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    The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction
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    The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction
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    The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction
    Ebook250 pages3 hours

    The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction

    By Justin Whitmel Earley

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    ECPA Christian Book Award Finalist
    Christianity Today Book of the Year Award
    Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year

    Habits form us more than we form them.

    The modern world is a machine of a thousand invisible habits, forming us into anxious, busy, and depressed people. We yearn for the freedom and peace of the gospel, but remain addicted to our technology, shackled by our screens, and exhausted by our routines. But because our habits are the water we swim in, they are almost invisible to us. What can we do about it?

    The answer to our contemporary chaos is to practice a rule of life that aligns our habits to our beliefs. The Common Rule offers four daily and four weekly habits, designed to help us create new routines and transform frazzled days into lives of love for God and neighbor. Justin Earley provides concrete, doable practices, such as a daily hour of phoneless presence or a weekly conversation with a friend.

    These habits are “common” not only because they are ordinary, but also because they can be practiced in community. They have been lived out by people across all walks of life—businesspeople, professionals, parents, students, retirees—who have discovered new hope and purpose. As you embark on these life-giving practices, you will find the freedom and rest for your soul that comes from aligning belief in Jesus with the practices of Jesus.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIndependent Publishers Group
    Release dateFeb 19, 2019
    ISBN9780830873388
    Author

    Justin Whitmel Earley

    Justin Whitmel Earley is a writer, speaker, and lawyer. He is the author of the award-winning The Common Rule and Habits of the Household, though he spends most days running his business law practice. Through his writing and speaking, Justin empowers God's people to thrive through life-giving habits that form them in the love of God and neighbor. He lives with his wife and four boys in Richmond, Virginia, and spends a lot of time around fires and porches with friends. You can follow him online at justinwhitmelearley.com.

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    Reviews for The Common Rule

    4.5/5

    32 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Justin’s simple yet captivating way of telling his story of discovering a common rule of life caught me off guard, engaged me in real life conversation on culture and theology, and ignite curiosity to limit my overactive daily life and embrace the beautiful and just life with God and neighbour.
    • 5/5
      There are few books out there that give practical help, with pastoral insight and real frailty. I appreciate his sincerity and honesty, while keeping this book from descending into the common trap of becoming modern pharisees.
      I needed this book as a wife, home schooler, business owner, and daughter of the king. Every Christian in our Western world needs to be challenged by this book!
    • 5/5
      A good read for sure on how to take up some healthy habits and slow down in this busy world. I like the practical advice and examples he gave on each one along with shifting our focus back on loving God and loving people. Would definitely recommend it to anyone.
    • 3/5
      I’ve been looking forward to The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose For An Age of Distraction since I first heard about it a few months ago. It didn’t disappoint. After suffering a health crisis from living and working a overpacked, chaotic schedule with little sleep, Earley realized he needed to make a serious change for the sake of his health and his relationships. Earley, working with his wife and friends, established a set of practical habits around the ideas of loving God and loving neighbor.Earley writes:It’s utterly important to learn the right theological truths about God and neighbor, but it’s equally necessary to put that theology into practice via a rule of life... Only when your habits are constructed to match your worldview do you become someone who doesn’t just know about God and neighbor but someone who actually loves God and neighbor.The Common Rule is a set of four daily habits and four weekly habits. I would call many of these habits spiritual disciplines, which has always been a topic that interests me, but I realize that phrase may feel stuffy for many. Earley defines habits as “a behavior that occurs automatically, over and over, and often unconsciously.” He goes on to quote a study by Duke University that found that as much as 40 percent of our daily actions are not conscious choices, but habits.The problem is that means many of the important things in our daily lives are happening unconsciously. And if you aren’t choosing your habits, someone or something else is. Earley writes:We have a common problem. By ignoring the ways habits shape us, we’ve assimilated to an invisible rule of life: the American rule of life. This rigorous program of habits forms us in all the anxiety, depression, consumerism, injustice, and vanity that are so typical in the contemporary American life.Of course, the other problem is many of us don’t want to choose our habits. Choosing means we have to slow down and face our thoughts. It means we have to sometimes stop striving and sit in silence. That terrifies us. Let’s be honest. Most of us want to stay so busy that we don’t have time to think or sleep, because that would mean we have to admit to ourselves that we are finite. We justify it by telling ourselves we’re “called” or saying there’s just too much to do.Earley writes, “Our habits often obscure what we’re really worshiping, but that doesn’t mean we’re not worshiping something. The question is, what are we worshiping?” Earley quotes James K. A. Smith who writes that worship forms us and formation is worship. “As the psalmist put it, those who make and trust in idols will become like them (Psalm 31:6). So we become our habits.” Our habits are daily liturgies of worship. Are we worshiping ourselves or our creator?The Common Rule is not just theoretical. It is an incredibly practical book, perhaps more so than many of the Christian living books I’ve read. Earley clearly walks through each habit and gives a wealth of practical suggestions to get started. He even gives adjustments to the Common Rule for people in various phases of life and occupations. His website is also extremely helpful. If you’re looking to start the new year by making some important changes to your daily life, I recommend checking out The Common Rule. You can get a copy here.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The greatest books on habits and our sinfulness I have read. I have recommended it so many times I have lost count.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Other than the Bible, this could very well be the most important non-fiction book you read this year! I have already begun a list of people that I want to gift this book to, not because I think they or their lives need to be “fixed,” but because I believe they too will relish the truths between its covers. Justin Earley offers new perspectives on the role of habits in our lives, and demonstrates ways in which we can become intentional in how they help form us in a way that helps us to live out Romans 12:2. I don't review non-fiction books nearly as often as fiction, but having watched and listened to the author on a YouTube video after reading a description of this book, I knew that I had to read and review it. Earley is quite open about his struggles and failures, not claiming that developing these habits will bring about perfection, but rather comparing them to building a trellis on which our lives may be trained to grow upward rather than sprawling outward in ways we weren't meant to, twisting into something that slowly dies and hurts those growing around us. It is a book about thriving in a culture that is pervaded with distractions. I am grateful to have received a copy of The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose in an Age of Distraction from InterVarsity Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review and received no monetary compensation.

      1 person found this helpful