Ambulatory parasomnia is the big umbrella word for the phenomenon of sleepwalking, a condition that is difficult to understand, and yet occurs fairly frequently. It is said to affect between 4 and 10 percent of the population.

Scientists have been trying to understand how sleepwalking works. Sleepwalking commonly occurs during the earlier cycles of sleep (a cycle being about an hour and a half long), and especially during the NREM (non-rapid eye movement) phase of sleep. The REM phase is the dream phase, during which the body is temporarily paralysed to prevent it from acting out dreams. This is reversed in the NREM phase. Sleepwalking is believed to result from “switching errors” in the brain where there is an overlap, with the person in a dreamlike state and yet able to move about.

It is this aspect that we need to consider as it relates to the Christian life.

Developing good habits in the course of living the Christian life is important. These are associated with what we call spiritual disciplines—praying, reading the Bible, singing hymns and spiritual songs, taking part in the worship service, and the like.

The downside of habits is that they may affect attention. As an experiment, the next time you are in church, see if you can catch yourself when you sing songs or read familiar printed prayers, or even when you recite the Lord’s Prayer. How many times do you drift off and fail to notice what you are singing or saying? I suspect there are many who can sing all four stanzas of a hymn and not be any wiser as to what they have just sung.

The same thing happens in reading set prayers. Take, for instance, the prayer of confession. Too often, this is read like a bullet train, with no stops for the heart and mind. And yet, many feel that they have gone through the process of worshipping in church, having said their prayers, sung their hymns, and received their communion.

Could it be that there are a significant number of “sleepwalkers” in church? Though they go through religious rituals out of habit, they are in a state of spiritual slumber. And when asked what they sang and what was preached the previous Sunday, they have difficulty remembering.

The danger of ritualistic religion is that it may promote spiritual sleepwalking. The comfort of the repeated words and actions lulls the soul to sleep and takes away any real connection with God, the self, and others in worship. In ancient Israel, there was worship of the Lord, but not the kind that connected with God or made any difference in the lives of the worshippers. “Even while these people were worshipping the LORD, they were serving their idols” (2 Kings 17:41).

The same thing can happen outside church. We can go through our daily routines without being awake to God and what He is doing in and around us. Some commentators have observed that Moses may have passed the burning bush many times, but he failed to notice its uniqueness the previous times (Exodus 3 ). Perhaps he was too busy going through the motions of shepherding his sheep. Familiar paths, familiar actions… and a missed epiphany.

We are not to sleepwalk with God. He has called us to walk (not sleepwalk) with Him or before Him (Genesis 17:1). This means that we must pay careful attention to God and what He is saying or doing. We must consider what is going on within and around us.

The writer of Hebrews urged his Jewish readers to pay careful attention to what God had said and to awaken from their ritual-induced sleep. “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). Biblical religion is one that pays close attention. It is aware of the dangers of spiritual sleepwalking, produced by falsely-calming rituals and familiar, comforting words.

Finally, religious activism often masks sleepwalking. It is amazing what sleepwalkers (both literally and figuratively) can do by way of physical feats. But activism and religious busyness cannot substitute for the true religion that arises from a soul that is awake to God. What the Lord says in Matthew 7:21–23 is a warning against the mistaken assumptions of a religious activism that is disconnected from God.

Consider this:

Reflect on your own experience of “sleepwalking” in church, such as when singing familiar hymns and songs, praying, and listening to sermons. What factors contributed to your inattentiveness, and how can you ensure that you pay attention in church? Share your reflections with others.

Excerpted and adapted from Apprenticed to Jesus: Learning from Him, Living Like Him by Robert M. Solomon. ©2014 by Robert M. Solomon. Used by permission of Armour Publishing. All rights reserved.

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