The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley
Week 8: Weekly Habit 3 — One Fast
Read the chapter on One Fast in The Common Rule. Key Scripture: Matthew 6:16–18; Isaiah 58:6–7.
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Of all the habits in the book, fasting may be the most foreign to modern Christians — and Earley argues that is precisely why we need it. Come ready to be honest about what controls you more than you've admitted.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Earley opens this chapter by noting that fasting is one of the spiritual disciplines Jesus assumes his followers will practice ('when you fast,' not 'if you fast,' Matthew 6:16). How prominent has fasting been in your own experience of the Christian life? Why do you think it has receded so much from ordinary practice?
2.He broadens the definition of fasting beyond just food — suggesting that any regular, intentional abstinence from a legitimate good for a spiritual purpose can function as a fast. What legitimate goods (food, social media, entertainment, comfort) might you fast from, and what might each reveal about your dependencies?
3.Earley argues that fasting is a way of 'arguing with yourself' about what you truly trust and love — that hunger (physical or otherwise) becomes a prayer, a space where we discover what we really reach for when we can't have what we want. Have you experienced that kind of spiritual clarifying through abstinence? What did you discover?
a.What do you reach for when you're bored, anxious, or sad that you've never really examined?
b.What might a fast from that thing reveal?
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