From Blue Like Jazz:
I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God. I was into habit. I grew up going to church, so I got used to hearing about God.
What is this a description of? Auto-pilot. The bane of my existence, and a special gift to our gender. Powerful, it enables us to function without thinking. To handle repetition that would otherwise drive us insane. To continue to function in the midst of noise and chaos. We really can be robots! It’s not bad. It’s a glorious work of the creator! But it’s another thing the deceiver aims to twist.
Nothing hurts my marriage more than this very thing. I think falling into auto-pilot in relation to our wives is a great snare for men. I believe Donald Miller also successfully points out that it’s a trap in our relation to God. The gender of men in particular is really good at being religious. Once we get our auto-pilot setup, we can go on for years while putting all of our creative energy into something else. Woman are not as successful at just being religious. It forces them to continue to strive for a more intimate relationship with Jesus, and that is a very good thing.
Intellectual Christianity can be rich in truth, but it’s easier for men to set it on auto-pilot. Mystical Christianity doesn’t play so well with robots. It keeps you on your toes.
Allow me to exhort myself:
Men, let’s shed the robot and engage God and our wives with all our mind, soul and strength!