How are Christians able to fulfill the Law of Love and be good neighbors in a fragmented age? Jake Meador contributes to answering this question in, "In Search of The Common Good: Christian Fidelity in a Fractured World." Jake joins Matt and Derek to discuss his recent book and untangle some of the modern presuppositions that have been found a home in the church today.
Timestamps:
Intro + what caused Jake to write this book, and what makes his angle different than other authors [0:00 - 9:23]
How Jake’s approach is distinctly “Reformed,” and how these presuppositions shape his argument and critique of the current state of the church [9:23 - 18:20]
The boundaries of the “common good” - [18:20 - 24:00]
If the virtue of America is that it as a nation is a voluntary community, what are the issues we face in letting this principle go? Will it result in a kind of ethnic nationalism? [24:00 - 29:09]
What would Jake say to a hypothetical democratic-socialist who thinks his propositions are insufficient? [29:09 - 36:40]
Does the “common good” infer one most vote for certain political views? [36:40 - 42:08]
The book’s immediate and practical elements concerning vocation [42:08 - 49:00]
Tim Keller’s endorsement + conclusion [49:00 - 50:30]
Resources mentioned:
Book: "In Search of The Common Good: Christian Fidelity in a Fractured World" by Jake Meador
Book: "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis," by J.D. Vance
Book: "The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation" by Rod Dreher
Article: "Global Economies, Immigration, and Precarious Places" by Matthew Petersen
Book: "Resurrection and Moral Order: An Outline for Evangelical Ethics" by Oliver O'Donovan
Book: "The Ways Of Judgment: The Bampton Lectures," by Oliver O'Donovan
If you’re interested in supporting the show financially, you can check out our Patreon here.
Finally, as always, follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Motte for his sound editing work. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.
Caleb Wait
Caleb Wait (MATS, Westminster Seminary California) is a writer and the producer of Mere Fidelity. He and his wife Kristin have two children and live in Northern California. You can follow him on Twitter @calebwait and he invites you to email him at ciwait93@gmail.com.
