The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World
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- Create Date：2021-09-30 06:53:22
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：John Mark Comer
- ISBN：0525653090
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Summary
"Who am I becoming？"
That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer。 Outwardly， he appeared successful。 But inwardly， things weren't pretty。 So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words:
"Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life。 Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life。"
It wasn't the response he expected， but it was--and continues to be--the answer he needs。 Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause。 A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry， or busyness， as a root of much evil。
Within the pages of this book， you'll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world。
That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer。 Outwardly， he appeared successful。 But inwardly， things weren't pretty。 So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words:
"Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life。 Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life。"
It wasn't the response he expected， but it was--and continues to be--the answer he needs。 Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause。 A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry， or busyness， as a root of much evil。
Within the pages of this book， you'll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world。
Reviews
Amber
，
This is really really good！ I listened to it and am glad I did as it has a really conversational feel。 There’s nothing earth shattering here but lots and lots of good tips for living a life of non-hurry。
Logan Seibold
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Excellent content everyone needs to read but the writing style wore me out a bit。 Could not stop reading it in JMC’s voice。
Ashley Thomas
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Kind of mind blowing。 This book provided a deeper， more enriched understanding of sabbath along with practical applications to engage in rest in the holy and blessed way that God intended。
Kyle Johnson
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“To restate: love， joy， and peace are at the heart of all Jesus is trying to grow in the soil of your life。 And all three are incompatible with hurry。”Another really solid book by Comer， though a very similar book to the other book of his I have read， "Garden City"。 Ruthless Elimination delineates the practical applications of his theology a little bit better， while Garden City's theological underpinnings are quite a bit more robust。 Comer's writing style is that of a hip preacher， which makes m “To restate: love， joy， and peace are at the heart of all Jesus is trying to grow in the soil of your life。 And all three are incompatible with hurry。”Another really solid book by Comer， though a very similar book to the other book of his I have read， "Garden City"。 Ruthless Elimination delineates the practical applications of his theology a little bit better， while Garden City's theological underpinnings are quite a bit more robust。 Comer's writing style is that of a hip preacher， which makes many people love these books， while driving a minority of folks crazy。 I generally think he does a great job of translating the work of experts to a more widespread， popular-level audience。 90% of Ruthless Elimination is just a paraphrase of Richard Foster's work in more accessible language （Comer as much as acknowledges this in the footnotes）， but I have no doubt that Comer will reach a wider audience over the years to come， and that's a good thing。 I would recommend reading either of these two books to just about everyone （slight edge to Garden City）， and if you're really interested in the central topics， they are both worth a read。 。。。more
Libby King
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Incredibly timely and filled with principles on how to implement the sabbath into a regular part of life。 Lots of statistics and facts that helped the reader better understand their need for a sabbath。 This book was awesome and cut straight to the point。
Glen
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I loved this book， its style and the clarity with which it assaults the frenetic lifestyles that we have glamorized。 Comer is a highly gifted communicator with a prescient message that has come at a time in my life when the Spirit is helping me to discern between achievement and fruitfulness。 The richness of the text reveals a well-read author’s personal pursuit of spiritual wholeness。 These words are pastoral， often humorous yet persistently emphatic on the need for each of us to cultivate sile I loved this book， its style and the clarity with which it assaults the frenetic lifestyles that we have glamorized。 Comer is a highly gifted communicator with a prescient message that has come at a time in my life when the Spirit is helping me to discern between achievement and fruitfulness。 The richness of the text reveals a well-read author’s personal pursuit of spiritual wholeness。 These words are pastoral， often humorous yet persistently emphatic on the need for each of us to cultivate silence， simplicity， slowness and an overall detachment from image-based living （i。e。， social media， status symbols， or slavish pursuits of western culture’s good life）。 There are several practical tips for how we can cultivate godly pace in our lives or link minimalist living with kingdom generosity。 Herein is the real value of this book。 It draws the reader to something bigger than a better version of ‘me’， the call is to follow the Jesus lifestyle。 This is why I walk away from this book with a deep gratification for what I learned。 。。。more
