The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - When Good Things Are Bad for You (Filling up on Chips and Salsa) Part 1

Episode Date: September 6, 2019

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and filled up on an appetizer (like chips and salsa) and then didn’t have any room left for the more nutritious main course? Jeff uses this illustration to explain how good things can become a problem when they replace God. Using Scripture passages from Genesis, St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, and the Gospel of John, Jeff shows us why moderation is extremely important if we want to set our eyes on heaven. Snippet from the Show “Are we living in such a way where we can live in moderation and focus on the things that are really important or are we indulging in the temporal things?” SHOWNOTES Genesis 3:6 - “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.” 1 John 2:15-17 - “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Colossians 3:2 - “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” John 6:25 - “When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’” Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ” John 6:27 - “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.” Samuel Johnson - "It is generally allowed, that no man ever found the happiness of possession proportionate to that expectation which incited his desire, and invigorated his pursuit; nor has any man found the evils of life so formidable in reality, as they were described to him by his own imagination; every species of distress brings with it some peculiar supports, some unforeseen means of resisting, or powers of enduring." C.S. Lewis (The Problem of Pain) - “All things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of heaven—tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear … If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the more probable explanation is that I was made for another world … Earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.”

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, episode 131, Chips and Salza, when good becomes bad. 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 again. Speaking of again, it happened again. And I went to a Mexican restaurant the other day, and maybe this has happened to you. Emily and I were looking for somewhere to go to eat, and we decided we wanted Mexican. And so we went to a Mexican restaurant, and right away they brought out the chips and salsa.

And I did the regular thing, you know, I said, well, do you have some hot salsa? My wife likes the mild salsa, and they said yes. And so there we were beginning our conversation. and eating chips and salsa as we started to look over the menu. Before we decided on what to order, the lady came by and said, if you like some more chips, because we already ate the basket of chips, and we said, why not? And so we went through two bowls of chips before we even ordered.

And once we got that chimichanga and the enchiladas, before they even came to the table, I looked at my wife and I said, I'm full. I'm absolutely full. We might have to take this to go. And we both felt that way. Has that ever happened to you? Certainly it has.

And this is the problem with chips and salza, isn't it? Let's be frank. They get you in there and they fill you up with chips and salza and then you order and you can't eat it. You have to take it home. And when you take it home, you eat it out of the, the refrigerator, it reminds you of the restaurant, and you go back in a few days. Anyway, well, so it's a problem, chips and salsa, and I want to talk about that today.

Obviously, my big problem isn't chips and salza, but what they represent in our lives when good becomes bad. To be honest with you, I want to talk today about a problem that many people are struggling with, and that is becoming full in their life on unnecessary things before the real meal really comes, what we're really created for, which is union with God and to walk with God. We find ways of filling up our life with media and entertainment sports, beauty aids, whatever it is exercise. We fill our lives and our time with so many things that we miss out on what is really important in life, which is that it's that relationship. with the Lord. There are really two aspects to our lives, right? There is the temporal life. That's what

we're living here on earth. And then there is the eternal life. And that's what we are all called to is eternal life, to be with God forever and ever and ever. But when talking about appetites and talking about becoming sidetracked, oftentimes we think about only things that pertain to food when we talk about our appetites. But in reality, it can apply to entertainment. It can apply to sex. It can apply to relationships, toys, TV. Any hobby that you can name, that can be a deterrent to the real relationship with God. In other words, entertainment, sex relationships, toys, TV, hobbies can become the chips and salsa in our life that leaves us with a sense of being full, but not really satisfied.

You know, our first parents, Adam and Eve, they went through this. They were created to be with God and to ultimately find their satisfaction and their meaning in life in God. That's ultimately what they were created for. But as we're going to see here in a moment, they got sidetracked by some things in the garden

that met their need, at least they thought, but they lost something even greater, which was the relationship with God. You know, the Garden of Eden was a place really of moderation. Some things were beautiful, right? They were very, very beautiful, very beneficial, and others, not so much. But all was good in the garden. All was good. Everything was at the service of God.

And we find out that Adam and Eve found themselves living with eternity in their hearts. and that's one of the problems that we face when we talk about the chips and salsa of everyday life is that we're created for more than that. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 in verse 11 says that we have eternity in our hearts. Did you know that? That you are living, you're a living being, and you have eternity in your hearts. In other words, you are a living being that's meant to live forever, but you're in a temporal setting. and that poses a problem.

