Excellent piece, Griffin—and truly needed. I find the Comer-bashing to be a knee-jerk "tall poppy syndrome" without merit (and frankly, quite boring). The critics are splitting hairs. The guy preaches accessible, Biblically-grounded truth, writing in a conversational style that the masses actually read.
thanks for this! i love how thorough and thoughtful (and theological!) it is.
Being a late middle-aged Episcopal priest, I’ve just been introduced to Comer, though Practicing the Way. I’ve been creating a ‘gym for your soul’ based on Christian practices and Ignatian spirituality, and I ran across his website. and loved it.
I’m increasingly fascinated by how the Catholic (Roman, Orthodox, Anglican) and the Evangelical are coming around towards each other in very powerful ways.
In fact, I increasingly identify as an ‘Evangelical Catholic’. Comer seems like a ‘Catholic Evangelical’. Maybe these are closer than they seem…
anyway, thanks for the thought-provoking take on it.
There is indeed something interesting going on. James K.A. Smith (Calvin University) and Brad East (Abilene Christian University) both read like classic high Anglicans. As a senior and now retired Episcopal priest I'm torn between crying “Wonderful!” and “What took you so long?”
It does seem plain to me that Comer is not a reformed theologian or pastor. But neither are many, many other Christian thinkers or writers. The TGC crowd does not seem to like him, but he’s never claimed, from what I know, to be one of them. There are more than enough Keller/Piper sermons and books for them, so I fail to see why this has become such a huge issue for them.
Great point. I’ve noted this before, but there are certain theological traditions whos adherents seem to lack a sort of vibrant, attractive love. The knowledge of this often causes people in these traditions to pursue in-depth theological information and take very rigid positions on issues. As they see more people leaving these churches, they seem to dig their heels in even further, adopting an us-against-the world posture.
Couldn’t agree more!!! I’m a little tired of seeing so much cynicism about Comer on Substack. I have found his teachings life-giving and helpful. This should be celebrated.
Toward your conclusion the idea was covered to “affirm” his work instead of demanding “perfection”.
I couldn’t agree more, the intentions and body of work of Comer prove a healthy faith pushing others to pursue deeper walks with Christ.
Thank goodness I don’t have people running around holding me to the standard they show “famous” authors. (I know they don’t hold themselves to the same 😆)
hahahaha I know that's one of the things that always come to my mind when I read these criticisms...I'm like, if that's how you feel about him I'm terrified of how you'd feel about me lol. Thanks for reading Adam! Always appreciate your feedback!
oh my goodness I would love to do that but the amount of time it takes me to record is horrendous. I used to record voiceovers for my early posts but I had to give it up for time constraints. I think of myself as a decent writer but an awful speaker (except for in a hypothetical situation where I got to come to Inkwell; then I'd be a great speaker). I have been wanting to start it up again though because I realize the length of my posts are pretty burdensome lol...
I always love when authors read their work but realize it’s not always feasible! In the meantime, I make heavy use of the substack audio feature and Speechify for non-substack pieces!
In fact, I listened to this like a fun little podcast on the way back from an out-of-town medical appointment. Haha
As someone who has attended both Solid Rock and Bridgetown since before JMC was known as JMC, I appreciate all of your insight. He’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. But because of his grasp on millennials AND the Gospel, I have been so influenced by both his teachings and the theologians I’ve learned about through his teachings (Heiser, Walton, Willard, Sittser, etc).
Much of what he (and Bridgetown as a whole) have tried to do is UNIFY the Church body. Portland has a whole group of churches called TogetherPDX trying to bring togetherness for the city but so many people still choose to divide.
So I thank you for your reflection. I have been getting frustrated from people misrepresenting Comer because they don’t actually understand him.
Thanks so much Paul! I’m jealous that you were able to attend the community! I was actually planning on moving out there for a time but then Covid hit. Anyways, I really appreciate your first hand testimony!
This is so good. Couldn’t have said any of it better.