Jen Downs
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Life changing。 A book everyone should read。 Mark up， and make a difference in your life。
Campbell Wallace
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There is definitely a better way that most of us could and should be living - the simplicity of Comer painting this picture through emulating the life of Jesus is deeply encouraging and convicting。
Meghan Swinney
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Absolutely phenomenal。 Comer got his message across & left white space on his pages。 If you only read one book this year， this is the one ❤️
Rachel
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Some good advice mixed with many shortcomingsI enjoy time management and spirituality and I enjoyed some of the lessons and how this author links it to Biblical teachings。 Like many people， I’ve felt Christianity does not include all in the way that it preaches。 The parts where I cringed:*Rather than draw parallels between the wisdoms of other religions， Buddhism is historically and theologically misrepresented and criticized as a competing ideology to Christianity。 *And then Buddhist practices Some good advice mixed with many shortcomingsI enjoy time management and spirituality and I enjoyed some of the lessons and how this author links it to Biblical teachings。 Like many people， I’ve felt Christianity does not include all in the way that it preaches。 The parts where I cringed:*Rather than draw parallels between the wisdoms of other religions， Buddhism is historically and theologically misrepresented and criticized as a competing ideology to Christianity。 *And then Buddhist practices （tonglen） are used as a strategy to meditate in a Christian way。*The practice of the Sabbath is briefly mentioned as being co-opted from Judaism and touted as Christian。 *Men are quoted more often throughout this book than women as leading experts and wise teachers。 *When he says: “If you believe in feminism…”*When he says: “As much as I’d like to believe that slavery doesn’t exist anymore…” *When he misrepresents Marie Kondo’s message of minimalism as storing stuff better， then using her wisdom of “spark joy”。 *When he criticizes advertising to be evil and all about selling without mentioning that people with non-religious jobs may support their families from the services and products they sell。 *Criticizing people for not taking long vacations rather than see it as a systemic American cultural problem。 I could go on， but the point being: if you want to bring people to your church and religion （which is also a business that doesn’t have to pay taxes， let’s be clear）: start with teaching and being as Jesus does。 Include。 See all beings and teachings with compassion， not judgement。 Recognize your privilege， not just economic， but racial and gender as well。 There’s great messages on time-management and eliminating distraction from one’s life and I love the bit about Sabbath even if it is co-opted。 Unfortunately， reading this book reinforced my belief that Christianity is doing more exclusionary harm than good。 I was hoping that someone who’s my age and leading a church in my hometown would be different， that my generation could do things in a more inclusionary way。 I’ll stick to the inclusionary spiritual traditions that are working for me。 。。。more
Cesar Abeid
，
This book has changed my life。 I can’t recommend it enough。 It has a Christian flavour to it， but I think everyone can benefit from its message。 It’s time you slowed down。 It’s time to become fully human。
Kaite
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This book started out great。 I was loving it so much I was considering buying a print copy。 Then little comments about capitalism and its evils started creeping in。。。ok， I thought I’ll just ignore that weirdly placed remark。。。and moved on。 Then the words “white privilege” made an appearance， and comments about injustice for minorities。 What？ How does this have anything to do with taking a sabbath and focusing on the Lord through rest？ I didn’t finish it。 I honestly can’t remember the last time I This book started out great。 I was loving it so much I was considering buying a print copy。 Then little comments about capitalism and its evils started creeping in。。。ok， I thought I’ll just ignore that weirdly placed remark。。。and moved on。 Then the words “white privilege” made an appearance， and comments about injustice for minorities。 What？ How does this have anything to do with taking a sabbath and focusing on the Lord through rest？ I didn’t finish it。 I honestly can’t remember the last time I didn’t finish a book， but I just didn’t have the patience for the CRT undertones。。。 disappointed to say the least as the premise was a good one。 。。。more
