The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Wake Up!

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

How do we live in these times? We are called to something so contrary to what the culture offers. In this episode, Jeff expounds on what makes the call of Christ so contrary. He explains how we need to “wake up!” Snippet from the Show Let your words and deeds cry out “I have encountered the Lord!” 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 in living as activated disciples. This is show 278. Wake up. Thanks for joining me again, my dear friend. We've been together for quite a while, many of us talking weekly about, issues that are facing our lives, what's going on in society, and how to be a witness, how to study and go deeper with the Lord. And this week, the Lord has really stirred something in me that I want to share with you. And this is different than any other show that I have ever done. You know very well that I typically will take some topic. And a lot of times it's a topic that I'm dealing with in my own life, and I like to share that with you, and together we can

rejoice in the good things that the Lord reveals to us, that this week I have something different that I need to share with you. I really do. I want to talk to you about something that is on my heart, and I can't be quiet, to be honest with you. And it has to deal with waking up, waking up in the times that we're living in right now. Over the last few years, there has been a lot of changes in the world. Life is not the same, and I know that you know that. I do. I hear from you and writing and on the road,

and I know that you know that. Something's different in the world. And I want to address us today. Take a few minutes to address us, the church, the followers of Christ, me, you. How do we live in these times? I'm talking to you, my friend, and I'm talking to myself as well.

How do we live in these times? We need to wake up. If we want to see our faith thrive and passed on to our children, we have to wake up in the midst of the darkness. We have to do something different. You know, as I look back, and I've been at this for over 40 years now, in the 1980s, when I was a young pastor, I noticed a trend developing. Churches were starting up all over the country, independent churches, and they were called seeker churches, seeker-friendly churches, to be exact. And I remember one pastor told me that people responded better when they came into the building hearing Bet Midler rather than a choir. I'm not kidding about that. And they stripped away anything that looked like a church, like a crucifix, and they altered their language so that no one

would be offended. They called it a soft landing. It was believed that expecting too much from people was a turnoff, ease people into a dynamic relationship with the Lord. That was the mantra. People have never, my friend, people have never been changed by easy things. People by and large, are not attracted to easy things, because easy things is where the crowd gathers. It's where the majority stand. But it's the difficult things. That's where people stand apart. And it's always been the difficult, the daring, the risky things that caught the attention of people throughout history, particularly the young. It has always been the call to something greater than self that has attracted saints. Recently, Jordan

Peterson, who needs no introduction, said that in an attempt to popularize the faith, he's talking about the Catholic Church, in an attempt to popularize the faith, especially in the 1960s, they ended up not asking enough of people. They thought they would make it more accessible. He mentioned that Kierkegaard once said in almost a joking way, that once everything has become too easy, there'll be a massive outcry for voluntary difficulty. Jordan brings out what the church has to offer when he says what the church has to offer is the straight and narrow path. And he says this is very, very, very hard. So the reaction to our culture is that we as Christians will make this easier for them. We won't talk about issues. We'll agree to disagree. We won't talk about

money. We won't talk about suffering or talk to people about making the hard decisions. Language such as repentance, sin, heaven, hell are removed. And words like acceptance, tolerance, and becoming the best you is very vogue. It's all about God helping you and me to become the best you and me possible. The important thing is that God wants you to be happy. That's what we're told and taken care of. That's what we're told. And that's what we're all about.

Sins? We can talk about that later, if necessary. But let's talk about us being happy. Jesus' whole approach was that he expected more from his people. He expected everything from you. He expected you to adopt his complete worldview, starting with your own soul and the condition of your heart. He said that we need to die to ourselves if we're going to find out who we really are. And in an age where people are declaring who they are, Jesus said, die and you will find out who you are. What will change the world is not a group of people. who have figured out how God can help them, but a people who will step up to the plate and lay their life down.

Radical change takes radically changed people. And that's you. And that's me, the church. The change the world needs is not a tweak, not a suggestion, but an overhaul. The invite to follow Jesus sometimes sounds more like an Amway meeting, then it does the narrow way. The world is proposing a radical agenda. If you don't agree, they're willing to take drastic measures to shut you up. The agenda of the

world is radical. The world says, if you want to find out who you are, just tell us who you think you are. We'll accept it. Well, that never works. That never works well, because we are lost and in desperate need of help, stained by original sin, but we can't say that on the social stages. Men and women have become their own God, and they must, as a result, recreate the world, and they must recreate themselves. And that's just a bit above their pay scale, because what happens is we recreate ourselves out of tremendous woundedness and neediness, myself included, the world is asking us to believe in a sense that they are God and capable of recreating the world as they see it. We simply won't do that, nor will we

