Fight Like a Monk: A Book Review of Live No Lies

Evagrius Ponticus, a fourth century AD monk, spent the remaining years of his life in an Egyptian desert. His goal was to figure out how to fight the devil. He discovered the devil’s primary target of temptation is thought patterns. If he can disrupt our thoughts, he can render us ineffectual. However, he doesn’t stop with disruption. He uproots truth and replaces it with lies, or a form of unreality.

Lies. The word is small. Even the action of telling a lie even seems small, hence the phrase little white lie. A lie is simply an untruth, typically paired with some truth to make it convincing, meant to make life just a bit easier. Surely something so small is rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things…

In Live No Lies, John Mark Comer sets the record straight. No only are we surrounded on all sides by lies via popular ideologies, media, etc., but we’re actually far more susceptible to believing lies than we’d like to imagine. If lies are permitted to pervade our lives, we can become enslaved by them.

Manifesto for Exile

Comer establishes that Christians are being marginalized in American culture. Then he poses the question “What if exile is something to fight but not to fear?” indicating hope is not lost and not by a long shot. After acknowledging the prevalence and power of lies, he challenges readers to fight back.

The wisest way to wage war is: 1. know the enemy and 2. be prepared. The book unfolds in three sections devoted to the three enemies of our souls and subsequently human flourishing: the devil, the flesh, and the world.

Within each section, Comer shares methods to aid in combatting these enemies and their lies. Once lies take root and we begin to live by them, their destruction becomes exponentially worse and difficult to undo.

The Devil

Comer starts with the source of lies. Summing up Satan’s motive, Comer asserts, “If Jesus’ anthem is ‘On earth as it is in heaven’ the devil’s is ‘On earth as it is in hell.’”

Our culture oscillates between being enamored with (think Lil Nas X’s “Montero”) or oblivious to the devil (since Nietzsche claimed “God is dead,” we can assume the devil is dead also). Either way, Comer assures his audience that this creature with only a title instead of a name, is alive and “aided by our skepticism.” The devil has a deep understanding of how humanity operates and the battle ground is the human mind.

Comer argues that the two best ways to combat the devil’s native language (lies) are quiet prayer and Scripture.

1. Quiet prayer focuses more on listening than petitions. The objective is to learn how to discern God’s voice above all others.

2. Scripture is a combination of daily Scripture reading and meditation. The goal is to replace lies in our lives with truth and to be armed with truth so that lies are stopped in their tracks.

The Flesh

Western culture is driven by desire. One of the most ubiquitous lies is, to deny ourselves what we want is to suffer needlessly. The ultimate goal has become to provide our flesh or self with what it craves which will result in happiness.

The ability to grant our every wish sounds like freedom. But constant indulgence leads to addiction. Comer defines addiction as “a kind of prolonged suicide by pleasure.” To be at the mercy of our egocentric, willful self is just another form of enslavement.

Comer acknowledges that we may not be able to control our fleshly desires, but we can determine whether or not to give in to them. Discipline, he argues, is where true freedom originates. He recommends fasting and confession as they feed the spirit and starve the flesh.

Fasting strengthens us against the desire for instant gratification and helps us cultivate contentment even when things aren’t exactly how we want them. Confession reroutes us to seek community rather than isolation when we’re struggling with a particular temptation or sin.

The World

If the devil is the puppet master cleverly pulling the strings of our flesh via lies, then the world his stage where he runs the show. Comer defines the world as “a system of ideas, values, morals, practices, and social norms that are integrated into the mainstream and eventually institutionalized in a culture corrupted by the twin sins of rebellion against God and the redefinition of good and evil.” In short, the world has been woven with lies.

Comer argues that the church is the best means of resistance to the world. The church must be starkly different from the world. If the world values

• selfishness

• pride

• decadence

• chaos

• division

• hatred

• lies

then the church must value and fight for

• sacrifice

• humility

• discipline

• peace

• unity

• love

• truth.

Takeaways

Christians are being pushed to the margins of the culture; however, the perimeter can be a surprising position of power. It can be a refuge for those the culture is harming, a number growing considerably every day. It can also be a place of counterculture. Crediting Dr. Larry Hurtado, Comer relays that it was the church’s vast difference from the dominant culture that caused the gospel to spread as it did. Revolution needs only a remnant devoted to truth.

Yes, lies are unbelievably dangerous and destructive, but they can fought and undone via seeking God through spiritual disciplines. Also, Comer also offers a “monastic”guide for how to become more intentional about identifying and fighting lies.

1. What’s the obsessive thought/feeling/sensation?

2. What’s the central lie underneath the obsessive thought/feeling/sensation?

3. What’s the truth?

As someone who has read nearly his entire library of work (I lack only one title, Lovology), I can confidently attest that John Mark Comer has done it again. Comer invites the reader into the world of his writing with his conversational style, rife with references from pop culture. He delivers a clear progression of ideas backed by a number of current relevant examples. And he offers practical ways to fight lies to eliminate their destructive consequences.

Shannon Spivey is a Nashville native who lives in a world of words. Her experience as a wordsmith spans over a decade. Also, for the past five years, she's taught writing at Belmont University. Her love for and belief in the power of words are woven throughout her work as a writer and educator. When she's not writing or teaching, you’ll likely find her reading, hiking, haunting a coffee shop, or hanging out with her best friend and husband, Hunter.