If you're an eternal being, created for eternity, created for God, but you're in a temporal setting with beautiful, tasty things, then there is going to be a bit of an ordeal as far as choosing the eternal or the temporal. So not only that, but the things in the temporal setting are very, very good. They're very good. using all that God has given them, Adam and Eve, they can serve God and find great satisfaction, but just think about this for a minute. What if the good things for Adam and Eve in the garden take up more of their mind and their heart than they should? Is that possible? That's what we want to

look at here. Now, here's the problem with our first parents. From the very beginning, we see that that we have a choice between what God wills for us and our will for ourselves. Listen to what the description is in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 in verse 6. And I use this a lot in the shows and in my teaching around the country. But I think it's the baseline for understanding the struggle that you have with shopping and wanting things and being jealous of other people and so forth. It says in Genesis 3, 6, so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, number one,

good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, number two, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, number three, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband and he ate. Now, prior to that, the Lord had told them that they could freely eat of any tree of the garden, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would not be presented. permitted to eat of that. For in the day that they would eat of that, they would surely die, right? And so Eve makes an observation about this tree of life or the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And she says it's good for food. It's a delight to the eyes. And it's a desire to make one

wise. Good, good, good. All good. Right? It's all good. But the Lord is saying, hold off on this and seek something even better, which is what? It's obedience to the Lord. It's walking with God. It's the main meal. If you're looking at this in terms of what we're talking about today, it's skip the chips and salsa, and let's wait for the real meal, right? And, of course, we're talking about moderation in our lives as well.

In the New Testament in the epistle for John's epistle, 1 John chapter 2, He comes up with these three categories once again, and he says that these three things are really enemies to us. These are real problems. Listen to what he said. He said, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. Notice he just named those three things, the lust of the flesh, Lust of the eyes, the pride of life, right? Lust of the flesh is good to eat. Lust of the eyes, a delight to the eyes, and the pride of life makes one wise.

He said these things are of the world. They're not of the father. And the world passes away and the lust of it. But listen to this. He who does the will of God abides forever. That's our goal. That's what we're talking about today. We want to live forever, abide forever.

the three things that can keep us from this eternal life and this precious life, this robust, dynamic life in the Trinity, is to focus on the lust of the flesh, what's good to eat, the lust of the eyes, what is delightful to the eyes, and the pride of life. What makes one wise? How do you become the best you? These can become deterrence to the real goal of doing the will of God, and abiding in God. So there's a correlation between loving the things of this world versus loving the father. And I think using the Chips and Saul's analogy in our lives, to be honest, and I've been guilty of this, and you probably have too, we fall into this trap of doing what?

indulging in the temporal and feeling full, and there's no room at all to really, really give ourselves to God in the way that we want. And it leaves us empty. Let's admit, it leaves us empty. So there's a correlation between loving the things of this world versus loving the father. Let me pause for a second. Do you feel empty in your life today? Do you feel that many of the things that you're involved in are chips and salsa and not the chimichanga and the burritos and the enchiladas? Do you feel like your life is constantly made up of filling up on the appetizer, the chips and salsa, and you never really get around to what you really went to that restaurant for?

Or you really are living for? I have at times. eternal reward awaits us as we manage and use temporal things. Let me say that again. And by the way, I'm putting all this quote, the scriptures, I'll put it in the show notes for you. If you don't currently get the show notes, send me an email in the subject line, write show notes, and you can send that email to the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. Let me ask the question again. eternal reward awaits us as we manage and use temporal things. Are you managing and using temporal things in a wise way? Do you know how to use the riches that God has given us here in this temporal world? You know, in the late 1960s, the psychologist Walter Mischel, he began conducting his famous marshmallow experiment. If you've joined me on the road at a conference. Maybe you heard me talk about this once or twice, but it bears repeating.

This is an amazing experiment. Amazing. It's called the marshmallow experiment. Now, what Walter Mitchell did is he placed a marshmallow in front of a succession of four-year-old kids. So he takes this marshmallow, sets it before the four-year-old kids. and then Michel told them that they were free to eat the marshmallow simply by ringing a bell after he left the room. So if he sets it down, he says, if you want the marshmallow, then you can just ring a bell after I've left the room and you can have that marshmallow. However, if they were able to wait until he returned, he told them they could have two marshmallows. now you can imagine how excited these kids are they're going absolutely crazy they they they want two

marshmallows naturally and they're probably giddy well here's the results now again let me paint the picture he sets down a marshmallow in front of four-year-olds and he says you're free to eat it simply by ringing a bell after i after i leave the room but if you want two wait till i return okay so he leaves the room and he's watching him through a kind of a two-way mirror and it turns out that 70% of the children 70, 7 out of 10 children gave up in less than a minute. Only 30% were able to wait 15 minutes. Only 30% were able to wait 15 minutes. We're pulled to, see, we're pulled to anything that provides instant gratification. Even when we know we'd get a bigger reward for delaying, we're also quick to respond to any excuse to stop working on something that is difficult and requires high concentration.