fall into the trap of going down the path of creating our own mission statements separate from God. The problem that we're facing is that an attempt to gain numbers, in any attempt to gain numbers we popularize the gospel. The challenge is not that we have asked too little, but that we're not asking for enough. We're not asking for enough. We need more. Jesus wants all of us. Let's lower the standard. Sometimes I think we think this way. Let's lower the standard and talk about becoming happy and social issues rather than sacrifice and dying to ourselves. Churches became places where people could simply learn how to be a better self, how to handle your finances, discouragement, set goals for life, and design a life that will

make you happy. The cousin to this kind of thinking is that we admit we aren't God, but we are challenged by our culture to be someone, so we use God to help us become someone to recreate our lives in a way that we will be accepted by culture and respect. by culture. That's what we're aiming for. And then society will want what we have, but it doesn't work. It doesn't work. Any system that doesn't go through the cross is more closely aligned with humanism, whether it be religious humanism or atheistic humanism. The rejection of God doesn't end well. But the acceptance of Jesus Christ and the way of the cross, doesn't seem to end well by society's standards.

And in fact, it's foolishness to the Gentiles, to the non-believers. But in the end, it is very good because why you gain eternal life. You become like Jesus. You know, I've been stuck on Jesus' words in Matthew's Gospel lately, reading them over and over and being challenged by the call in the gospel to become that man of God that God is calling me to be. be, to be separate from our culture, to love our culture, to love our people, but to live a life that is the life of Jesus. Jesus said to his apostles, no disciple is above his teacher,

and no slave is above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher. The goal of humanity is not to become who you want to become. The goal is to become like the master Jesus. Living to be like Jesus is like playing squash with a tennis ball against a wall, Jesus being the wall. The wall, no matter how good you are, will overcome you 100% of the time. No exceptions. Jesus is like squash. He will always come out on top. You will never overcome him, but you can become like him in every way, the longer you play. The more time you spend with him, you know, this error of creating a new person or a world without God can easily slip into the way we try to communicate the faith to those who are lost. Make it easier, less controversial, cooler.

Now, bear with me here. Think about that for a minute. just think about that for a minute. We actually sometimes try to make our faith cool. But think about the process that we go through if we are going to walk the way of the cross. We need to first recognize that we are bankrupt sinners who have to humble ourselves and admit that we are not all that in a bag of chips. We are called to do what we're called to confess our sins. and in some cases, if there's mortal sin, we must confess them to a priest to someone else

and allow ourselves to be stripped of the false gods that we have been following and then crucified with Jesus and die. And we try to make this cool or easy? What? This isn't cool or easy, but this is what is necessary for eternal life. This is life and death. How do you make that easy? Bet Midler, coffee bars in the foyer, music with light shows and fog, believe me, when it comes time to pick up your cross, screw the light show. I'm in the process of dying so that I might live. I'm frustrated at times, my friend, by what people think the gospel is. There was nothing cool. about Holy Week, this side of the resurrection. Nothing.

It was sweat and blood on the surface of Jesus' skin. It was beatings and hair pulling and sneering and laughing and stripping him naked for all to see. He was so beaten that Isaiah says he was unrecognizable. It was utter weakness, taking on our shame. All combined with the cry, my God, my God. God, why have you forsaken me? That doesn't sound cool. And I know of nothing, my friend,

nothing in our culture that even comes remotely close to the truth that was displayed on that cross. And we minimize the response to this. You kidding me? This deserves radical conversion, focus and tenacity. This deserves a response of love, an absolute dedication. The response to his love is to pick up our cross and follow him.

Nobody. Nobody in Hollywood. Nobody in the music industry. Nobody in politics or social media stars. Nobody is this radical. And nobody asks you to live the life of Jesus. And if we want what Jesus is giving out, it comes by the way of the cross. It's one thing to watch the passion. It's another thing to live it. Jesus asks us to join him in this cosmic battle for souls in the world. Listen to what he said. He said, everyone therefore, who shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my father who is in heaven.

and Christianity that is popular today many times typically passes for something very light. It doesn't pass for biblical discipleship and dedication any more than Kool-Aid passes for wine. The problem isn't that we ask for too much. The problem is we ask for too little. The little we ask for in following Jesus doesn't grab the hearts of this nation. We are expected to forgive, die to self, think, speak,

and act like Jesus, watch our mouths, keep custody of our eyes, pray, study God's word, walk in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and develop the fruit of the spirit. Husbands are to love their wives and deacons are not to be given to drunkenness. Just for a husband to love his wife the way Christ loved the church is hard. It's hard because you have to die. How are men to be protectors if there isn't a battle or something to die for? Forgiving someone who has caused you so much pain at work is hard. And I know that you may know that. Why is it hard? Because you have to release them and forgive them and turn the other cheek. We recreate a Christianity that is so easy, anyone can do it.

