Book Review: John Mark Comer’s Practicing The Way

I read a lot of books that fall under the category of “Christian Living,” but it’s rare that one knocks the air out of me in the way that John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way has.

Ironic, as I initially avoided it.  I found Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry to be good, but its message and the author got lost among a slew of similar books and ideas at the time.  And yet the book kept popping up under recommendations, and on a whim I purchased it. 

I am so glad I did.

Comer’s thesis is simple but provocative: he argues that, in Western Protestant Christianity, we’ve grown so preoccupied with believing in Christ, in saying and firmly affirming the correct things about Christianity, that we’ve neglected to actually practice it.  

Comer points out that the earliest Christians didn’t call themselves Christians at all: they were simply followers of the Way, later adopting the epithet of “Christian” that had been used to denigrate them.  As Protestant Christianity evolved over time into the modern era, he points out that it has favored stating, believing in, and studying relational truths about God and Christ—what Russell Moore captures accurately in other pieces as a “vertical” Christianity—rather than actually following Christ and doing what He did (what Moore has elsewhere referred to as “horizontal” faith that impacts neighbors and community).

To be clear, Comer isn’t disparaging our creeds, our Bible studies, and our statements of faith.  He affirms these as vital and needed, but points out that if we stop there our faith is not actually the faith of the disciples or the apostles.  We are in danger, he points out, of losing our Christianity of deeds and actions to a faith that merely becomes a settled collection of things to say out loud and attest fervently.

From there, Comer invites the reader into what it means to follow the Way.  These practices will not be unfamiliar to any Christian reader: Sabbath, hospitality (particularly the “eating and drinking” for which Christ was known, testifying, prayer, solitude, and the like.  Moreover, he encourages and supports the reader in developing a Rule of Life that incorporates these practices—specific, concrete, and sometimes surprising ones—in a deeply meaningful way.

You might be wondering how this is different from other books that advocate these practices.

First, Comer is gentle but relentless in pushing us beyond the bounds of the way we think about practicing faith.  Acknowledging and affirming the discomfort of some believers with tracts and public preaching and “obnoxious” proselytizing, he nevertheless affirms that Christ and His disciples did this and pushes us to consider what that means for us and how we might obey.  He asks Christians to think beyond the simple “tithe” principle to practice consistent generosity and resistance to reliance on wealth for security.  He asks us to recognize all of what Christ lived, and that it is our task to follow that Way as best we can.

Second, Comer offers a lot of practical help. In one amusing section, he acknowledges that the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) heuristic often fails, simply because it’s very hard to imagine how an ancient rabbi might handle, say, the conflicts and indignities of office life.  He offers instead the less-streamlined WWJDIHWM (What Would Jesus Do If He Were Me?), which invites readers to recognize themselves as the hands and feet of Christ in the world and to respond accordingly.  Additionally, believers will find plenty of resources and helps here for the practices that can help them grow closer to God.

Third, Comer tackles the persistent “works” struggle of Protestant Christianity.  Sola fide, the doctrine of “by faith alone,” articulates that salvation in Christ is achieved by the grace of God and not through works or rituals.  Acknowledging this, Comer nonetheless points out that this has at many times been used as an excuse to abandon or neglect the practice of good works and how they can shape and sharpen our faith.

Comer insists throughout that salvation belongs to God; that transformation can only be achieved by the grace of God; that it is the Spirit who transforms and redeems.  This, he points out, differentiates Christianity from self-help practices that center one’s growth on one’s own behaviors.  And yet he insists that practicing the Way is our way of partnering with God to allow this transformation to occur, that our works can give space for the redemptive transformation that only God can bring about.

Finally, Comer offers a provocative thought: that our neglect of living out the Way, of genuinely following Christ, has weakened the witness of the church.  Pointing out that the disciples and apostles healed the sick, performed miracles themselves, and demonstrated astonishing foresight and discernment, he wonders if the Western Church’s lack of such things—healings, prophetic words, miracles—might be evidence of our failings rather than the natural evolution of the church over time.

At the end of the book, Comer offers believers a resource to build their own “rule of life.”  Cautioning that overreliance and strictness with such a Rule can tempt us to believe our own works save us, Comer believes that such a guide can be helpful—and I certainly found it so.  In particular, I was able to use the resource to drill down into some practical approaches and actions that I felt would help me to live like Christ more consistently, and was inspired to think through what that might look like not just daily or weekly, but on a monthly and yearly basis as well.

If you, like me, feel overwhelmed with “the church of words”—an endless stream of books and study—and desire to integrate more of “the church of actions” into your life in a conscious and intentional way, Comer’s book will be a wonderful benefit to you.  Eminently readable, this guide gently calls us back to the center of it all—Christ—and asks us not just to think about or believe in Him, but to start following Him as a rabbi and the Savior and center of our faith.