What struck me about so many articles I read about JMC was how it felt like they were intentionally misunderstanding him and what he was saying. Often it was a single line that they took to mean something uber universalist or other when in context he’s talking super orthodox, ancient faith, lol. Just a little depth of research into what he actually says about community, the gospel, progressivism, and the like would’ve revealed just how orthodox he is and how much he cares about building up the local church.
There’s literally famous videos with zondervan and thinq where he says how deconstruction and progressive Christianity lead to deconversion and apostasy. 😂
I love Comer, and I love how you wrote this. As a former charismatic evangelical, yes to everything you said. We cannot handle the word Eucharist—partly because we are so light on academics and traditions that we have no historical, academic or philosophical context to understand our faith. These three lenses—while not as important as a spiritual or Christological lens—would serve evangelicals well in understanding their own belief system—apologetics aside. Comer is trying to offer up the forgotten aspects of our faith in an accessible read so everyone can understand and have access. I daresay his critics have really delved into early church history or the writings of the Patristics. I am also tired of seeing his quotes used as sound bites to attack him on Substack… feels like the very religious FB I just left.
Yes I totally agree with you. I think I've found that the majority of his critics come from those who's church history interest is mainly allocated to the post-reformation era. I love that era and am influenced by it in more ways than I can count, but I personally don't want to disregard any stretch of church history for the sake of hallowing a single one. Anyways, thanks so much for your kind words!!
This is a great observation about JMC’s critics. I’m also heavily influenced by the post-reform era and its present day teachers, but I’ve also been blessed by JMC and the wisdom he has gleaned from other parts of church history.
It has been challenging to navigate if others’ concerns with JMC’s teachings and his embrace of a broader church history are warranted or simply misunderstandings or superficial critiques of him.
Loved reading this, Griffin. I have learned so much from Comer's work. Though I personally find his writing style annoying, I recognize that it probably reaches his audience really well. It seems like a good choice for him to reach that audience instead of taking on the job of teaching how to read better. I think a lot of this criticism stems from wanting one person to be able to do everything for us instead of our being willing to read and learn broadly.
Great article, thank you. Dallas Willard sat on my shelf, unread, for many years. Simultaneously, I taught theology to laypersons for a decade. When I came to sanctification, I taught, “Sanctification is a cooperative work between the believer and the Holy Spirit.” Period. Stop. And that's all I had to say. I had no idea what this work the believer is supposed to do to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to effect this inner heart change of sanctification. Now, a decade later, I read Dallas Willard. I wish I had known then what I have started to understand now. It is not just about “getting into heaven.” It is about inner change. Saved by grace, absolutely. Then, do something in that state of grace to change who you are. It strikes me as really interesting that the term “obedience of faith” is on both the first and last pages of Romans. So, thank you Dallas Willard and JMC for trying to wake us up.
The criticism of being anti-church is a funny one to me because I find that he's a poster boy for the organisational church--I try not to speak down about people I don't know because in the end you either see people as humans or as fodder for organisations. Comer is at least trying to bring the touch of humanity back to our organisations so more power to him, but it's a tough if not impossible road to walk. Those in love with the organisation will find his rhetoric about humanity difficult to swallow and anti-church and those in love with humanity will find anything he has to say about community as kowtowing to destructive systems.
Most people considering deconstruction are starting at the very beginning and rarely get passed questions about 1st, 2nd or 3rd order theology to get to the real meat of why we're deconstructing in the first place which is usually the organisation itself that hides behind these hurdles we rarely clear. Our organisations lack humanity and love. We feast on guys like JMC and turn them into bait to attract all the little fishes; a little blood in the water never hurts in that process and a poster-boy-scapegoat like JMC drives people to our organisations because we either match energy for him or against him and either way it gets people to church.
Case and point is an anecdote that Skye Jethani shares about meeting a Christian Publishing Executive at a luncheon during that time in 08-10 after Blue Like Jazz was published and Skye said something like, "what about the Emergent Church huh?" and the Executive scoffed and said, "The Emergent Church will be gone in a year's time, and no one will talk about it again," shocked, Skye asked how he could say that with such certainty, and the Executive said, "because we created the Emergent Church and in 11 months their contract with us is done and we won't be renewing it."
