Volume 31, Issue 5, October 2025
John Mark Comer, quoting from a 1981 source, writes, “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all, after all… The Christian of the past was a mystic.”[1] This could be the overarching theme of Comer’s ministry. Comer desperately desires to teach his followers how to become mystics. We must find our “inner monk” and live like the desert fathers while residing in the city, he claims.[2]
In this third paper on Comer we will take a detailed look at his theological positions as a self-avowed mystic. What does he believe? It is difficult to nail down Comer’s views because he often takes a bait-and-switch approach when it comes to important theological matters. On the one hand, he will agree to a point with accepted (by conservative evangelicals) doctrines, but then he either redefines their meaning or expands them beyond biblical bounds. In the process he incorporates a real mix of concepts, some in line with biblical orthodoxy and much that is not. In this paper we will look exclusively at Comer’s theological beliefs that are troubling at best, and at times heretical. Below are some of the important areas that need to be examined.
A Convoluted View of Sin
Comer agrees with the common definition of sin, which is to miss the mark. But he is troubled by what evangelicals believe this means. The mark, as he understands it, is not falling short of the righteousness or glory of God as Romans 3:28 indicates. As a matter of fact, Comer struggles with what he sees as the Western church’s obsession with forgiveness of sin as defined by moral or ethical failure and imperfection that alienates us from a holy God. What if, he suggests, sin is missing the mark concerning healing of our soul, being adopted in a multiethnic family of Christ? What if it’s “becoming the kind of person who is so pervaded by love, wisdom, and strength that we have developed the capacity to eventually rule with Christ over the cosmos itself”?[3]
Comer is confusing what fallen people need, which is forgiveness of sin, the righteousness of Christ, and reconciliation with God, with benefits or results of Christ’s redemptive work. He does speak of Christ dying for our sins and our need for repentance, but his definition of sin is weak. He knows that sin means to “miss the mark” but strangely claims, “It wasn’t actually a moral word in Moses’ time. It just means to mess up.”[4] But messing up is a far cry from not only the standard definition of sin, but from its consistent use throughout Scripture. Christ did not shed His blood for people who mess up, but for those who are in defiance of His will. Comer’s weak understanding of sin has consequences, especially in his redefining of the gospel.
Daniel Schreiner, 9Marks contributor, noted that Comer’s “discussion of ‘sin’ lacks any reference to God… in a book on how to become like Jesus, it’s dangerous to omit that our sin is first and foremost against a holy God who will eternally judge all who do not repent.”[5]
Comer Has a Flawed Concept of the Gospel
Comer caricaturizes the normal evangelical understanding of salvation as merely a one-time prayer, believing a set of doctrines about God, attending church, then going to heaven when you die.[6] And he sees the gospel as “less of a translation and more of a transformation.”[7] This concept fits well with his view of apprenticeship but confuses salvation with sanctification and leads to a legalistic attempt to earn God’s approval though our actions, rather than resting in His declaration of righteousness.
Comer’s understanding of the gospel is represented in the following quote:
Jesus is the ultimate power in the universe and that life with him is now available to all. Through his birth, life, teachings, miracles, death, resurrection, ascension, and the gift of the Spirit, Jesus has saved, is saving, and will save all creation. And through apprenticeship to Jesus, we can enter into this kingdom and into the inner life of God himself. We can receive and give and share in Love Loving. We can be a part of a community that Jesus is, ever so slowly, forming into a radiant new society of peace and justice that will one day co-govern all creation with the Creator in an eternity of ever-unfolding creativity and growth and joy. And anyone can be a part of this story.[8]
Breaking down Comer’s understanding of the gospel further becomes a challenge. He admits salvation is through God’s grace, but he says that “grace is not opposed to effort,”[9] thus co-mingling sanctification and salvation. He rejects the normal interpretation of Jesus’ narrow way parable (Matt. 7:13-14) that few will be saved, and says it means instead that countless people will never reach their potential—which Comer says is eternal life.[10] Yet, reaching one’s full potential is psychological rhetoric and is certainly not how eternal life is defined in Scripture.
