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

At the time of his book’s publication, John Mark Comer was a young but rising voice in American evangelicalism, garnering attention not only for his pastoral ministry in a large, multi-site megachurch, but also for his approach to the spiritual life. Comer defied typical expectations for a person in his position, resigning from his multi-site megachurch to focus on a smaller and more intimate pastorate in inner-city Portland.

While Comer has significant educational training in theology (a graduate degree in theology and currently pursuing a doctorate in spiritual formation), it is his pastoral side rather than his academic side that most influences the text of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. The book’s style is direct and conversational, more closely resembling the rhetoric of a sermon than the traditional essay-style prose that dominates most works of practical theology. Comer writes as a preacher seeking to make a personal connection with his audience, putting his ideas in easily accessible nuggets and interspersing them with moments of humor.

Nevertheless, he also includes many quotations from a broad range of sources, stretching beyond Christian thinkers to embrace secular philosophy and the contemplative traditions of other religions. His guiding sensibility, however, is that of a Christian pastor, framing his book in a sermonic structure by centering it on a passage of scripture (Matthew 11:28-30, in which Jesus speaks about his “easy yoke”) and by using a classic sermon framework in making three broad points which illuminate a problem, its solution, and a series of practical applications.