A Full-Hearted Life: Following Jesus in This Secular Age

by Jake Owensby

Meaningful answers for life’s big questions.

Everyone must ask life’s big questions. Even people who reject any hint of the supernatural and insist that nothing exists apart from matter will have to find meaning for themselves. To put this another way, the defining mark of our secular age is not the absence of belief, but rather the effect on our consciousness of the sheer number of competing belief systems. That effect is fragilization.

And so, belief is fragile. We don’t have to believe what we believe. We could believe something else entirely.

This book articulates how believing in Jesus gives us a sense of who we are, why we’re here, what the good life is, and how to move toward that good life.

This is not traditional apologetics, offering logical proofs that God exists or that Jesus is God incarnate or that all those alternative belief systems are false. Put simply, the aim of this book is to help you see for yourself and to explain to others how Christian belief and Christian practice can make life meaningful.

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 3, 2024

About the author

Jake Owensby is the fourth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana and the twenty-sixth Chancellor of Sewanee: The University of the South.

The most recent of his six books is Looking for God in Messy Places (Abingdon). He is currently working on a manuscript about discipleship in the contemporary world.

Before attending the School of Theology at Sewanee, Jake earned a PhD at Emory University and was an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Jacksonville University. He taught the history of philosophy and wrote about human consciousness and theories of meaning and understanding.

Jake and his wife Joy have been married since 1983. They have three adult children, three young grandchildren, and a very affectionate rescue dog named Gracie.

Reviews

[Andrea Stoeckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing insight

"Following Jesus means to navigate our way through life with the Spirit of love, because we know ourselves to be loved beyond reason."

Yes, this is a quote from near the end of the book but it truly summarizes the whole devotional aspect as Bishop Owensby through personal reflection and active understanding, shows how we can "follow Jesus in a secular age".

This book was suggested by my pastor as a Lenten study for this year of turmoil in both local communities and political trickle down. I had someone ask me why people don't believe anymore. I recommended this book to him and look forward to another conversation someday.

Because this is not a book of answers but a book of longing for something greater than ourselves. I was blown away as both a minister and a seeker and highly recommend this book 5/5

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way of Jesus--the way of the cross--is compassion. And compassion is more than a feeling of pity. Compassion is active solidarity. When Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves, he wasn't encouraging us to have warm and fuzzy feelings about them. He was telling us a basic truth about human existence. We are all in this together. Joined at the hip. That's why he said that whatsoever we do to the least--to the hungry, the homeless, the poor, the persecuted, the reviled, the discarded--we do to him (Matthew 25:45). A society worth living in, a society where we are all truly free, is rooted in solidarity with one another--solidarity in all our differences and struggles. A just society pursues the common good, not the good of the few at the expense of the many.

For 2025's Lenten study, we picked Bishop Jake Owensby's A Full-Hearted Life. Bishop Jake is currently our bishop of Southwest Louisiana. He was kind enough to visit our group one evening, via zoom, to respond to questions and comments. On the whole, the book is worthy of a group study, since it covers such a critical element of our Christianity: What is it like to follow Jesus in a secular age? Bishop Jake pulls from his background as a philosophy professor to examine elements of secularity which either complements, distorts, or undermines Christian values. This is a brief but profound read.

I do have some pet-peeves, though.

(1) He officially cites himself: "Here's how I have put it elsewhere"--followed by a verbatim quote from another of his books which is then cited in a footnote. On the same page, he then repeats the process: "Turning again to what I've written elsewhere"--again, after a verbatim quote from the same book he quoted at the top of the page, he provides a footnote to the same book, with the only difference between it and the footnote above it is that the sentence comes from a different page. Evidently, he does not use "Ibid." But why quote yourself? As Jack White sings, sometimes we have said things "once before but it bears repeating." Just say it again in your own voice. Can one plagiarize one's self if one repeats a sentence from a previous book without a citation?

(2) Instances of poorly written sentences: "Springsteen is a mega celebrity. He's a world-renowned performer with loads of hits." "...here's what the famous Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards reportedly said..." Are readers unaware Springsteen is a "mega celebrity" or that Keith Richards is famous? In neither instance was the reference or anecdote necessary to convey a bit of insight or observation. With so much spiritual insight into what living a "full-hearted live" entails, these poorly constructed pop references pull me out of the narrative, at times reaching for my red pen to write in the margin "avoid redundancies!" "be concise!" "awkward syntax!"

I'm sure these pet-peeves are only mine. Everyone else in the group loved the book and no one noted either of these oddities in their discussions. It is a worthy read, to be sure: Bishop Jake has a lot of experiences and insight to share and convey some necessary truths. I highly recommend this book for a church group-study or for personal enlightenment.

[Betsey Monnot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good for anyone who is wondering what Jesus has to do with living life today, as well as for Christians who want to move deeper in their faith. Full of personal stories and relatable anecdotes, each chapter also concludes with questions to invite further reflection. Bishop Owensby is clearly grounded in the real world and even more deeply grounded in the life of faith, and from that perspective he reaches out to the reader to help us move further into living a full-hearted life.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accessible book for anyone seeking how being a Christian who follows the teachings of Jesus with an open, honest, and forgiving heart can live in today’s world. Everyone believes in something - even those who say they don’t. God loves all. No exceptions. (Note: read as an EfM text for discussion and theological reflection purposes).

[Rose Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how the author advocated practical implementation of the baptismal promises.

[Merrijoy Buist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of hype for this book yet I was disappointed.