Camazotz

We sit down. We listen to the announcements.  We stand up and sing some songs. We sit down again. We drop money into the offering plates. We listen to someone talk about the Bible. We nearly fall asleep, but rouse ourselves again when the closing prayer finally starts. We get into our cars. We drive home. This happens once a week. It's a routine. 

I think one of the greatest problems with Christianity is this habit we've gotten into of making our faith a routine. We pray before we eat, we go to church once or sometimes twice a week, we sometimes force our eyes open in the morning to "have a quiet time", and occasionally we actually pray a few times. God becomes obligation, not joy. 
However, King David addresses his feelings about God in Psalms and they seem to go completely against this:

"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere..." Psalm 84:10a

"As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?"

Psalm 42:1-2

Do we really thirst for God that much? Or are we just content going through the motions, day after day after day? 

I thought of a very interesting illustration for this concept from one of the strangest but most wonderful books ever written: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. In this story, Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace, three children who are traveling through the universe to search for Meg and Charles Wallace's father, encounter a very strange planet known as Camazotz. The moment they set foot onto this planet, they instantly realize that something is amiss. As they walk down one of the streets, Meg, Calvin, and Charles notice that all of the houses are identical. There are children playing outside of these uniform houses, but there's something very strange about them all. It takes a few minutes before Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace realize that all of the children are bouncing their rubber balls in UNIFORM, all of them following the same rhythm. As they go into the depths of this planet, our heroes are in for a horrible surprise. They realize that everyone on Camazotz is controlled by a single power: a huge brain known as IT. Rather than controlling the people by sheer force, this mastermind (literally, a mind) sends a pulsating rhythm throughout the entire planet. Everyone on the planet sinks into mindless drifting, just following the rhythm at every second of their lives. If anyone breaks the routine of IT's pulses, they are immediately tortured and re-hypnotized to follow IT again. 

This planet is dark and lifeless as the people living on it continue to brainlessly move through the lives like zombies. 

Two things happen as the three children as visiting Camazotz ( if you don't like spoilers, stop reading at this point... once you finish the book, you can come back and read this post...) . First, Charles Wallace, who is a deep-thinking child genius, believes that he is perfectly able to resist IT, and in his pride, actually falls into hypnosis and becomes part of the rhythm. Next, Meg and Calvin are able to find Mr. Murray, Meg and Charles Wallace's father. 

So, let me pause from the summarizing for a second and relate this back to the original point. It is so easy to fall prey to the rhythm of routine. In the story, Meg and Calvin get VERY close to falling prey to IT's powers, just like Charles Wallace. As they are actually IT's headquarters in the presence of the massive brain, their entire respiratory systems and heartbeats suddenly line up with the pulsating rhythm. 

Another thing to think about is the fact that the people of Camazotz had no idea what they were missing by following this easy, rhythmic pattern. But, their enslavement to IT was getting rid of their freedom. 

In the same way, our freedom to love God and truly enjoy the mercy he has given to us will be gone if we start to follow a routine.

But how do we defeat this complacency?

Well, the solution can actually be found in A Wrinkle in Time.

Meg defeats IT and releases her brother through something rather unexpected: love. Out loud, she tells IT how much she loves Charles Wallace. She feels this love deep in her heart. In the end, this is what frees Charles Wallace from his bondage to the giant brain.

We can defeat complacency with love. If we begin to love God passionately, everything can change. But here's the thing, we have the inability to love God that much on our own. So, as strange as it sounds, we need to ask God to help us love Him. If we begin to do that, the routine fades away. Although we will still read our Bibles regularly and pray on a daily basis, it won't be a drill; it will be part of an ongoing relationship and conversation with God. And THAT'S a spectacular thing. 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10 

"This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break
At least I'll be feeling something

‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything 
Instead of going through the motions?

No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind 
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something

‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

‘Cause I don't wanna go through the motions 
I don't wanna go one more day
Without your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking 
What if I had given everything 
Instead of going through the motions?"

~"The Motions" by Matthew West