And while the author agrees that the good news that Christ is both just and the Justifier, he believes this is only one of many theories of the atonement.[11] He chastens Western Christians for being a “delivery mechanism for a theory of atonement.”[12] The “theory” he is referencing is penal substitution, which Comer never discusses yet finds inadequate.[13] Rather, he camps out on, and confuses, redemption with its benefits, “Something approaching Christlikeness is possible in this life. It really is. We can be healed, we can be set free of broken patterns that stretch back generations, we can be transformed into people who are genuinely pervaded by love and joy and peace. Our souls can throb with the bliss of union with God. Our bodies can become temples; our neighborhoods, holy ground; our days, eternity in time; our moments, miracles.”[14] Schreiner observes, “Instead of emphasizing Christ on the cross as our substitute, Comer offers the encouraging balm of how Christ came to heal us. Yes, our sin problem needs holistic healing. But that healing comes through Christ standing in our place as our substitute.[15]
Comer claims, drawing from St. Benedict and the monks, that salvation is an “ongoing process begun at baptism, ending at death—or possibly never ends.”[16] Our salvation is not a conversion from spiritual death to life, but it is a continual process that never ends, and the entry point, according to Comer, is baptism, which would mean in this context that he accepts the Catholic sacramental understanding of works-righteousness.
Comer defines the gospel as “a day when… Jesus will judge the world, banish evil forever, and lead humanity to a glorious horizon.”[17] But this definition is a benefit of the gospel, not the gospel itself. First, the author does not identify the “humanity” that is being led to a “glorious horizon.” In the context of explaining the gospel, it would be important to clarify who the humanity is that he is referencing. Biblically it is the redeemed, but Comer does not clearly state this fact, leaving who he is talking about to conjecture. Secondly, the New Testament tells us the gospel is the good news that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Sadly, the cross-work of Christ is conspicuously absent from Comer’s definition. Strangely he convolutes John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” and writes, “It’s not so much that ‘Jesus is the only way to God.’ I mean he is, but a better way to say it is: Jesus is God come to us.”[18] Of course, Comer is right that Jesus is God come down to us, but He came to us in order to be our bridge to God. For some reason Comer wants to skirt this truth.
Comer is consistently unclear on how one comes to Christ for salvation. He speaks of repentance and says we need to repent in order to enter in and enjoy the Kingdom of God.[19] But he makes no reference to what Christ has accomplished on our behalf or our need to respond in faith. Later the author writes of bringing our sins to Jesus, repenting, and being assured of forgiveness. But in the same paragraph he says that by doing so we can “reclaim our humanity,” whatever that means.[20] These contradictory statements muddy the waters at best. Salvation is not “reclaiming our humanity.” Our humanness is fallen and needs redemption. “Reclaiming our humanity” is the last thing implied by the gospel.
In reality, Comer’s understanding of the gospel remains uncertain. This becomes clear with his recommendation of Scot McKnight’s “great book, The King Jesus Gospel,”[21] which distorts and redefines the biblical gospel, as well.
In Comer’s telling, the gospel is not that Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Instead, as Kevin DeYoung has recognized, “it is a mere invitation to imitation… [and] he has no discernible doctrine of regeneration.”[22] In many ways Comer is giving his followers a warmed-up version of Charles Sheldon’s early 20th century novel In His Steps, which directed a generation of Christians toward the social gospel while ignoring the biblical gospel. Comer admits that he is drawing from Sheldon’s “what would Jesus do” philosophy merely changing it to “how would Jesus live if He were me?”[23]
His gospel, as Tim Challies summarizes, is, “live like Jesus and live for Jesus so other people can become interested in Jesus.”[24] This is a far cry from the biblical gospel, which calls us to place our faith in the finished work of Christ (Eph. 2:8-9).
Comer Has a Distorted and Anemic View of God and Scripture
Comer offers a convoluted understanding of God. He says, “God is a community of self-giving love.”[25] But if God is a community, then God is plural (i.e. there would be more than one God). Scripture teaches that God is one with three persons in the Godhead, but He is not described as a community. Strangely, Comer writes, “It’s not just that ‘Jesus is God’ but more like ‘God is Jesus’ or ‘God is Christlike’ and in him there is no un-Christlikeness at all.”[26] This distorts the uniqueness of the incarnation and misunderstands the nature of God.
In his book, God Has a Name, Comer definitely leans into the heresy of open theism. He denies being an open theist,[27] yet promotes much of its theology. Let’s start with his appreciation of Greg Boyd and what Comer calls his mild version of Open Theism.[28] But Boyd does not teach a mild form—he is the poster boy and perhaps the main popularizer of open theism. Every concept related to openness found in God Has a Name is drawn from Boyd. For example: God responds to outside influences and can be influenced to change His mind at a moment’s notice because of our petitions.[29] He is open to our ideas,[30] and therefore the future is not set in stone.[31] Prayer changes reality,[32] and we can join God in directing the course of His world.[33] God does not always get what He wants[34] and is not in control of everything after all.[35] His will is just one of many.[36] Open theism is a highly dangerous attempt to come to grips with God’s sovereignty and humanity’s “free will.” It does so by reducing God’s sovereignty, leaving Him a weak deity at the whim of the choices of humans as well as other spiritual powers. It is through the lens of open theism that Comer understands spiritual warfare, as well as the nature of God. This is very concerning in a book that is supposedly teaching the reader how to know God.
