Unfortunately, many people have had the disappointing experience of making reservations, getting dressed up, and going out for a nice steak dinner…only to find out that the steak was sub par.  One of the things that can cloud your culinary experience is a chewy steak that is more fat and bone than actual meat.  You spend more time working to spit out the parts you don’t like than you do enjoying the parts you do like.

The same can be true for books.  As astute and wise readers we need to be willing and able to read through a resource and chew the meat while spitting out the bones.  As elders we want to do as Paul did for the church at Colossea: “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments” (Colossians 2:4).

This summer we presented a resource for our summer reading (Practicing the Way) that presented a few too many bones to spit out without as much meat as we were hoping for.  As a result, we as elders have put together a critique of certain aspects of Comer’s work that have raised concern.  Again, like Paul, it’s our desire to “present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28b).

And so to that end we want to present a few explanations to help you understand our position in these areas that were presented in Practicing the Way.  The following points are not a thorough critique of John Mark Comer’s overall theology or his book, but they are intended to highlight a few areas of Comer’s theology that we do not agree with, as a church, and as your elders. We share these so that you can be discerning in the event you read other material from Comer, and so that you can identify the “bones” as you further process and digest the overall message and points of Practicing the Way.

1. View of Christ

   In the section of Practicing the Way entitled “Jesus the prototype,” Comer seems to minimize the distinctions between us and Jesus. Comer basically says that whatever Jesus did, we are also capable of doing because we have God’s Spirit in us. We would certainly agree that Christlikeness is our goal and that we are to live a Spirit-filled life, drawing upon His power for life-change, daily living, and ministry activities. However, we believe it is an overstatement to suggest that we should basically do the miraculous things that Jesus did, making little to no distinction between us and Jesus. Jesus is the Pre-eminent Christ and the fully divine Son of God, and we stand in awe of Him and the miracles that He performed and continues to perform.

2. Doctrine of God

   Similar to his low Christological view, Comer holds to a less than biblical view of God overall, ignoring certain important attributes of God that we believe the scripture clearly teaches. For example, Comer rejects the idea that God is sovereign over and controls all things. He believes that God is open to our ideas and changes His mind as history unfolds, and that God has not set the future in stone. We, on the other hand, believe God is omniscient (knows all things – past, present and future); that He is all-powerful and sovereign over all things; and that He is working all things out in conformity with His will and purposes which cannot be thwarted.

3. Emphasis on Charismatic Gifts

   In Practicing the Way, Comer promotes and seeks to “normalize” the acts of giving a prophetic word, performing healings, and providing insight to individuals that no one could know apart from the Spirit. We acknowledge that there can be reasonable differences of opinions, even among those of us at Port City, regarding whether or not the so-called “sign” or “miraculous” gifts are still operative, to what extent, and in what contexts, but regardless of exactly where we fall on this issue, we believe Comer places too much emphasis on these things. He cites these items as the primary means by which we are to demonstrate the gospel. We believe, however, that the gospel is most often demonstrated through the powerful proclamation of the word of God, a faithful obedience to the commands of God, a strong display of the fruit of the Spirit, and a deep love for God and others.

4. Sources of Information

   In Practicing the Way, Comer regularly points to the scriptures, but he also quotes and draws upon a wide range of thinkers (including those from other religions/traditions), sometimes drawing more on their thoughts than on the scriptures themselves. We acknowledge that we can at times learn some things from others who have a different theology or practice, but we also know and want to stress the importance of making sure that we all measure all things (regardless of the source) against the holy scriptures to determine their truthfulness and applicability.

So…where do we go from here?  First, it’s our commitment as elders to continually grow in how we evaluate and present resources for further reading (especially congregation wide).  Our commitment moving forward is to be more thorough in our review and more careful in our recommendations for the wider (general) body of Port City.

Secondly, we have pulled together two resources that we are currently offering at our Connect table each week (Deeper by Dane Ortlund & Habits of Grace by David Mathis).  These resources are geared at the same emphasis and goal as Comer’s book but which are more holistically aligned theologically with Port City.  Our encouragement would be to get a hold of one or more of these resources and work your way through it over the next several weeks and months.

It is our joy to fulfill the role that the Lord has called us to as pastors of Port City Church, including the responsibilities to help equip you with the truth and protect you from doctrinal error. We are grateful for the graciousness and humility you show us as we seek to lead you.  Our heart as elders is to do just as Peter exhorts us to do in 1 Peter 5:1-3.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”