You may be wanting to speak to your church leaders if you have had concerns with John Mark Comer’s teachings, particularly if the church is using the Practicing the Way book or materials from the Practicing the Way website. If so, below are bullet points that could be used. Section 1 contains references to things Comer writes in Practicing the Way. The second section contains other information. I have written this up because I have been contacted by so many people since 2020 asking for information on Comer’s teachings and also help with what to say to pastors or teachers.
For context and explanations of these bullet points, see the CANA article on the book itself, and see other articles as well as interviews on Comer by putting “Comer” in the search box. There are also articles on some of the videos from the Practicing the Way website.
SECTION 1
- Comer changes the meaning of John 14:6 and reads into it another meaning about living like Jesus to get life with God.
- Comer remakes the gospel into living the way Jesus did, except he adds things Jesus didn’t do, like the contemplative practices. But the gospel is not to live the lifestyle of Jesus, it is to believe in him. We are conformed to the character of Christ by the Holy Spirit and God’s word, not by imitating a non-existent lifestyle of Jesus.
- Comer says we need to be like Jesus but in the Bible, that means to be like him in character, and how is this done, by living his lifestyle? No, it is to live according to what New Testament letters to the church teach on how to live the Christian life. Comer hardly ever refers to anything outside the gospels for living the Christian life.
- Comer says we must be mystics to be like Jesus. But Jesus was not a mystic. Mysticism always downgrades the Bible and focuses on experience.
- John Mark Comer has a Jesuit spiritual director. To choose a spiritual director is problematic in itself, since the role of a spiritual director is not prescribed in Scripture and has been used only in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. To choose a Jesuit spiritual director only compounds the error. Keep in mind the Jesuit Order opposed and fought against the Reformation as part of the Counter-Reformation.
- Comer asserts that Jesus believes in us. But why should Jesus believe in us? We are to believe in Christ, depend on God, and live by the Spirit. There is no biblical support for Comer’s claim, which actually alters the character of Jesus.
- Comer states that as an apprentice of Jesus, we need a support structure, a trellis. He says this trellis is the “rule of life,” which comes from St. Benedict of Nursia who started the monasteries. The term trellis is used on multiple Roman Catholic websites for the “rule of life,” so this seems to be where Comer got it (or from his Jesuit spiritual director). But why do we need a trellis if we are in Christ and he is the vine? Is this not saying that Jesus is not sufficient as the vine, and/or that God’s word and the Holy Spirit are not sufficient for living the Christian life?
- Comer misinterprets Scriptures or reads other meanings into them when he attempts to support his teachings with the Bible.
SECTION 2
- Comer has used heretic Richard Rohr‘s definition of sin. See information on this in CANA article under section, “New Meaning on Jesus and Sin.”
- Comer has used and still endorses the Enneagram, although he archived it on the Practicing the Way website. He was on Enneagram author Ian Cron’s program, Typology, in December, 2024. The Enneagram has no validity, and is a product of esoteric occult and New Age teachers.
- Comer got involved with the Enneagram by reading Richard Rohr’s book on the Enneagram. Comer’s association with and influence from Richard Rohr, a follower of Perennial Wisdom and a heretic, is deeply disturbing.
Prior to meeting with any pastor, teacher, or church leader, pray for the meeting, asking God to grant wisdom to all involved and for clear communication. Then results must be left in God’s hands. No matter what the reaction may be, it is biblical to expose unbiblical teachings.
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Colossians 2:8
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