Book Review: In Search of the Common Good

This book review was included in the September 2019 Meadowcroft Monthly. For an archive of all book reviews, click here.

I really enjoy books that analyze the current state of our culture and then thoughtfully consider how Christians can interact in a way that subversively points people to Jesus. One of the books I read on my study leave was one of the better books I’ve read on the subject - In Search of the Common Good by Jake Meador (with a foreword by Tim Keller).

Meador serves as editor for Mere Orthodoxy (www.mereorthodoxy.com), one of my favorite websites. I believe (based on some things he’s written) that he is a member of a PCA church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Rather than beginning by bemoaning the culture, Meador begins by critiquing the American church for its role in the loss of common life in America. He reminds us that “We must face the fact that many of the wounds contributing to the American church’s decline are self-inflicted,” citing “disastrous political compromises and looking the other way when sin is exposed in their midst.” In place of this, Meador calls the church to consider how we not just hunker own “but also to see others enter the community and similarly be nourished and in time drawn to Christ themselves.”

Having said this, Meador is aware that the church’s decline has not happened in a vacuum, and he makes several astute observations about the culture we live in - pointing out that people have lost a sense of meaning, a sense of wonder and a sense of good work. He points out that "the existentialist story tells us that ultimately what is wrong with the world is the fact that people do not have the freedom to be their true, authentic selves.” We see this all around us, but we see this even in our own midst and in our own hearts. But our freedom has a point - “The faithfulness of love will shape - and constrain - the freedom of love.”

Meador then moves to consider “the practices of community” that will help the church be restored and to seek the good of our culture. These practices include Sabbath, membership, work and political doctrine and civil virtue. And all of these practices are important because they point us to something that is still to come: “There are things we experience in this world, physical earthy things, that are beautiful and tell us something about the world to come...”

Meador’s book will help Christians to consider what it looks like to truly live in a countercultural way to point others to Jesus. It’s a good companion book to This is Our Time, last month’s recommendation.