Category 3
Verdict: There is reason to be concerned on multiple theological issues
Preface
At the request of one of our readers, we have been asked to investigate whether John Mark Comer is a false teacher. You can make a request here, and we will honor it within reason. It is a source of joy to be trusted in such a way.
It is most reasonable to have never heard of John Mark Comer, but part of what we want to do in our Discernment ministry is to go beyond the low hanging fruits like a Joel Osteen or Paula White. This exists to answer people’s questions or concerns.
Background
John Mark Comer was leading a Portland megachurch called Solid Rock, which experienced tremendous growth. Amidst the growth, he became burnt out and Solid Rock dissolved as a megachurch, choosing for each franchise to become an independent church. John Mark Comer chose to pastor the Bridgetown location which was not the largest. He is now a motivational speaker and author.
Bridgetown Church
Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon definitely hides its doctrinal beliefs on its website for a church that actually lists them. Their statement of faith is the Lausanne Covenant but is buried on their website here. Interestingly enough, during the COVID-19 panic, they had a form to submit prophetic visions.
Additionally Bridgetown Chruch is egalitarian as stated in their faith statement:
We believe both women and men can and should lead, preach, pastor, and minister within the church. We believe women and men doing this together will result in a more robust ministry of love and grace than one gender can sustain alone.
Furthermore, the church has an approach to sexuality that is rather concerning and promotes a Jesus not depicted in Scripture:
Those who felt most accepted in his presence were those most obviously living in disagreement with his teaching. Therefore, as a church we are committed to becoming a community linked to Jesus in both agreement and acceptance. We are unapologetically aligned with every word of his teaching. Equally, we are uncompromisingly insistent on becoming the sort of community where those out-of-alignment with his beliefs (including sexuality) feel welcome and accepted in our fellowship.
This is yet another major red flag in the church’s stated beliefs, as comparably few were comfortable in Jesus’ presence. This seems to be the direction the church has gone since Comer left, as this was not present at the time of initial publish. The old link to the church’s affirmation of the liberal Lausanne Covenant is removed. John Mark Comer is not currently the past of this church as will be discussed below.
Social Justice Gospel
One of the main concerns of the Lausanne Covenant, what makes it distinct, is a focus on justice. As a result, Bridgetown has a justice focus, not called social justice. But despite not being so obvious, like a Hillsong on supporting social justice over biblical justice, Bridgetown hides it, because John Mark Comer is well aware of what that will do to a church. However he still partakes in social justice causes. Following the 2016 election his current church, Bridgeport invited Mark Charles to speak to his congregation on racial reconciliation.
As racial tension continues to build, this is the beginning of an ongoing conversation about how we, as followers of Jesus, can best respond. Listen to the lecture from writer and speaker Mark Charles, in partnership with Imago Dei Community, as we lament the racial injustice that continues to haunt this nation.
A cursory background check into Mark Charles shows that he is a complete Social Marxist. He is currently running for President of the United States as an independent with a platform deep into Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. There is no excuse for inviting this grifter into a church.
Dec 15, 2017
John Mark Comer seems to push the envelop on progressive theology. It’s problematic is a sense that he sees anything positive that can be gained from apostate churches and that theologically conservative churches need to move to his happy middle. In fact we are seeing what is become of compromising on orthodox theology to come to the middle.
But it’s clear that John Mark Comer does dabble in the Social Justice Gospel and progressive theology.
Creational Monotheism
One of the reasons why John Mark Comer is in question here is likely his position on creational monotheism that has some labeling him a polytheist.
Solid Rock family,
Some of you have been asking some great questions about my recent teaching “Yahweh Elohim” and Solid Rock’s theology. To clarify, we are NOT polytheists. We ARE monotheists. We believe there is ONE real, true Creator God with NO equal or parallel. By using the language of “Creational Monotheism,” we are saying there are real spiritual beings in the universe UNDER the Creator God Yahweh. The demonic powers we read about in the scriptures are not “non-entities,” but are real. The New Testament calls them “demons,” “angels,” “spirits,” “powers,” “princes,” and “principalities,” but the primary Hebrew word used in the Old Testament is elohim or “gods.” These beings are “gods with a lowercase g.” They are not on par with the Creator God Yahweh. They are created, but have rebelled against their Creator to wreak havoc on the earth. This is the worldview of Jesus and of the Scriptures.
