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Well-respected psychologist and researcher Dr. Erich Fromm lived through both world wars and lost his Jewish faith on the other side of that trauma. After researching Nazism for years, he came to the conclusion that no one starts out evil;12 instead, people become evil “slowly over time through a long series of choices.”13 His book The Heart of Man, which is an exploration of evil and the human condition, is worth quoting at length: The longer we continue to make the wrong decisions, the more our heart hardens; the more often we make the right decision, the more our heart softens—or better perhaps, becomes alive…. Each step in life which increases my self-confidence, my integrity, my courage, my conviction also increases my capacity to choose the desirable alternative, until eventually it becomes more difficult for me to choose the undesirable rather than the desirable action. On the other hand, each act of surrender and cowardice weakens me, opens the path for more acts of surrender, and eventually freedom is lost. Between the extreme when I can no longer do a wrong act and the extreme when I have lost my freedom to right action, there are innumerable degrees of freedom of choice…. Most people fail in the art of living not because they are inherently bad or so without will that they cannot lead a better life; they fail because they do not wake up and see when they stand at a fork in the road and have to decide.14” The West has become a post-Christian culture. Society still retains the scaffolding of Christian morality. But it’s attempting to move beyond Christianity and reject commitments and restraints. The West is like a rebellious teenager who fights his parents’ authority while still living at home and eating their food. In his opening, Comer asks, “Why does every day feel like a battle just to stay faithful, to keep following Jesus? Here’s an idea: maybe because it is” (p.xx). He adds, “This is a book about how (not) to lose your soul in a digital Babylon. This is a manifesto for exile. This is a rally cry to the war on lies” (p.xxxi). Flesh and world
Ideas have power only when we believe them. We hear all sorts of ideas every day, some brilliant, others ridiculous; but they have zero effect on us unless we begin to trust them as an accurate map to reality.” (p. 46) Something’s wrong. Although the author has a good life, working as a pastor in Portland, Oregon, he often feels tired and worn down. He has the sensation that every day is a battle. Perhaps you sometimes feel this way too.I hold a master’s degree in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary, and these days, you can find me continuing to read, listen, and learn what it looks like to follow Jesus in community. Not all desires are created equal. Or at least, not all are equally beneficial. Some of our desires are higher or nobler and lead to life and freedom and peace; others are lower or more animalistic and lead to death and slavery and fear.”
But while it may sound strange, it’s actually perfectly normal to feel battered and bruised, given the world we live in today. There’s a war going on – a war for the soul.The problem isn't so much that we tell lies but that we live them. We let them into our bodies, and they sabotage our peace. All around us in the culture and deep within our own body memories are lies: deceptive ideas that wreak havoc on our emotional health and spiritual well-being, and deceptive ideas about who God is, who we are, and what the good life truly is. Here’s the key message: We reap what we sow, and the choices we make determine the people we become. His current work at The Way (focusing on the spiritual practices/disciplines the Church has practiced since it's creation) really shines through as he guides through how we combat the world, the flesh, and the devil through spiritual formation - first and foremost. His pastoral heart is evident, and it's a refreshing antidote to the very two dimensional Culture War stuff out there which is devoid of an awareness of how spiritual battles are fought (Eph. 6:12) or the fact that there are, in fact, three categories to be aware of.... not just one. One thing I’ve always loved about John Mark Comer is he includes really practical ways to follow Jesus. We use to call them spiritual disciplines, but both of those words tend to have weird meanings for people now. Comer includes some great practices to help us resist our stronger desires and get to our deepest desire, which is to be in relationship with God. The World Like I said above, Comer's working with some fascinating (and insightful) content here. My copy of Live No Lies is filled with highlights, and - while I don't agree with all of his conclusions or tone - I think this book can generate a lot of great conversation among conservative and liberal Christians (and hopeful expose his readers to some other really great authors and intellectuals).
As Christians, we’re all at war with three fierce adversaries of the soul that feed us deceptive ideas to harm our spiritual well-being: the world, the flesh and the devil. Live No Lies parses out the tactics, strengths and weaknesses of these enemies, giving you a clear battle plan and spiritual practices to outwit and overcome these evils. Every day we are dealing with temptations in multiple forms that draw us away from faithfulness to the Way of Jesus. In this compelling work, John Mark gives a vision of the beauty of Jesus in a culture of lies.” —Jon Tyson, pastor of Church of the City New York and author of The Intentional Father
Review
Certainly everyone can see how ideology and arguments over what is true and false have wreaked havoc in the western world in the the last few years. As Comer puts it— “It’s a war between truth and lies.” The devil is on a disinformation campaign. It was helpful to remember that I am not his target audience; I believe the Bible to be literally true, yes even Genesis and Hell, though wildly unpopular in today’s culture. I have chosen to believe that the best way to honor God is to believe Him literally. Yet, I am one fundamentalist who does not want to be angry. My heart too is broken by the effects of sin on our society. I really appreciated his review of the effects of the sex revolution and his strong case against abortion. I also agree with his assessment of street preaching. Most people who become followers of Christ are influenced by someone they love and trust, not a random person yelling about hell through a megaphone. So all that to say, JMC appears to me to love people well. I really admire that and want to grow in that area. The book had me thinking of when, in Tim Keller's biography by Collin Hansen, he describes the explosive popularity of his 2009 book The Reason For God. That was a time when, generally speaking, Christianity was still relatively, culturally neutral and straightforward apologetics of whether or not God exists and the Bible is true were very helpful. Just a couple years later, Keller (and others in the wider Christian world) noticed a marked shift in the way Christianity was perceived (negatively, as opposed to neutrally) and how its claims came up against new vernacular and thought regarding morality and expressive individualism in the modern age. That's why Keller wrote Making Sense Of God - as a sort of update to The Reason For God to match this marked shift in how the modern western culture thinks. People need to know that our actions are not neutral. Whenever we do, say, or even think something, it is easier to do, say, or think that same thing again. Eventually, we become people shaped by every decision we have made. John Mark Comer shows us how this is nothing new: The first followers of Jesus developed a Rule of Life, or habits and practices based on the life of Jesus himself. As they learned to live like their teacher, they became people who made space for God to do his most transformative work in their lives.
According to scripture, anything that has control over a person is their master. By that definition, a huge part of Western society is enslaved – people compulsively chase after their desires, looking for freedom and happiness in the wrong places.As expected, Comer explains that the devil is far removed from the usual caricatures. He provides us with a biblical understanding of the devil based upon his titles (accuser, destroyer, deceiver, ancient serpent and so on), which describe his functions. The title ‘prince of this world’ is particular interesting. Prince ( archon) was a political word for the highest ranking Roman official in a city or region. By applying this to ‘ this world’ (John 14:30), Jesus highlights the extent of the devil’s power, to all the kingdoms of this world, not just a particular locality. Paul makes a similar point with his description of the devil as the ‘ ruler of the kingdom of the air’ (Eph 2:2). To say yes to Jesus’ invitation is to say no to a thousand other things. As the monks used to say ‘every choice is a renunciation.’ To say yes to Jesus is to say no to living by my own definition of good and evil, to spend my time and money however I want, to the hyper-individualism, anti authoritarianism, and full-tilt hedonistic pursuit of our day. It’s a thousand tiny deaths that all lead up to one massive life. It’s not a futile grasping for control, but the freedom of yielding to Love. It’s saying to Jesus, I’m yours.” Contrary to popular artistic imaginings, the devil is not in hell; he’s here, on earth. If Jesus’s anthem is ‘On earth as it is in heaven,’ the devil’s is ‘On earth as it is in hell.’”
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