Create a Gospel-Centered Rule of Life
Habits form us more than we form them. The modern world is a machine of invisible habits, forming us into anxious, busy people. We yearn for the freedom of the gospel but remain shackled by our screens and exhausted by our routines.
The answer is a rule of life that aligns our habits to our beliefs. The Common Rule's four daily and four weekly habits transform frazzled days into lives of love for God and neighbor. Justin Earley provides:
- doable, life-giving practices to find freedom and rest for your soul
- expanded content including study guide questions for individual reflection and group discussion, and
- practical, accessible resources for building habits that bring life.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Discovering the Freedom of Limitations
Part 1: How to Practice the Common Rule
What Is a Rule?
The Eight Habits of the Common Rule
Part 2: The Daily and Weekly Habits
Daily Habit 1: Kneeling Prayer at Morning, Midday, and Bedtime
Daily Habit 2: One Meal with Others
Daily Habit 3: One Hour with Phone Off
Daily Habit 4: Scripture Before Phone
Weekly Habit 1: One Hour of Conversation with a Friend
Weekly Habit 2: Curate Media to Four Hours
Weekly Habit 3: Fast from Something for Twenty-Four Hours
Weekly Habit 4: Sabbath
Epilogue: On Failure and Beauty
Resources
Habits in a Nutshell
Trying One Habit of the Common Rule
Trying a Week of the Common Rule
Trying a Month of the Common Rule
The Common Rule for Congregations
A Prayer for Those Trying the Common Rule Habits
The Common Rule as a Rule of Life
The Common Rule for Different Walks of Life
Acknowledgments
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
Notes
Review Quotes:
"Justin Whitmel Earley's honest walk through anxiety gives hope to anyone who needs a new way. The Common Rule becomes an accessible way to move forward in your walk with Christ, whether battling anxiety or simply wanting to find Christ at the center of your life. Earley's fresh look at a liturgical life comes off the page and into your daily life. This book is a refreshing reminder that community, shared meals, fasting, praying, silence, and rest all have deep effects on our lives. In a society of fast food and split families, the return to the table is more important than ever. Earley lived the fast-paced world of no margin where everyone has free access to his life, yet in the pages of this book, we see he has found another way-another way for us all."--Diana M. Shiflett, pastor of spiritual formation, Naperville Covenant Church, author of Spiritual Practices in Community
"When someone asks how you're doing and you always find yourself answering, "So busy and crazy," it might be time for a change. The Common Rule offers practical wisdom on how to slowly but deliberately restructure our lives, and it shows us that when we embrace limitations, we paradoxically gain the freedom we long for."--John Dyer, author of From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology
"I'm thankful for the Common Rule because it is a practical tool to save me from the tyranny of machine-like productivity. The book and practices remind me that I am a human being and not a human doing. Read this book and save yourself from the tyranny!"--David M. Bailey, executive director of Arrabon, coauthor of Race, Class, and the Kingdom of God
"In the present age, we are settling to be informed when the call is to be transformed. I'm no Luddite, but we must rethink the way technology and busyness are affecting our loves. The Common Rule not only has incredible practical advice for daily and weekly rhythms, it also opens our eyes to see the water we're swimming in. Every church should consider using this as a resource for formation."--AJ Sherrill, author of Enneagram and the Way of Jesus, lead pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
"This is a wonderfully practical book. But even more, it is a beautiful one--full of glimpses of the life we were made for and the simple choices that can take us in that direction. The habits described here and the wisdom they embody are the path toward sanity in a frenetic world."--Andy Crouch, author of The Tech-Wise Family and Culture Making
"The Common Rule is an engaging, relevant, and transforming guide for cultivating spiritual discipline amid the distractions and attractions of life and the daily pressures and challenges of just getting by. The spiritual practices Justin offers are not simply habits and forms adapted for modern life but are habits and forms developed in the painful crucible of personal experience. This book is worth reading and its ways worth pursuing."--Ron Nikkel, president emeritus, Prison Fellowship International
"I love the practicality of this book. Justin Whitmel Earley understands and embodies the reality that we show what we love and value by the daily habits of our lives."--Mark Scandrette, author of Free and Practicing the Way of Jesus, and coauthor of Belonging and Becoming
Justin Whitmel Earley is the creator of The Common Rule, a program of habits designed to form us in the love of God and neighbor. He is also a mergers and acquisitions lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. Justin and his wife, Lauren, have four sons.
IVP
Pub Date: March 14, 2023
1.1" H x 7.9" L x 5.7" W
216 pages
hardcover