By using the language of “Creational Monotheism vs. Modern Monotheism,” we are challenging the post-enlightenment, Western European view of monotheism from the last 300 years that says there are no other spiritual beings in the universe. We don’t buy it, and we don’t think Jesus does either. At Solid Rock it is our deepest conviction to know and pursue the ways of King Jesus, to understand and adopt his way of thinking and his worldview. Stay rooted in the Scriptures, keep asking questions, and above all follow the Creator God in Jesus!
John Mark and the teaching team of Solid Rock
The problem with John Mark Comer’s theology here is that monotheism does not fail to recognize the existence of other spiritual beings. No one would assert that the Sadducees were modern monotheists whist the Pharisees were creational monotheists because the latter acknowledges angels and demons. The belief of spiritual powers of angels and demons is a primary belief in Christianity and is a part of every good faith statement. At best, this view is a straw man fallacy that unnecessarily causes strife in the body of Christ.
Though John Mark Comer may be a pioneer of creational monotheism in contemporary Christianity, the idea is nothing new. In superhero comics, there is an unwritten understanding that God of Jacob is above all other god. So despite the fact that DC comics feature Greco-Roman and Egyptian gods, these gods fall below the one true god. This is what creational monotheism is in practice. And this is where creational monotheism becomes as logically untenable as theistic evolution. If you believe that the One true God can create other gods, even if subservient, there still exist other gods; therefore, creational monotheism is polytheism with extra steps. So, creational monotheism is a damnable heresy at worst. There is no plausible case for creational monotheism to be found in Scripture.
Transition To Self-Help Guru
Since the initial publish of this verdict, John Mark Comer has departed from ministry at Bridgetown Church and instead has transitioned to being a life coach and author. It came after a bout of burnout. A more in depth coverage of this transition can be found here:
John Mark Comer spent 20 years in ministry only to take a sabbatical due to feeling burned out and “traumatized,” so rather than take up an everyday vocation, he instead moved into the self-help realm and church leadership grift, just like Carey Nieuwhof, his interviewer. For someone who is otherwise qualified to leave the pastorate should not be automatically disparaging. Callings change over time, people move, or perhaps they take up a different ministry, whether it be overseas or at a seminary as a good, bible believing professor teaching future pastors. Others might instead take up a normal vocation. Instead, Comer wants to have it both ways, thus becoming a “self-help” guru because that probably pays better than a 9-5 job while being less laborious and more glamorous.
John Mark Comer is a man who lacks the stomach and mental fortitude to be a pastor, nor does he possess an understanding of what is a pastor. While Comer might not be behind a pulpit full-time, he will remain an influencer in the church, one whose narcigesis, self-help, and pop psychology should be avoided, as there are much better expositors of scripture Christians readily available.
Conclusion
It’s commendable that someone is willing to step back from a megachurch structure to focus on their strengths, family, and the Great Commission. There is insufficient reason to question his salvation given what we were able to find. However, there are concerning errors. Doubling down on creational monotheism is a serious error as is dabbling in the Social Justice Gospel.
It seems as though John Mark Comer grew up in a “conservative” church, wanted to move to a liberal church but realized theological liberalism is a blight and wanted some sort of path in-between. And I believe this is where all of the error we see stems from. Nonetheless, the John Mark Comer and his churches believe and practice theological liberalism. However, John Mark Comer’s self-removal from ministry due to a lack of mental fortitude both highlights his threat level and simultaneously mitigates it.
Updated 04/2020
Updated 07/2023
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28 Responses
I am a former attendee of Bridgetown. Can assure you that there is more evidence of false teaching occurring. Since realizing what was going on there while attending, I have maintained a watchful eye on what is going on there and have been researching to connect the dots on the movement toward mysticism and the almost complete lacking of a gospel message or scripture, for that matter, coming from the pulpit. Thank you for posting this. It’s a good start to hopefully open the eyes of some who are looking for answers.
I appreciate your feedback. A Cat. 2 is a warning of a possibility, and I try to err on the lower side. JMC has the background of someone who would embrace liberal theology (grew up in an orthodox or legalistic church + embrace of aspects of liberal Christianity), but has yet to go all the way. I can totally see how mysticism could arise, with his changing views on spiritual gifts, leading to abusing these teachings. Ultimately, the evidence compilation is limited by the level of exhaustiveness of the research. If you know of any sermons/articles of his to check out, this post can always be updated as information presents itself.
How about his false, misleading podcast series on “Sabbath”?
Yes, definitely. That’s just the beginning of the false teaching.
