Lord calling me more and more to this deeper life of saying, Jeff, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. There was a great quote by Hamill. He was New York editor, New York newspaper editor. And he said something very

interesting. He was interviewed not too long ago on television. And they asked him the question, they said, were you trying to be famous? He ended up becoming the most famous editor in New York. Were you trying to be famous? And his response was remarkable. And I'll give you it. He says, you can't do anything. He says, here's the exact quote. You can't. Here's the exact quote. You can't do any great writing when you're busy trying to be famous. Are you branding yourself, or is Jesus the brand? You are not called to become the best you. You are called to become the best him.

Deny yourself, meology. Deny yourself. Those of us that are caught up in meology from time to time, deny yourself and pick up your cross. and follow him, a fan, or a follower? When we study, we'll create a church or within the families, we have to ask ourselves Catholics, are we aiming at the world, or are we aiming at each other? Let me end with a couple of scriptures here that are very, very powerful. Jesus said in Matthew 16, verses 24 through 26. He said, Jesus told his disciples, if any man would come after me,

let him deny himself. Let loose of meology, right? I think you could translate it. If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life, or what shall a man give in return for his life? I think that's beautiful, and Paul told the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians chapter 10, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Let me wrap this up, my friends. I know this has been a little heavier than normal, but it's good, isn't it? It's good to refocus our hearts and to check the perspective,

from which we're living, and I'll just wrap it up by saying this. We are called to theology, and I use that term in the sense of pursuing God and knowing the mind of Christ and doing His will and dying to ourselves. We are called to that. We're called to theology versus me, me, me, me, me, theology, which is all about us and a focus on us. You know, it was about a few months ago, Scott Hahn and I did a conference in St. Cloud, Minnesota. And I picked him up at the airport, and we were driving around, and I took him to my childhood city, Chanhassen, Minnesota. And there's a lot of wonderful things that have come out of Chanhassen, that's for sure.

And we pulled over on the side of the road, and I said to Scott, I said, Scott, come over here with me. you something. I want to show you something. And he said, where are you going? And we were walking into a cemetery. He said, where are we going? I said, come out. Just come with me. And we walked over about 20 feet off the road and I stood on a plot of ground and I pointed down. And he goes, what are you doing? What do you mean? I said, Scott, this is where they're going to bury me. He said, what? He said, yeah. I said, yeah, this is where we're going to, this is where they're going to bury me. This is my family plot. I said, I just wanted to bring you here.

It was kind of in a lighthearted moment, but it was in a very serious moment as well. Because when I drive by there, I'm reminded that that's where I'm going to end up. And I'm on my way. I'm on my way. And it's not about me. It's about it. Jesus. It's about eternal life.

I'll put that picture in the show notes. Scott said, I need a selfie here. with you and I'll put that in the show notes and I share it with you as a reminder you're going to end up in the ground too and so am I that's not morbid thinking that's reality and we need to face the question is it me me me meology or is it theology let me pray with you in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen lord I thank you today for giving us amazing life and I thank you for giving us a life that is eternal with you. Help us, Lord, to approach everything we do from the perspective that is you that is glorified.

It's your will. It's your purposes, not ours. Deliver us, O God, from meology, and help us to turn to you with all of our heart and mind. And may every action that we do and every decision we make and every dollar we spend, may it may it all be for your glory we ask for special intercession from our dear mother the blessed virgin mary who who gave everything who gave everything and said be it done unto me according to your will and she's also the one who said whatever he said do it Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Remember, the show notes are available. All the scriptures, just text Jeff Kavins, and that's one word at 3377, and we will share those with you. know, my friend. In the midst of this pandemic, if you're listening in the future, we're going through the COVID-19 virus and quarantine lives. I want you to know something. I love you.

More importantly, God loves you. He's got an amazing plan for your life. Have a good day.