Now, what Mischel discovered is that the low delayers quickly burn down their limited reservoir of will and discipline by doing what, staring at the marshmallows, longing for the marshmallow. The high delayers, those that waited 15 minutes and got two marshmallows, found something else entirely to focus on. They never looked at the marshmallow. My friends, we've got to stop staring at marshmallows. Now, when it comes to the chips and salsa analogy, what are we talking about here? Well, we're talking about going into the restaurant, and we went there for Chimichanga. we went there for enchiladas, but now we're sitting here staring at a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa. And that's what we're focused on. But you came for the meal. You see, we are

eternal beings, and that means that the things of this world will never fully, fully satisfy. But the one who does the will of God abides forever. Now, let me ask you this question before we take a break. What if the enemy could get us to think that the things of this world would satisfy, completely satisfy us? What do you think about that? What if the enemy could get us to think that the things of this world could ultimately satisfy us, that we could become like God but without being obedient to God? What if the enemy convinced us that the marshmallow,

in front of us, the chips and salsa in front of us, is all there is. Wow. Maybe that's happening in our lives. Maybe we are falling for a lie that the things, the toys, the movies, the entertainment, and all this. This is all there is. We may say, no, it's not all there is. There's heaven beyond this, But the question is, the question is, are we living in such a way where we can live in moderation and focus on the things that are really, really important, or are we completely indulging on the temporal things? Ooh, something good to think about. When I come back, I want to continue this discussion.

I've got a quote by C.S. Lewis that is one of my five all-time favorite quotes. You won't want to miss that one. You're listening to The Jeff Kavan Show. Imagine this. You're walking down the street and a Christian at a table with a bunch of pamphlets asked you. Have you been saved? What would you do? Would you know how to respond?

Hi, I'm Dr. Andrew Swofford and I'm co-presenter along with Jeff Kavins in Ascension's new great adventure Bible study, Romans, the Gospel of Salvation. In this study, we teach you the biblical foundations for the Catholic teaching on salvation, how to explain salvation quickly and easily to non-Christians. What St. Paul really meant by works not leading? into salvation and how we can enter more deeply into Christ. Paul's letter to the Romans has been at the center of reflection, conversion, and controversy from the very beginning, and it's widely considered his greatest work.

I invite you to start a small group in your home or parish and embark on this great adventure. Romans, the Gospel of Salvation, is available for pre-order right now and for purchase on September 1st, 2019. To order, visit ascensionpress.com. Welcome back. We're talking today about chips and salsa when good becomes bad, using the analogy of going into a Mexican restaurant for Chimichangas and enchiladas, but getting full on chips and salsa. How disappointing, huh? How disappointing.

And not only that, you just walk away, feeling so heavy. Second Corinthians 11.3, Paul says, But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray for. from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. That's what the enemy did back in Genesis chapter 3, when God said, you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Eve said it looks good, tastes good, makes me wise. And the serpent deceived her by his craftiness,

got her to indulge in the tasty, beautiful things that make you wise, that make you the best you, you know. and what happened as a result of it, they fell. She gave it to Adam and he ate and they fell. And they were led away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ and introduced to a life of incredible complexity, a life of endless baskets of chips and salsa. Chips and salsa good? Yes, satisfying ultimately? No, Jimmy Changa. Now, grasping for the good and choosing, created things over the creator will definitely complicate your life. Oh, how it will complicate your life. Set your eyes on things below and your vision for life will never rise above.

That's an axiom that is so true. Set your eyes on things below and your vision for life will never rise above. But Paul writes to the Colossians in chapter 3 in verse 2 and says, set your minds on things above. Set your minds on things above, right? Set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth. Using the analogy, set your mind on the chimichanga. Not the chips in salsa, right? Now, Jesus taught in John chapter 6,

I'll put this in the show notes for you. It's in the bread of life discourse. Jesus mentions to the disciples that he says, He makes an observation. He says, that you guys came to me, not because of the miracles, but the bread that you received. The point is, they were focused on the here and now, not the eternal. It says in John 6, verse 25, when they found him on the other side, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? And Jesus answered, in all truth, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you have seen the signs, but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Remember the feeding of the 5,000? Then he goes on in verse 27 and says, Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life,

which the son of man will give you. For on him the father, God himself has set his seal. You see, runaway appetites are associated with not obeying authority's voice, both in the Old Testament in Genesis, and here in the New Testament in John chapter 6, we were meant to consume and enjoy. This is true, but in moderation and obedience. Let me say that again, we were meant to consume and enjoy, but in moderation and obedience. There's a rabbinic saying that goes way back that says that when you die and you go to heaven,