And when people join, we can't keep them because there's nothing worth dying for. You want to get men, give them something worth dying for. Teach them how to die for their bride the way Jesus died for his bride. Stick with me. I've got more to say right after this. Okay, here's the gut check right here, because of, nothing changes, nothing changes. Do you want to be holy? Do you want to be an instrument of renewal in this world? And if so, do you believe it's possible? Do you know what it looks like? Do you know

where to begin? Because if nothing changes, nothing changes. My name's Father Mark Mary. I'm a Franciscan friar of the renewal. And I wrote a book called Habits for Holiness. And it pulls from over 800 years of Franciscan tradition, wisdom, and experience of radical and total discipleship in the midst of the world, but in a way which begins with little steps and works not only for religion, not only for priests, but for everybody. The change you desire is possible. The conversion you desire is possible. The renewal you desire is possible. The healing you desire is possible. And it begins with little steps. So to guide you on your way and to help you make the next best step of renewal in your life, I'd invite you to pick up a copy of my book,

Habits for Holiness. God bless you. I want to thank you, my friend, for hanging in there today with me. As I've mentioned at the top of this show, these are some things I've been thinking about for this last week or two or three weeks and just have to say something about it that we need to wake up. We really need to wake up. We need to live a bold faith because the way that we are called to live is the narrow gate, not the broad, but the narrow gate. And the desire to be in the majority can be such a difficulty and such a trap. Especially when we've been called to walk the narrow way.

Jesus said in Matthew's Gospel 16, I'll put it in the show notes for you. Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Pretty cool. 1. Corinthians 13, Paul said, I die daily. Pretty cool. Paul also said, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Pretty cool. Jesus said, when you put your hands to the plow,

don't look back. No excuses. Pretty cool. This is hard, but doable. I heard someone once say, not too long ago, and I thought it was really apropos. Someone said, a goal without a project is a dream. A project without a goal is a hobby. I'll say that again. A goal without a project is a dream. A project without a goal is a hobby.

if you see your faith as a project and you don't have a goal, the goal, of becoming like the master, which comes by way of the cross, you have a hobby. You know, nihilism is the rejection of all religious and moral principles and standards, and it leads to a view of life as being meaningless. When you reject God and you step into that area of meaningless, You can become mean. You can become vindictive. You'll fight for your life, and you'll cancel people.

When you reject God, you must recreate the world, and you must recreate yourself. And there's one thing for sure, and that is this. You don't have the talent to recreate the world or yourself. You and I are just not that brilliant. If you have to recreate your own life, then you will be afraid of. being canceled because of what you built, it will be at stake. It's all you have if you have built your world and you're recreated yourself. But if Christ gives you your life, you will do whatever he tells you to do. The crucifixion was the ultimate example of being canceled. But the result

was the resurrection, the same life that awaits us. We run the risk of just following the status quo, but it leaves us empty, addicted, and depressed. We're not standing up and proclaiming what Jesus told us. If Jesus were here with us in the flesh, we wouldn't have any problem standing up. But here's the truth. He is here with us. He is present in the Eucharist. He is with us by means of the Holy Spirit. He is with us in one another. And when we will shout from the rooftop, the world will hear? When will we cry out in the darkness? When will we shout from the rooftop? When will we let our voice be heard? Just recently, I heard a testimony of a tremendous man by the name of Zubi, a rapper, a motivational speaker, and a physical trainer at a gym. And he talks about

about what he called the pandemic of cowardice. He talks about how in our culture today, 11-year-olds are encouraged to make life-altering permanent decisions and parents are often told to stay out of the school's business. He says, we are focused on rights when we should be thinking about responsibilities. And I like this. And I have to tell you that when I study the students, the teachings of Jesus, which I have been doing for over 40 years now, I don't hear about

rights, but a lot about responsibility, a lot about love, a lot about laying your life down, a lot about the other people, a lot about worshiping God. How many people today look for a church thinking about their responsibilities? We've been conditioned, my friend. We have been condition to be a part of the majority. And I get it. We weigh our decisions by the desire to be a part of the majority. It's easier to be a part of the crowd, the majority. Our past, though, our past as Christians is filled with heroes who stood for the truth in the face of the majority, like Athanasius of Alexandria. He was the chief defender of Christian orthodoxy in the fourth century in the battle against Aryanism. What stood in the balance, what was at stake was the very nature of Jesus as God.

He stood against the majority when they were wrong, and he basically saved the faith. But listen to what the master says in Matthew 7. Jesus said, enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life. And few, and few, and few are those who find it. Our fear of being cancelled has eclipsed the call to go through the narrow gate. our desire to be a part of the majority has eclipsed the call to go through the narrow gate look at the narrow gate

go through the narrow gate you're not alone pick up your cross and follow Jesus do not be afraid my friend let your light shine walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and let your words and your deeds scream out I have been with the man. Father help us.

Jesus help us. Holy Spirit, fill us. That we might walk as disciples. That our life would mirror our relationship with you. And that we would have a boldness that is in love. a boldness that walks in wisdom, that we would not have fear and we would not be ashamed of you and to testify of you. Lord, may we be be you in the culture today. We pray this in your name. Amen.