In his common bait-and-switch approach, Comer agrees that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, but believes these are philosophical categories not biblical ones.[37] And in a footnote he writes, “The problem is, all the omnis come out of Greek-influenced, Western way of reading the Bible… these are totally Western categories, not Hebrew categories.”[38] This is a slick way of affirming something about God on the one hand, while denying it on the other.
And speaking of Scripture Comer apparently denies divine inspiration. He likens the story of Jonah to historical fiction and sees it like an ancient Jewish comic book.[39] In addition he does not think the account of Adam’s and Eve’s fall necessarily happened as the Scriptures teach. It could be poetry or parable, but not literal. To him, it does not matter, the moral of the story is all that is important. [40]
Comer Stumbles in a Number of Other Areas
Postmillennialism:
Whether Comer is theologically in the postmillennialism camp is not clear but he has imbibed some of its teachings. He writes, “He’ll put you to rights, so you can put the world to rights. And one day, in time, he’ll return to finish what he started and set all the crooked things right.”[41] But God has not called His followers to put all things right in this polluted world. He, rather, calls us out of this “crooked generation” (Acts 2:40). Christ will return to make all things right, but is it not our task to prepare the planet for His arrival.
Psychology:
After Comer had some sort of emotional/spiritual breakdown, he turned to psychological therapy for healing.[42] Psychotherapy, rather than Scripture, influences much of his teachings. For all his referrals to the Bible, many of his understandings about the Christian life come from other sources. Comer’s teachings are literally soaked in psychological concepts, especially Yungianism.
Many gods theory:
Although the author does not reference Michael Heiser’s Unseen Realm material, he clearly buys into its theories that the universe is populated with numerous gods who are in competition with the true God.[43] While the Lord is obviously superior, there are lesser gods who rule over geographical territories, secular nations, and ethnic groups,[44] who are at war with Yahweh and He has to work hard at keeping the upper hand. Comer bases his view of a divine council made up of lesser gods, which God consults, on a misinterpretation of Psalm 82 (similar to Heiser’s eisegesis).[45] Comer admits that portions of his many gods theory are speculation[46] and that some might call these gods demons,[47] but he believes at times he can feel their presence and embraces generational cursing. Strangely, he is not sure what to do with Satan. Is he a person or an office? Comer does not know.[48] But he believes worshipping secular things, as well as idols, can be an opening to becoming demonized.[49]
Conclusion
After pastoring a church in his 20s that had rapidly grown in attendance to 7,000, preaching up to six times a Sunday, reading two to three books per week, and facing criticism from his staff, John Mark Comer crashed. By age 33 he was burned out, resigned from his church, took a long sabbatical, and started psychological therapy. Comer was a man desperately in need of rest. He latched onto Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30, identified himself as weary and burdened, and took Jesus up on his invitation to come to Him and receive His rest. From this understanding Comer determined that hurry is our greatest enemy[50] and decided it was time to eliminate it from his life by taking up Jesus’ yoke because it is easy and light. Comer scores some points on this issue in The Restless Elimination of Hurry, but unfortunately he misses the context of Jesus’ invitation.
In the Gospel account, Jesus’ initial audience was burdened with the legalistic yoke of the Pharisaical teachings that left them staggering under burdens of extrabiblical rules and regulations that they could not bear. Jesus offered to replace their yoke with His own, which would lead to spiritual rest. Ultimately, He was offering the Jews a gospel in which His cross-work would give the people true liberty and rest from useless striving to please God by self-effort and man-made rules. Their man-centered works would be replaced by the work of Christ. In essence, Jesus was describing the gospel.
None of what Jesus was actually communicating is referenced by Comer. To Comer the gospel of the kingdom[51] is following the example of Christ so that we can, like Jesus, slow down, live simply, enjoy life, and eliminate hurry, but this is not the gospel. It is however, Comer’s central thesis. Ironically, Comer has fallen into the same trap as the Pharisees. He is placing a yoke of extrabiblical efforts on the necks of his followers while neglecting Jesus’ true message. Offering a pathway to rest and life, Comer actually burdens his adherents with his “rule of life” while missing the message of Jesus.
