“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls” (Prov. 25:28). Certain addictions may have a biological element to them, but nearly every such struggle has a spiritual element that psychologists & pharmaceuticals can’t fully deal with. Alcoholics Anonymous was established with the 1st step of recovery being overcoming the denial that “I’m in control,” & surrendering to a greater Power.
I want to show you how Jesus handles those with afflictions, & how He can bring your life under His control by pointing to the time He met a man with an evil spirit (Mark 5:1-20). The man lived among the tombs, & couldn’t be subdued, even with a chain. He’d roam around completely out of control, crying out & cutting himself.
You’ve heard the saying “He’s got his demons,” right? That metaphorically means something destructive has a grip on a person’s life. Today, people would just say the man was insane or had mental health problems. While some people do make too much of the devil, others make too little of him. This man was truly demonized. We don’t know how it happened, but it drove him away from his family & society to live among the tombs as if already dead inside (like many addicts).
Such people start out thinking, “I can keep it under control. I’ll just do it a little bit.” Maybe they’ve tried to keep their demons contained, but the cravings, urges, impulses, & emotions grow wildly out of control. The tormented man became self-destructive by cutting himself, as some still do today to cope with trauma, secret shame, & self-hatred. But self-harm can take many forms.
Many try to face their demons on their own, but this man has a life-changing encounter with a Power greater than himself & his demons. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his knees. Broken, flawed, scary, bloody, filthy–but underneath all that was a valuable soul created in God’s image, whom Jesus cared about. What AA knew to be true when it started over 90 years ago was already true over 19 centuries earlier–to beat your demons, bow before the Lord!
The demon speaking through the man begs for mercy. In fact, it turns out there was a multitude of demons, & they begged to remain in the area instead of being banished to torturous judgment. They still wanted to have some control & influence over the region. The demons people carry don’t want to just destroy the individual, but all who surround him. Addictions can destroy entire families & social circles.
The demons surrendered & begged to at least be allowed to enter a herd of 2,000 pigs nearby. Jesus commands them to come out & sends them into the swine, which stampede down a steep bank into the lake where they drown. How horrifying to hear the frenzied squeals & see the carcasses littering the shoreline. What a picture of the madness of evil!
Those who witnessed it ran off to tell everyone in town. When the people came out to see for themselves, they saw Jesus & the formerly-demonized man “sitting there, dressed & in his right mind.” When we let sin, bad habits, & addictions take over, we’re not thinking clearly. Our spiritual minds are clouded, our spiritual eyes blinded, our spiritual hearts hardened. It’s only later that we look back & wonder, “What was I thinking?!” Jesus can clear our minds, open our eyes, & change our hearts. That’s something no therapeutic band-aid can do for us.
The people, though, were afraid—not amazed, not thankful—afraid! You’d think they’d be happy to see this man’s life put back together. But sadly, that often isn’t the case. Over time, they’d apparently learned to live with his behavior. The world tells us, “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic (or any other addictive behavior).” They say people can’t really change. To see the power of God displayed like that makes people uncomfortable & exposed. It shines a light on their own guilt & rationalizations.
Maybe they valued the pigs more than their neighbor, or feared what other loss & change Jesus could “inflict” on them. They could have asked Jesus to help & heal them too, but they’re so freaked out, they ask Him to leave. So He did. Jesus will only remain where He’s welcome, & do what we allow Him to.
The man who had been delivered begs to go with Jesus, but is told to stay & spread the word: “Tell what God has done for you.” That’s the call on all of our lives. Tell your story of encountering Jesus! You’re probably never going to be demonized, but that’s not the tactic the enemy needs to use to get a hold of us (1 Pet. 5:8). Simple temptation & deception are enough. No literal demons necessarily, just metaphorical demons of lust, greed, pride, anger, anxiety, & hedonism are plenty.
Without a spiritual transformation, we’re helpless & hopeless in the face of these things apart from encountering the one true Higher Power. Jesus came to crush Satan’s strongholds (Col. 2:15, 1 John 3:8). His power in us is greater than the evil that seems to overwhelm us at times (1 John 4:4). He gives us self-control if we first let Him have control of us (Gal. 5:22-23, Rom. 8:8-9, Phil. 4:13).