one of the first questions God is going to ask you is, why did you not enjoy the good things that I gave you? Well, we are to enjoy the good things that God has given us, and I'm going to give you a little scripture on that a little bit later, but Eve's sin was to grasp for what was good, beautiful, and wise replacing God. There was moderation in the garden, and they could not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some things were beneficial, others not so much. Good things become a problem when they replace God. Chips and salsa becomes a problem when it replaces the meal. We become frustrated when we live our lives as if Earth is all there is and the treasures of Earth or all that we are going to accumulate or experience. There's two quotes here that I want

to give you, and I would say for sure they're in my top 10 of all time. I love both of these quotes because they, I guess they speak to me so much and I need to be spoken to. Maybe you do as well. One is by a gentleman by the name of Samuel Johnson. He has a great quote about longing for things, and we'll use Chips and Salza as our point here in this talk. He says, it is generally allowed that no man ever found the happiness of possession proportionate to that expectation which incited his desire and invigorated his pursuit, nor has any man found the evils of life so formidable in reality as they were described to him by his own imagination. Every species of distress brings with it some peculiar supports, some unforeseen means of resisting,

or powers of enduring. Now, what he's saying there is really important. my friend, he's saying that the happiness of possession, of obtaining something, car, possession, shoes, food, whatever it is, is not proportionate to that expectation which incited his desire. In other words, you've got a desire for a car, and there's this excitement inside of you that's incredible. You've got this desire for enchiladas and chimichongas, right? Tacos, refried beans. And that desire, that desire is greater than what happens when you actually get it. He said it's the desire that is actually more invigorating, right? And in the same way, he says the things you're afraid of or not as big as you make them up in your mind. So our capacity for grander,

our capacity for grandeur and satisfaction is too big to stop with the things of this world. There's something beyond the chips and salsa. There's something bigger, something tasty, or something more magnificent, something more fulfilling than the chips and salsa. Now, on the menu, it's the chimichanga, but in life, It's Christ. Listen to what C.S. Lewis said. He said this in a marvelous book. I'm looking at it. It's called The Problem of Pain. Read it if you've never read Lewis. He says, All things that have ever deeply possessed you should have been but hints of heaven, tantalizing glimpses, promises, never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear.

he says, if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the more probable explanation is that I was made for another world. Earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it to suggest the real thing. So when we look at this analogy of Chips and Salza, we'd say that the Chips and Salza are good. tasty, the salt with the salza. It's good. But my friend, it points to something greater. It points to the chimichanga. And in life today, the good things that the Lord has given us are not the end.

They point to something beyond, which is the Lord. And we must never stop at the things of this world. But if we do enjoy them in moderation, if we enjoy them in moderation, if we enjoy them in moderation, that we must realize that they point to something eternal, which is far more satisfying, which is the relationship with God. And so I think I'm going to follow up on this show with even more on my next show because I got so much more that I want to tell you. But suffice it to say that for today, examine your life, examine what you're indulging in, examine your activities, your thought life, and so forth, and ask yourself the question. question. Is this the chips and salsa of life that I'm indulging in and staying in? Or am I enjoying all

things in moderation and understanding that there's something greater that these chips and salsa these things in my life point to, and am I giving attention to it? Am I in prayer? Am I reading scripture? Am I spending time in a holy hour? Am I going to mass as often as possible? walking with Christ as an activated disciple, or am I just believing these things and walking around with a bag of chips and a bowl of salsa? That's something to think about this week. Next week I'm going to share with you what this leads to and the solution on how to make sure that our life is not a perpetual bowl of chips and salsa. If you would pray for me, I will pray for you.

I encourage prayer and every day. In fact, Paul says pray without ceasing. Hey, by the way, there still is a few places on the January trip to Israel. Go to my web page, jeffcavens.com. And next June, Father Mike Schmitz and I are leading an epic trip for young adults. to the Holy Land in June. Father Mike Schmitz, along with Taylor Tripodi, Ali, Leah, brother Isaiah,

Andrew and Sarah Swofford. We got quite a team, and all that information is at jeffcavens.com under the tab of pilgrimages. Again, if you want the show notes, send me an email, The Jeffcaven Show at ascensionpress.com. Let me pray for you,

and I'm going to be meeting again with you next week, and I'm going to finish up on this topic. but you got your assignment. Think about your life this week. Start taking note. Is it Chips and Salza or Chimichanga? Let's pray. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Lord, I thank you for my friends and I ask you, Lord, to bless my brother. Bless my sister. And give them, Lord, insight into their own heart in the nature of their heart. Lord, you have called us to good and eternal things. And yet you've given us temporal things. here that are good and beautiful. Help us to live in moderation and help us to constantly keep our mind on the eternal, the things above, and not just on the things of earth. I pray this in your mighty name, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I love you. God bless you. Look forward to seeing you next week. Thank you.