I had previously read and reviewed two earlier books by John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and Live No Lies, so I was eagerly anticipating doing a third, especially as it was on the important topic of discipleship.

I was not disappointed, for I found this to be every bit as good as anything he has produced before.

As usual, Comer writes in a largely informal way, with plenty of ‘white space’ on the page surrounding the black ink. One sentence paragraphs are plentiful, and there is even the occasional one word paragraph. But this still keeps the momentum going as he develops his arguments.

Be with Jesus

The essence of the opening section is to tell us (or perhaps, these days, remind us) that Jesus was a rabbi and that his disciples were effectively apprentices, being trained by their Master so that they could eventually do what he did. The overall structure of the book, as outlined in the subtitle, is that we must first ‘Be with Jesus’ in order to ‘Become like Jesus’ and only then can we ‘Do as he did’.

As part of his thesis, Comer draws on the ancient spiritual disciplines to help us form a Rule of Life which will over time make us into true disciples of Jesus. Comer recognises there is no official list, but offers a core of nine such practices: Sabbath, solitude, prayer, fasting, scripture, community, generosity, service and witness.

Comer draws on the ancient spiritual disciplines to help us form a Rule of Life which will over time make us into true disciples of Jesus.

Discipleship

Comer identifies one particular problem that has led to the loss of discipleship within Western churches, namely that our evangelism and proclaiming of the gospel does not lead naturally on to a path of discipleship. We offer people forgiveness through repentance and faith, but then leave them to their own devices.

We do not proclaim a Living Teacher and Lord whom we must then follow. We will ‘meet Jesus in heaven’ rather than walk his Way now. If we produce any discipleship courses at all, they are usually instruction classes of a doctrinal kind, or church membership courses designed to embed converts into a particular kind of churchgoing.

Practicing the Way

Comer quotes regularly from, and refers frequently to, his mentor Dallas Willard, in particular the book ‘The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship’, which, having decided to purchase as well, I would also recommend as ‘extra reading’ on this topic.

... here is a resource to enable Christians to enter into a deeper level of discipleship and a closer walk with the Lord.

What makes Comer’s book and ideas particularly distinctive is that he has also produced an online course entitled 'Practicing the Way, an eight-week introduction to spiritual formation', designed to be run in a church or small group. You do have to sign up to engage with this, but by visiting www.practicingtheway.org/courses you can get a good idea in advance of what you would be committing to.

Overall, whether you just read the book or decide to engage with the online course, here is a resource to enable Christians to enter into a deeper level of discipleship and a closer walk with the Lord.

Practising the Way (262 pp) is published by SPCK and is available from Amazon for £13.09 inc p&p).