The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world

In his proposed solution to the disease of hurry, Comer now comes to his central thesis: The ultimate answer is found in following the way of Jesus. Comer presents Jesus in his role as a wandering Jewish rabbi, a teacher who would gather a community of talmidim (traditionally translated as “disciples”) around him, to learn from his teachings and follow his way of life. Comer, following Dallas Willard, suggests that a better translation of the idea behind the word talmidim would be “apprentices,” which underscores the fact that Jesus’s followers were not just meant to learn spiritual doctrines from his teachings, but to learn how to live and act in the events of one’s daily life.

Comer summarizes the goal of being an apprentice of Jesus in three steps: “1. Be with Jesus. 2. Become like Jesus. 3. Do what he would do if he were you” (77). Rather than describing the traditional Christian idea of “salvation” as simply a spiritual transformation, Comer suggests that it ought to be read as a healing of one’s whole self, which necessarily includes all the practical realities of daily life.

Comer returns to the Bible passage that frames much of the exposition in The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, Matthew 11:28-30, in which Jesus presents his invitation to his hearers to come, to learn from him, and to take up his “easy yoke.” Comer quotes a paraphrase of this passage by the Christian writer Eugene Peterson, who phrases the invitation as: “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace” (79).

In essence, the invitation to learn from Jesus is a call not just to believe in him, but to learn how to live from his example. As Comer puts it, “If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus” (82). Being an apprentice of Jesus is thus not only a matter of holding a certain theology, but of living in a certain kind of way. The emphasis of the Bible passage on the reality of a “yoke” suggests that there is no promise of a perfect, untroubled life for anyone in this world, but there is a choice between whether we choose the light yoke of Jesus’s way or the heavy yoke of our own flailing attempts at success and productivity.

This chapter represents the first substantial treatment of one of Comer’s main themes, that of Apprenticeship to Jesus. He introduces this idea as an alternative translation of the common biblical term “disciple,” and in so doing opens his book up to a wider span of readers than just a Christian audience. For his non-Christian readers, Comer strives to present Jesus in terms they can understand: as a teacher who knows the right way to live. For his Christian readers, Comer does not deny any of the core theological and doctrinal teachings about Jesus’s identity and the spiritual elements of the salvation God offers; rather, he presents the traditional Christian view as one in which a focus on certain themes has blinded many people to the presence of other important themes, such as the necessity of following Jesus’s lifestyle. In so doing, Comer uses this theme to speak to all sides of his potential audience, inviting them to consider the significance of the way of Jesus as something more than just a set of beliefs, but as a practical way to live in the world.

Comer’s use of a single Bible passage on which to base his exposition, both in this chapter and in the book as a whole, speaks to Comer’s identity as a pastor and the sermon-like structure with which he writes. While Part 1 served as an introduction to the book’s “sermon,” presenting the main problem and inviting the audience to recognize their own spiritual needs, Part 2 serves as an exegetical study of the Bible passage being analyzed, which will ultimately lead to the practical applications offered in Part 3.