Mysticism is most definitely there. They held a weekend seminar on dream interpretation, several enneagram weekend seminars as well as a series on the enneagram taught by Suzanne Stabile. , lectio divina, imaginative prayer (visualization), centering techniques, and the like. These are the examples that can be pinpointed, but it’s woven throughout most every sermon over the last few years. These can all be found over the last few years in their practicing the way sermon series. I will try to find some references for you and am happy to provide further info.
Genuinely curious and would be interested in a discussion. Is the author/this website opposed to Marxism/socialism? If so, what is the reasoning?
Just noted the Marxist reference and wondering. Thanks.
You say “Bridgetown hides it, because John Mark Comer is well aware of what that will do to a church”. How is it that you presume to know someone’s motives or whether he is intentionally hiding something?
While I’m not a fan of John Mark or the term “Creational Monotheism” , he is technically correct that the word “elohim” does mean “God” or “gods”. And that the Old Testament does seem to sometimes refer to spiritual beings in general as “elohim.”
And the bible does say that elohim, as a plural, do exist, but that there is only one Creator God who we must put first above all (2nd commandment).
Examples of elohim referring to multiple spiritual beings in the OT:
– 1st Samuel 28:13 – Saul uses a witch to summon Samuel and the witch says “I see a god [ELOHIM] coming up out of the earth.”
-Psalms 8:5 – ” For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels (Hebrew here is “elohim”), And hast crowned him with glory and honour.” Hebrews’ author in 2:7 seems to also refer to this verse and refer to “elohim” here as “angels”
-Exodus 15:11 – “Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (implies that other gods do exist, but the LORD (Yahweh is above them all)
This isn’t technically “polytheism” because this implies worship of multiple gods.
If anything it’s henotheism “adherence to one particular god out of several,” or monolatry “the worship of one god without denial of the existence of other gods.”
Now, we could say that the Israelites just didn’t know better and that their theology was evolving over time. that’s fine. But I don’t think it’s right to label John Mark’s stance as polytheism with extra steps.
Hi, new to the chat and likely wont post again but Mike Heiser’s significant work on these topics is some of the best modern scholarship on this topic. The reading is not for the feint of heart but there are no new revelations here. They are new to our western (modern) minds. YWHW is the almighty and only creator. The fact that other spiritual entitles owe their existing to Him in no way undermines or limits any belief in classical Monotheism. I’m not the scholar in these areas. Read Hesier and Richard Bauckham on these topics. Compelling. Rb David Fohrman also has a fascinating series of lecture on Jewish monotheism in the Genesis “let us create”…text. Also worth a listen. https://drmsh.com/
I humbly suggest that ‘monotheism’ may be understood as an expression of “almightiness” and omnipotence not only “only-ness”. If you read this far, I appreciate your consideration.
Elohim is not the NAME OF GOD. It is a descriptive. Here’s a fairly good article that does a better job defining the word, since it would seem that unclear definition is the root of all this discourse.
https://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-of-Elohim.html
I’m trying to be discerning, but am ill equipped by lack of bible knowledge. I listened to John Mark’s first podcast of the ways of Jesus. I really liked it! To me he was truth telling. Was I wrong? I find it very challenging to discern accurate theology. I am a baby follower of Jesus.
Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever done a critique of your ‘ministry’?
I have been listening to JMCs podcasts on Sabbath. Several things pop out that strike as almost cultic in nature.
1. His pacing, timing, intonation, timber are almost hypnotic
2. In E1 of the series he boldly claims “I have Gospel for you…”
3. He expresses over and over again how confusing the Bible is, and responds with”…I’ll tell you all about that [whatever specific item he just mentioned] later….”
4. No references to the Holy Spirit/Ghost, Divine Revelation or being born again
5. Stresses frequently an age discrepancy (I’m so much older than you, you haven’t experienced this yet, etc…)
7. All of his non-biblical references are to Philosophers.
8. Biblical references are often taken from context to support his proposed philosophy
9. Ecumenistic message based on the wide variety of philosophers he references
It seems his purpose is to draw in younger crowds with a new gospel, a draw of almost cult-like tendencies, where people will vehemently defend him, not the principles he teaches. His message purports that he has all the answers as his audience is young and naive, and the Bible is “just so confusing.”. He teaches a new gospel – the gospel of Sabbath, with him at the center as chief priest, philosopher and teacher.
My pastors have never been afraid to say, “Don’t take my word for it; you go read the Bible for yourself.”
Beware.