Dawn Stark
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Lifechanging！
Genevieve Graessle
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this book came for me in every chapter and is quickly changing my life。 classic John Mark Comer。
Kayla Weaver
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So so refreshing！ Can’t recommend it enough。 I appreciated both the biblical background and analysis given， and the practical advice。 I feel inspired to live a much less hurried life… here’s to actually implementing what was said 🥂
Tara
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I'm conflicted about this book。 A lot of the content is great， and I'm 100% with the author on our society's endemic of hurry sickness， and the need to be aware of the harmful effects and the helps and rules for getting us to slow down。 A lot of the content is good and helpful。 However， I did not care for the style of the writing or even the format。 So much of the writing is in such a 。。。。casual style that it can border on flippant。 I'm seven years younger than the author but I felt distracted a I'm conflicted about this book。 A lot of the content is great， and I'm 100% with the author on our society's endemic of hurry sickness， and the need to be aware of the harmful effects and the helps and rules for getting us to slow down。 A lot of the content is good and helpful。 However， I did not care for the style of the writing or even the format。 So much of the writing is in such a 。。。。casual style that it can border on flippant。 I'm seven years younger than the author but I felt distracted and turned off by the number of sort of non-words such as "Jesusy" and "whaaa？" that appear， and the spacing was weird and the footnotes were excessive and not properly used。 It's about a 250 page book and there are 264 footnotes。 Some of them are legitimate footnotes; citing studies or articles references， but many footnotes are purely personal parenthetical comments， or scripture references， i。e。 John 3:17。 I don't know what publisher wouldn't just say: put those short references。 in the text; nobody wants to page through 264 footnotes to see where in the Bible Jesus said this or that。 Even if you're not mildly fussy or detail-oriented like I am and you can overlook some stylistic things， some of the content concerned me as well， such as the veiled approvals of critical race theory， "democratic socialism" and sentiments of anti-capitalism and anti-conservatism。。。there's a difference between living generously and having a system of government that decides how generously you will live。 Anyway， I can tell he didn't really want to get into political discourse， and neither do I， about a book about slowing down to the benefit of our spiritual lives， but I could tell he had several ideas that I simply don't agree with， and then that makes me wonder if I can trust his other ideas。 One other thing I noticed in a footnote: he said the church reformation did a lot of great things， but that they came up short on saying that salvation is through grace alone and leaves out self-effort， something like that。 I'm not sure if he's saying that salvation is not through grace alone， faith alone， or that the reformers didn't believe in exercising good deeds and spiritual disciplines as a result of faith （I think he meant towards the latter） but I'd disagree either way。 This review is much longer than I meant to it be， but bottom line: if you choose to read this book， read this book with a keen filter， or， like me， you could choose to look for a book with a similar teaching but more sophisticated style and solid foundation。 。。。more
Rebekah Townsend
，
AMAZING！！ Well worth a read！ I’ve implemented so many of the suggestions。 X
Scott
，
A good idea with a few great insights into a sabbath that's different than the typical church version。 A good idea with a few great insights into a sabbath that's different than the typical church version。 。。。more
Anna
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I really enjoyed this book。 So many great points on slowing down and taking the time to enjoy our lives and God。 So much I still want to think about from this book， definitely would recommend！
Amanda
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Absolutely something I need to hear right now。 I long for Sabbath in my life。 Now how to make it happen！！
Eric
