Christians and the Common Good: How Faith Intersects with Public Life

I have just started reading "Christians and the Common Good: How Faith Intersects with Public Life" by Charles E. Gutenson and in the introduction I was struck by this passage in which he writes about his early church experience:

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to our coming to see the political implications of Christianity was the extent to which our preaching and teaching were focuses on individual salvation. The goal of every church service was to confront people with the choice to accept Christ as their saviour. While no one would have been so crass as to say so, we hardly knew what was left for them to do once that decision was made except to persuade others to accept Christ as their personal saviour also. I was frequently puzzled as I attempted to locate in scripture this very narrow sense of "being saved"; I personally walked away from scripture with impression that conversion was merely a first step in a life of increasing conformity to the image of Christ. The almost exclusive focus on individual salvation through conversion wreaked havoc on our attention to discipleship.

and a few pages later:

In the midst of this version of the Christian faith I experienced a significant level of disquiet. What the Bible seemed to demand of followers of Jesus was far more radical than anything I was hearing.

I am now into chapter one and am enjoying the read.....

The book is written very much to address an American audience but it has relevance for us too...