I'm cheering for JMC. I want him to get out with his sanity intact before that happens to him; before he's digested by the organisation. At the moment the organised church is taking its lumps for associating with him like a digestive tract trying to get rid of all of the hard to digest bits about our humanity; call it spiritual fibre, but at some point JMC will stop writing and his works will be compiled into 10 volumes and he will be hailed as "The Billy Graham" of our generation meaning that he drove enough people into our organisations for the cost of his life to be worth it, only it will be worded evangelistically whatever the case. Any notion about supporting our humanity will be filtered out and left behind for the pure sweet almond milk we so enjoy reading. I don't want that for anybody.
You should check out Andy Squyres on instagram, love his writing. I didn’t finish your whole article yet, but based on what I read I think you’d really like his work.
Wow--yes!! John Mark Comer's teachings have helped me so much on my walk with the Lord. I always found myself thinking "There has to be MORE; THIS cannot be all there is to God" from the Christianity I was raised in. JMC's work opened that door to "more" for me, as I'm a person who HAS to be intentional and devoted to something. I couldn't handle the half-hearted Christianity.
I also love your stress on the fact that we should not put John Mark Comer on a pedestal. If I find myself talking about JMC more than I'm talking about the Lord to people...I might have a problem lol.
Excellent piece, Griffin—and truly needed. I find the Comer-bashing to be a knee-jerk "tall poppy syndrome" without merit (and frankly, quite boring). The critics are splitting hairs. The guy preaches accessible, Biblically-grounded truth, writing in a conversational style that the masses actually read.
thanks so much for reading Zach!!
thanks for this! i love how thorough and thoughtful (and theological!) it is.
Being a late middle-aged Episcopal priest, I’ve just been introduced to Comer, though Practicing the Way. I’ve been creating a ‘gym for your soul’ based on Christian practices and Ignatian spirituality, and I ran across his website. and loved it.
I’m increasingly fascinated by how the Catholic (Roman, Orthodox, Anglican) and the Evangelical are coming around towards each other in very powerful ways.
In fact, I increasingly identify as an ‘Evangelical Catholic’. Comer seems like a ‘Catholic Evangelical’. Maybe these are closer than they seem…
anyway, thanks for the thought-provoking take on it.
thanks so much for reading Cathie!! Appreciate your support so much.
There is indeed something interesting going on. James K.A. Smith (Calvin University) and Brad East (Abilene Christian University) both read like classic high Anglicans. As a senior and now retired Episcopal priest I'm torn between crying “Wonderful!” and “What took you so long?”
Lean not to your own understanding!
This is a great article. I've benefitted from JMC's work.
He won't be everyone's cup of tea, but his writing style is unique and demonstrates deep reading from a 40ish-year-old.
You've done a great service in dispelling myths around his work.
Great point! Thanks so much Greg!!
It does seem plain to me that Comer is not a reformed theologian or pastor. But neither are many, many other Christian thinkers or writers. The TGC crowd does not seem to like him, but he’s never claimed, from what I know, to be one of them. There are more than enough Keller/Piper sermons and books for them, so I fail to see why this has become such a huge issue for them.
This is legitimately one of the most insightful comments I've seen about the Comer conversation. I think you're absolutely spot on.
In general, reformed folks seem to expect that all positions come in line with theirs. .or they're ... you know.. deficient in some way.
Great point. I’ve noted this before, but there are certain theological traditions whos adherents seem to lack a sort of vibrant, attractive love. The knowledge of this often causes people in these traditions to pursue in-depth theological information and take very rigid positions on issues. As they see more people leaving these churches, they seem to dig their heels in even further, adopting an us-against-the world posture.
Couldn’t agree more!!! I’m a little tired of seeing so much cynicism about Comer on Substack. I have found his teachings life-giving and helpful. This should be celebrated.
thanks Sarah and amen!
Toward your conclusion the idea was covered to “affirm” his work instead of demanding “perfection”.
I couldn’t agree more, the intentions and body of work of Comer prove a healthy faith pushing others to pursue deeper walks with Christ.