John,
You are perceptive. These are some of the same things that concerned me when I was attending his church and started to realize that he was teaching false and unbiblical ideas. He relies heavily on non Christian philosohpers as well as “mystics” from the Roman catholic tradition almost exclusively. It was only when he would (rarely) quote an mainstream evangelical that he would issue a “warning along with the quote that he did not endorse everything that person teaches. this type of warning was never given when quoting people like Richard Rohr or Thomas Merton, both of whom endorse Hinduism. It took me a long time of listening closely to what he said week after week and looking into each of the people that he referenced to figure out what his real teachings were and where he was heading with the church. He is no longer the pastor of Bridgetown, as he decided that his teachings on contemplative practices were too important not to spread them further than he could as a pastor. He is now working to create an organization that can help other churches and individuals embrace and teach mysticism through spiritual practices found in ignatian spirituality. His books are subtle, but I believe that his aim is to draw people deeper into the teachings of contemplative spirituality with these new endeavors.
Who isn’t a false teacher? Not Lucifer but the Ahriman has corrupted the minds of the many and any specific claim to the truth is incomplete and riddled with ignorance. Nonetheless, the Christ impulse will continue to illuminate the hearts of man even as the darkness reigns over the earth.
#1 Once they start attacking the “social gospel” I see a red flag.
Are these social Gospel:
Let justice run down like a mighty stream
To share your food with your neighbors
They all had all things in common
Sold his land and brought the money…
CAPITALISM, even when spelled in all capitals IS NOT GODLY. Not the true gospel either.
It’s the gospel of greed. Fundamentals or charismatics or Critic sites are enmeshed in it. Of course the Right will sell their land and keep 98% like A&S did
Ha ha ha
#2 Theological hairsplitting (not real contending for the faith)
1Tim 6:20
O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
Paul talked (briefly in a few places) about the hierarchies of demons in the heavenly places. My advice: stay away from such matters. It promotes pride and quarrels – and worse gnosticism. All aberrant and destructive practices against geniune saving faith in Yehoshua HaMaschiach. He was Paul’s focus and life work**
The true Gospel is plain and simple for all of a humble heart to receive, believe in and live by. Children of God we are called. Convert and become like children. No airs, no ranks, no titles, no complexes.
#3 what I like about this site. You don’t assume to know it all. You allow a 1000 flowers to bloom. But let all things be done in the fear of God in love.
” …but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ…” Eph 4:15
That scoring mechanism. I can’t comment on it fully as I have not yet read your motive and rationale for numerical assessment of others…so another time.
Shalom aleichem.
**Statistics from Paul’s Epistles
Jesus 206
Christ 385
Lord 251
satan 10
devil 5
Western Christianity at it’s best. SMH
1-He offers workshops on the Enneagram. He got into the Enneagram by reading Richard Rohr’s book in 2012, and currently sells Rohr’s book on his website.
2-Teaches polytheism, with ‘good and bad gods under one God’. Bases his reasoning on Psalm 82 – favourite psalm of the Mormons. In his book ‘God Has a Name’, he states that a better way to think about monotheism is to see Zeus, Shivaor the Wiccan as real spiritual beings and that Jesus is not the only way to God (p. 105) !!!
3-Wrote a song for Jeremy Camp with a Third Wave mentality about emptying your mind.
4-Speaker of the New Wine programme, associated to many false prophets/teachers.
5-Strong proponent of contemplative prayer, including the Catholic monk Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises. Highest appreciation for problematic teachers Dallas Willard, John Ortberg and Peter Scazzero, all also included in his book store.
6-He stated in interviews and on Twitter that his spiritual director is a JESUIT PRIEST !!!
7-Endorses false teachers Greg Boyd and Christine Caine.
8-He regularly quotes in his books Eugene Peterson, Richard Foster and Richard Rohr, and even positively quotes pope Paul II.
Yes on all 8. One of my first Sundays at his church, that Jesuit Priest was the teaching the Sunday Sermon. Marcia Montenegro has done several articles about JMC on her facebook page (Christian Answers for the New Age) recently. I was very happy to see her bringing it to the light, since she has a large audience and is well versed in identifying this stuff.
Hi Thomas. I’ve been doing some research on JMC and went to his website (I think?) and don’t see any of the other books you mention there. Do you have a link to it?
This article is riddled with fallacies. I found it funny that he accuses JMC of a Strawman fallacy, yet he does the exact same thing when he talks about creational monotheism. And minimizes it to a form of polytheism. This isn’t true. If you notice, scripture teaches on the superiority of God and never denies the existence of other spiritual beings. In acts, Paul actually portrays this when he says that YHWH is the “unknown God” that the spiritual leaders in that day were waiting to discover (Acts 17:23). Creational monotheism’s belief in other “gods” is not a belief that other Gods exist. But it actually aligns more closely to how Jesus and Paul did ministry. They focused on the superiority of God rather than on disproving the other gods.
