Becca's Reviews > Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become Like Him, Do As He Did

What does it mean to be a Christian? Ask 10 different people this question, and you may get 10 different answers that might range from political affiliation to church attendance. For this reason, John Mark Comer begins his latest book, Practicing the Way, with defining the terms.
Because "Christian" can mean different things to different people, he lays out a definition of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. You'll have to read the book for yourself for the details, but the short answer is found in the subtitle: Be with Jesus, Become like him, and Do as he did.
Basically, being a disciple or a follower of Jesus impacts not just what we do on Sundays, but our entire way of life. Therefore, as followers of Jesus, we must evaluate what we are being formed by, and who we are becoming. Does it look like Jesus? Comer argues that we are all being formed by something and into someone. The questions are, formed by what, and into who?
What I love about John Mark Comer's style is that he can pull from so many different sources (he's a big Dallas Willard fan) but somehow bring them all together to share a familiar concept in a new and thought-provoking way. If you've read any of John Mark Comer's previous work, this will feel familiar, but not repetitive. If you're new to his writing, this is a great place to start.
The only thing I would have preferred to be different in this book is how it ended. He makes the case throughout that spiritual formation is not formulaic, but the note he ended on felt that way. That being said, I think there is a lot of good here and would recommend it as a launching point for intentional thinking about who we are becoming over time.
Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for the advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.