Thank goodness I don’t have people running around holding me to the standard they show “famous” authors. (I know they don’t hold themselves to the same 😆)
hahahaha I know that's one of the things that always come to my mind when I read these criticisms...I'm like, if that's how you feel about him I'm terrified of how you'd feel about me lol. Thanks for reading Adam! Always appreciate your feedback!
“There’s also concern about how Comer believes and lives as if the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts are still active”
**Laughs in the Spirit**
Tyler Staton (who now pastors Bridgetown after Comer left) just wrote a great book on the Holy Spirit called The Familiar Stranger.
Yeah, I was thoroughly confused by this line. lol. That’s very much a good thing
Petition for you to use the audio feature and read your essays ! (Although this would be quite a long one- but I’d listen)
oh my goodness I would love to do that but the amount of time it takes me to record is horrendous. I used to record voiceovers for my early posts but I had to give it up for time constraints. I think of myself as a decent writer but an awful speaker (except for in a hypothetical situation where I got to come to Inkwell; then I'd be a great speaker). I have been wanting to start it up again though because I realize the length of my posts are pretty burdensome lol...
I always love when authors read their work but realize it’s not always feasible! In the meantime, I make heavy use of the substack audio feature and Speechify for non-substack pieces!
In fact, I listened to this like a fun little podcast on the way back from an out-of-town medical appointment. Haha
As someone who has attended both Solid Rock and Bridgetown since before JMC was known as JMC, I appreciate all of your insight. He’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. But because of his grasp on millennials AND the Gospel, I have been so influenced by both his teachings and the theologians I’ve learned about through his teachings (Heiser, Walton, Willard, Sittser, etc).
Much of what he (and Bridgetown as a whole) have tried to do is UNIFY the Church body. Portland has a whole group of churches called TogetherPDX trying to bring togetherness for the city but so many people still choose to divide.
So I thank you for your reflection. I have been getting frustrated from people misrepresenting Comer because they don’t actually understand him.
Thanks so much Paul! I’m jealous that you were able to attend the community! I was actually planning on moving out there for a time but then Covid hit. Anyways, I really appreciate your first hand testimony!
Still time to move! Tyler is doing a great job shepherding the community!
This is so good. Couldn’t have said any of it better.
What struck me about so many articles I read about JMC was how it felt like they were intentionally misunderstanding him and what he was saying. Often it was a single line that they took to mean something uber universalist or other when in context he’s talking super orthodox, ancient faith, lol. Just a little depth of research into what he actually says about community, the gospel, progressivism, and the like would’ve revealed just how orthodox he is and how much he cares about building up the local church.
Grateful for this article, you killed it!
hahaha absolutely...I've seen that happen many times as well. Thanks so much for reading!!
There’s literally famous videos with zondervan and thinq where he says how deconstruction and progressive Christianity lead to deconversion and apostasy. 😂
lol I've seen that Q ideas video with him too. It's funny that that content exists out in the open and yet few of his critics acknowledge it
I love Comer, and I love how you wrote this. As a former charismatic evangelical, yes to everything you said. We cannot handle the word Eucharist—partly because we are so light on academics and traditions that we have no historical, academic or philosophical context to understand our faith. These three lenses—while not as important as a spiritual or Christological lens—would serve evangelicals well in understanding their own belief system—apologetics aside. Comer is trying to offer up the forgotten aspects of our faith in an accessible read so everyone can understand and have access. I daresay his critics have really delved into early church history or the writings of the Patristics. I am also tired of seeing his quotes used as sound bites to attack him on Substack… feels like the very religious FB I just left.
Yes I totally agree with you. I think I've found that the majority of his critics come from those who's church history interest is mainly allocated to the post-reformation era. I love that era and am influenced by it in more ways than I can count, but I personally don't want to disregard any stretch of church history for the sake of hallowing a single one. Anyways, thanks so much for your kind words!!
This is a great observation about JMC’s critics. I’m also heavily influenced by the post-reform era and its present day teachers, but I’ve also been blessed by JMC and the wisdom he has gleaned from other parts of church history.
It has been challenging to navigate if others’ concerns with JMC’s teachings and his embrace of a broader church history are warranted or simply misunderstandings or superficial critiques of him.