The Concerns of Others
Despite, or maybe because of, Comer’s popularity, a number of others have drawn similar conclusions to mine. The following are some samplings:
Daniel Schreiner, writing for 9Marks: “Comer’s thesis risks pushing readers towards works-righteousness, as it did for many of the mystics Comer cites and admires… I was left with a Jesus that would make a great life coach, but not the Savior and Lord as reveled in God’s Word.”[52]
Kevin DeYoung writes, “The central problem with Practicing the Way is that almost every significant part of the project depends on poorly interpreted biblical texts and superficial connections with (supposed) ancient precedents.”[53]
Trevin Wax says, “In the spiritual formation wave, it is far too easy for the gospel to be assumed instead of explicit, for Scripture to take a backseat to experience, and for the church to become a sideshow to one’s individual journey.”[54]
Tim Challies: What [Comer} offers is not merely a different perspective on the Christian life or an alternate set of practices, but a different gospel and ultimately a different faith.”[55]
In the last article in this series Comer’s view of the atonement will be analyzed.
[1] John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook, 2024), pp. 51-52.
[2] Ibid., p. 203.
[3] Ibid., p. 20.
[4] John Mark Comer, God Has a Name: What You Believe about God Will Shape Who You Become (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2017, 2024), p. 219.
[5] Daniel Schreiner, “Engaging with ‘Practicing the Way’: Nine Thoughts on John Mark Comer’s Best Seller,” https://www.9marks.org/review/engaging-with-practicing-the-way-nine-thoughts-on-john-mark-comers-bestseller/ p. 3.
[6] John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did, p. 21.
[7] Ibid., p. 21.
[8] Ibid., pp. 136-137.
[9] Ibid., p. 23.
[10] Ibid., pp. 26-27.
[11] Ibid., pp. 92-93.
[12] Ibid., p. 5.
[13] Since the publication of his last book, Comer has clarified his understanding of the atonement. Part four in this series will address his views on the atonement.
[14] John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did, pp. 118-119.
[15] Daniel Schreiner, “Engaging with ‘Practicing the Way’: Nine Thoughts on John Mark Comer’s Best Seller.”
[16] John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did, pp. 218-219.
[17] John Mark Comer, God Has a Name: What You Believe about God Will Shape Who You Become, p. 224.
[18] Ibid., p. 104.
[19] Ibid., p. 172.
[20] Ibid., pp. 245-246.
[21] Ibid., p. 291.
[22] Kevin DeYoung: https://clearlyreformed.org/is-this-the-waya-review-of-practicing-the-way-by-john-mark-comer/, p. 3.
[23] John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (Colorado Springs, CO: Watermark, 2019), p. 93.
[24] Tim Challies, https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/john-mark-comer-and-practicing-the-way/, p. 3.
[25] John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did, p. 36.
[26] Ibid., p. 126.
[27] John Mark Comer, God Has a Name: What You Believe about God Will Shape Who You Become, p. 288.
[28] Ibid., p. 288.
[29] Ibid., p. 59.
[30] Ibid., p. 61.
[31] Ibid., p. 62.
[32] Ibid., pp. 63-64.
[33] Ibid., p. 65.
[34] Ibid., p. 204.
[35] Ibid., p 205.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Ibid., pp. 28-29.
[38] Ibid., p. 282.
[39] Ibid., p. 289.
[40] Ibid., p. 232.
[41] Ibid., p. 206.
[42] Ibid., pp. 179-181.
[43] Ibid., pp. 75-80, 266.
[44] Ibid., pp. 83-84.
[45] Ibid., pp. 86-89, 95, 266.
[46] Ibid., p. 85.
[47] Ibid., p. 85.
[48] Ibid., p. 92
[49] Ibid., p. 114.
[50] John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, pp. 3-9, 21.
[51] Ibid., p. 194ff.
[52] Daniel Schreiner, “Engaging with ‘Practicing the Way’: Nine Thoughts on John Mark Comer’s Best Seller.”
[53] Kevin DeYoung: https://clearlyreformed.org/is-this-the-waya-review-of-practicing-the-way-by-john-mark-comer/, p. 4.
[54] Trevin Wax, “3 Waves That Have Shaped Evangelical Churches (and a 4th on the way),” June 4, 2024, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/waves-shaped-evangelical-churches/, p. 5.
[55] Tim Challies, https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/john-mark-comer-and-practicing-the-way/, p. 5.