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John Mark Comer provides a startling wake-up call to our current situation: we are all in a hurry and missing the important things in life。 Jesus does not call us to multi-task， rush from point A to point B， get as many followers and likes as we can， or miss out on a moment to just bask in the sunlight and fresh air。 Jesus calls us to an easy yoke， a yoke of a unhurried life。What I liked about this book: I needed it。 I have found myself in the midst of mindless scrolling， uncontrolled entertainm John Mark Comer provides a startling wake-up call to our current situation: we are all in a hurry and missing the important things in life。 Jesus does not call us to multi-task， rush from point A to point B， get as many followers and likes as we can， or miss out on a moment to just bask in the sunlight and fresh air。 Jesus calls us to an easy yoke， a yoke of a unhurried life。What I liked about this book: I needed it。 I have found myself in the midst of mindless scrolling， uncontrolled entertainment time， and missing out on important things like conversations with wonderful people or my children just being children。 What a waste！This is not just a book about too much time spent on social media。 It's so much more than that。 It's about how we've been rewired from our created state to consume and to give our most valuable asset away without a fight: our time。 JMC provides some amazing anecdotes from his own life， followed by tips and examples of how to move past a hurried life to a slowed down life。 What I did not like about this book: nothing。 I liked every bit of it and highly recommend to everyone。 We all need to stop， take a breath， analyze our lives， and seek to ruthlessly eliminate the hurry。 。。。more
Luke Zwiener
，
Such an aplicable book for the society we live in！ It is extremely well written and captivating， while packing a biblical perspective on modern culture that we all could use。
Aubri Thompson
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Very entertaining。。 the Christian take on Jenny Odell’s How To Do Nothing。 I think there’s a lot to the idea of focusing on the present， of learning to live intentionally by focusing our attention on what’s important。 And as a Christian， seeing the ways Jesus embodied this focus made the argument for slowing down even stronger。Comer talks about four spiritual disciplines for actively slowing down and really following Jesus:- Silence and solitude。 Something I definitely don’t get enough of （does Very entertaining。。 the Christian take on Jenny Odell’s How To Do Nothing。 I think there’s a lot to the idea of focusing on the present， of learning to live intentionally by focusing our attention on what’s important。 And as a Christian， seeing the ways Jesus embodied this focus made the argument for slowing down even stronger。Comer talks about four spiritual disciplines for actively slowing down and really following Jesus:- Silence and solitude。 Something I definitely don’t get enough of （does anyone？） in this day and age。 And something to be actively planned for。- Sabbath。 The tradition practiced in Judaism and by Jesus， a time set aside for rest and worship。- Simplicity。 As a sometimes-kooky minimalist， this one made perfect sense。 Although I don’t think I’ll ever get down to two outfits like Comer。- Slowness。 Small gamifications that allow us to slow down， like setting phone times/spaces， driving in the slow lane， taking week-long vacations。 Very up to interpretation and imagination。 。。。more
Kevin Carey
，
Really good。 Loved John Mark Comer’s argument as a whole and the practices he writes about here。 Also， loved all his references to writers that have been a big part of my faith over the last two decades （John Ortberg， Dallas Willard， Richard Foster， etc。）。 Will come back to this book as a practice for sure。
Heather Back
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I found a new yearly re-read book。 Gonna go purchase a personal copy， brb。
Demetrius Rogers
，
Some of the greatest books comes right out of a person's own life-pursuit and formation。 And this is one such book。 （It reminds me a lot of Paul E。 Miller's book， A Praying Life。） Comer has lived what he wrote and he's just letting us in on some of the things he's learning along the way。 I take his work to be both prophetic and cathartic。 Prophetic cause， well， look around， we're all in a hurry， and it's not boding well。 And cathartic because these things are longing to come out in me， and his h Some of the greatest books comes right out of a person's own life-pursuit and formation。 And this is one such book。 （It reminds me a lot of Paul E。 Miller's book， A Praying Life。） Comer has lived what he wrote and he's just letting us in on some of the things he's learning along the way。 I take his work to be both prophetic and cathartic。 Prophetic cause， well， look around， we're all in a hurry， and it's not boding well。 And cathartic because these things are longing to come out in me， and his humor seriously brought me to tears。 I like Comer's personality and the way he does life。 He has a certain life flavor that wouldn't necessarily describe me， but， through this work （my first read of his） I feel like I found a new trusted friend。 This was one of my favorite books of the year。 Bravo！ 。。。more
Lena Rivas
，
this was recommended to me at my youth group and im glad I decided to read it！！ their were some portions that had me scratching my head from my own confusion I will say。 the author brought up many interesting points that I see myself taking into practice in my life。 I do recommended this book！！
Betsy Gant
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2。5 stars
Madison Cotherman
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I LITERALLY CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK MORE HIGHLY。 *HURRY* TO READ IT， PLEASE。
Evan
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