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This book is for those who read Ruthless and ask themselves:, so how do we actually implement an unhurried and contemplative life? Practicing the Way lays out a path that is less rigid implementation and legalistic system and instead is a call first and foremost to eat Jesus’ dust. This refers to the Jewish practice of following and imitating a rabbi so closely that you literally would be walking in his dust were you a first century Jew following him on a dirt road. This act of following was called apprenticeship and this is what we are called to as Christian. It’s noteworthy that the term Christian appears only 3 times in the New Testament, while the word for "Apprentice" (mathētēs)appears 269 times. In this case words matter because they translate to actions (or inactions) in our daily lives.
These actions are what Comers describes as our daily practices and grappling with them gets to the heart of the tension between legalism and grace. He frames this with Dallas Williard apt statement that "grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning." This daily effort is what fuels a believer’s transformation and casts aside the sense of entitlement that comes from the idea of earning one’s salvation. Importantly, this daily bread is not the world’s way filled with hurry, coercion and pride but Jesus’s that is prayer-centric, humble, unhurried, sacrificial, and contemplative.
All of this is easier said than done in a world full of distractions but Comer advocates that we must keep memento mori at the forefront of our minds. Remembering that we must die one day is not meant to be morbid but rather to shift our focus on the eternal–this is the call we see countless times in the Bible to ‘look up.’ We do this over a life time of failure and progress in the right direction in these practices (quoted from the book):
Sabbath: A 24-hour period of rest, delight, and worship designed to counter the culture of hurry and exhaustion.
Solitude and Silence: Withdrawing from noise and people to be alone with God, often emphasizing early morning, undistracted time.
Prayer: Viewing prayer not just as a duty, but as communion with God (described as "looking at God, looking at you, in love").
Scripture: Regular reading and meditation on the Bible to renew the mind and align with truth.
Fasting: Abstaining from food or other comforts to cultivate self-control, hunger for God, and solidarity with the poor.
Community: Engaging in deep, authentic relationships with other believers for accountability and support.
Generosity: Practicing radical giving to combat consumerism and greed.
Service: Actively loving others through acts of service, mirroring Jesus’ humility.
Witness: Sharing the Gospel and living out the way of Jesus in the world.
Our men’s group at church also went through an 8 week study on it which truthfully I probably need to do about five more times to begin digesting the depth and richness of incorporating this into my daily rhythms. (Practicing the Way Course Trailer). But what I continue to appreciate it’s that at its core Practicing the Way of Jesus is simple: "Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did." It is only in my own human weakness and wandering that I benefit and grow from a structure that helps me grow to be someone who does these three things.
Finally, one of the observations that stuck with me most was Comer’s observation of the way life’s distractions–aren’t. Take the case of our kids:
"Children are like monastic bells. They call us away from our own agendas, our own egos, and our own 'spiritual' plans, and call us back to the present moment to practice the way of Jesus in love."
I love that idea–children as monastic bells calling us back to the present moment. As a dad to six kids, I needed that reminder. And it’s given me fresh ears to hear my little ones as they call to me to ‘come home’.
Key Quotes:
"It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon... It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."
"Children are like monastic bells. They call us away from our own agendas, our own egos, and our own 'spiritual' plans, and call us back to the present moment to practice the way of Jesus in love."
"He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial."
"Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning." — Dallas Willard
"He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial." — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Key References For Further Study:
Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer.
The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard.
Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
The Jesus Way, Eugene Peterson.
Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton.
Letters from a Modern Mystic, Frank Laubach.
The Monasticism of Daily Life Ronald Rolheiser
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