It’s the fundamental lie of modern life, says Alan Noble: that we are our own. Compared to our ancestors, we’re less worried about war. We’re less worried about starvation and famine. But by believing that we are our own, we tend to struggle with new problems: the loss of meaning, identity, and purpose.

Noble’s new book, You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World (InterVarsity), feels like a douse of cold water that wakes us from delusion. His book builds off the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism. And he helps us find our way back to this well-worn path of divine wisdom. He joined me on Gospelbound to discuss the sickness of modern life, the burden of freedom, and the power of Caligula, among other subjects.

“We have a community in the church,” Noble told me when asked how we can rediscover what God meant for us. “But we’re going to need to do a lot of sacrificing in order to make that community meaningful.” That means, he explained, saying no to some activities for our children.

“That’s the kind of sacrifices we have to be able to make if we’re going to live meaningfully in community, and have deep abiding relationships that will help us weather the storms of living in an inhuman society.”