Loved reading this, Griffin. I have learned so much from Comer's work. Though I personally find his writing style annoying, I recognize that it probably reaches his audience really well. It seems like a good choice for him to reach that audience instead of taking on the job of teaching how to read better. I think a lot of this criticism stems from wanting one person to be able to do everything for us instead of our being willing to read and learn broadly.
Thanks for saying that Lisa!! Really appreciate it!
Great article, thank you. Dallas Willard sat on my shelf, unread, for many years. Simultaneously, I taught theology to laypersons for a decade. When I came to sanctification, I taught, “Sanctification is a cooperative work between the believer and the Holy Spirit.” Period. Stop. And that's all I had to say. I had no idea what this work the believer is supposed to do to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to effect this inner heart change of sanctification. Now, a decade later, I read Dallas Willard. I wish I had known then what I have started to understand now. It is not just about “getting into heaven.” It is about inner change. Saved by grace, absolutely. Then, do something in that state of grace to change who you are. It strikes me as really interesting that the term “obedience of faith” is on both the first and last pages of Romans. So, thank you Dallas Willard and JMC for trying to wake us up.
The criticism of being anti-church is a funny one to me because I find that he's a poster boy for the organisational church--I try not to speak down about people I don't know because in the end you either see people as humans or as fodder for organisations. Comer is at least trying to bring the touch of humanity back to our organisations so more power to him, but it's a tough if not impossible road to walk. Those in love with the organisation will find his rhetoric about humanity difficult to swallow and anti-church and those in love with humanity will find anything he has to say about community as kowtowing to destructive systems.
very interesting point...I actually have never heard it said like that but I suppose that's a realistic response.
Most people considering deconstruction are starting at the very beginning and rarely get passed questions about 1st, 2nd or 3rd order theology to get to the real meat of why we're deconstructing in the first place which is usually the organisation itself that hides behind these hurdles we rarely clear. Our organisations lack humanity and love. We feast on guys like JMC and turn them into bait to attract all the little fishes; a little blood in the water never hurts in that process and a poster-boy-scapegoat like JMC drives people to our organisations because we either match energy for him or against him and either way it gets people to church.
Case and point is an anecdote that Skye Jethani shares about meeting a Christian Publishing Executive at a luncheon during that time in 08-10 after Blue Like Jazz was published and Skye said something like, "what about the Emergent Church huh?" and the Executive scoffed and said, "The Emergent Church will be gone in a year's time, and no one will talk about it again," shocked, Skye asked how he could say that with such certainty, and the Executive said, "because we created the Emergent Church and in 11 months their contract with us is done and we won't be renewing it."
I'm cheering for JMC. I want him to get out with his sanity intact before that happens to him; before he's digested by the organisation. At the moment the organised church is taking its lumps for associating with him like a digestive tract trying to get rid of all of the hard to digest bits about our humanity; call it spiritual fibre, but at some point JMC will stop writing and his works will be compiled into 10 volumes and he will be hailed as "The Billy Graham" of our generation meaning that he drove enough people into our organisations for the cost of his life to be worth it, only it will be worded evangelistically whatever the case. Any notion about supporting our humanity will be filtered out and left behind for the pure sweet almond milk we so enjoy reading. I don't want that for anybody.
^^and there's the crazy^^ ;-)
You should check out Andy Squyres on instagram, love his writing. I didn’t finish your whole article yet, but based on what I read I think you’d really like his work.
Sounds wonderful!! I'd love to check it out!
He’s @AndySquyeres on ig and he’s known for poet priest volume 1-3 / his ig is the best place to find his writing
Wow--yes!! John Mark Comer's teachings have helped me so much on my walk with the Lord. I always found myself thinking "There has to be MORE; THIS cannot be all there is to God" from the Christianity I was raised in. JMC's work opened that door to "more" for me, as I'm a person who HAS to be intentional and devoted to something. I couldn't handle the half-hearted Christianity.
I also love your stress on the fact that we should not put John Mark Comer on a pedestal. If I find myself talking about JMC more than I'm talking about the Lord to people...I might have a problem lol.
Lovely article--so glad you wrote it!!
So happy you liked it!!