The argument on progressive is poorly expressed as well. Any JMC interview reveals that he views a core piece of his role as a pastor in Portland, as pushing back against the hyper progressive values of Portland. He often talks about the failures of progressive Christianity and liberalism and calls us to pursue Jesus. The fact that the author of this article believes that accepting any aspect of liberal theology is a hasty generalization (also a fallacy) that demonizes anything not conservative. Jesus life clearly shows the “middle ground” is not a bad place. The Pharisees (they would be the ones to write this article) were the conservative and Jesus rebuked them and the Sadducees were liberal and Jesus rebuked them as well. Jesus clearly highlighted the failures of both views as should we as we discuss these topics and issues. There is truth somewhere within progressive beliefs but it gets skewed at a certain point and we have a task of discerning the truth and correcting the skews.
In summary, this article is poorly researched and poorly argued. He fails to offer substantial evidence and support for anything he says. Perhaps he was rushed when writing it but i found much of this to be largely misleading.
I agree with ConcernedCitizen. I’ve read 4 of JMC’s books and listened to dozens of his sermons. This article is poorly reasoned, researched, and argued. Readers would be better served by going to the source and letting the Holy Spirit and the scriptures help them discern the value of Comer’s words.
To call Comer a grifter or a Marxist is libelous and slanderous and brings into question the authenticity of the writer’s own profession of faith as this act is seriously un-biblical. In spite of living in the same city as the most violent antifa terrorists, Comer consistently courageously stands up for biblical sexuality and morality. JMC’s focus currently in 2023 is to help people be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus is doing. That’s why he devotes himself full time to Practicing The Way.
Guru, my ass. You should be ashamed for writing that.
all i know, is that i came to this site (never heard of it before) because i google searched “is JMC a false teacher”.
i could have bet dollars to doughnuts his background was from california or a liberal city. the reason i wanted to know is that i listened to one of his podcasts and three times said out loud to myself, well that’s not true. He seemed to not understand the power that the Spirit can give to truly overcome our flesh. I didn’t hear much about the power of Jesus, more of a worldly horizontal mindset.
As long as Jesus is preached to God be the glory but something just rubs me the wrong way. i’ll stick with the tried and true like Martin Lloyd Jones for instruction but bless you on your journey. May the Spirit lead you into truth.
The most concerning thing about Comer’s teachings are the introduction he is giving many to mysticism. Marcia Montenegro has begun to cover his teachings, connections to other false teachers and the way he is leading people to a false Christianity through mysticism disguised as ” help people be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus is doing.” as the above comment describes. This is his focus full time as he has started an organization based on spiritual beliefs that align more with Ignatian spirituality than Biblical Christian practice. In addition, I do not believe that he is still living in Portland, as he sold his home there about a year ago at the height of the market.
the only thing i’ll say is this i have only some self learned bible knowlege the devil does not deserve to ever be called a god lower form or other wise he fell because he wanted to be the true living god Yahweh and from all this talk you can tell god is comming soon there has been a lot of talk about a fall away from god the pan demic the problem is where are you going to fall away to hell its comming so fast and the thing i’m hearing besides you dont even have a full seven yrs not with all the stuff that going to happen
You may want to update this, but Comer said in a sermon this year that they have “Queer people” serving in key leadership in his Church.
His teachings on the lesser “gods” is obviously taken from the questionable teachings of Michael Heiser. I say mark and avoid.
Saw/heard JMC tonight at Powells books in PDX. It seemed like his audience was almost entranced/under a spell by him like he was a New age guru (like Begawan Shri Rajneesh). I tried to figure out what his message was, but could never seem to find it. He mentioned Jesus a bit, philosophy and psychology and sociology as well. Had some good points about being humble and loving, but the way he was accepted and fawned over at a place like Powells makes me remember Jesus’s words in John, “If the world hates you, know that it hated me first.” There was nothing mentioned that would not be acceptable in any secular university or liberal church. The gospel, rightly preached, is hated by the world, not loved, because Jesus, the light of the world, was rejected by the world since its deeds were evil. I saw some red flags listening to this guy, likeable as he may be. Seems to be a wolf in Sheep’s clothing. What I’ve researched here seems to give credence to my thoughts.