Unchained

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

– Romans 12:2

The fifth chapter of Mark’s gospel begins with the story of a man who faced some serious problems. Or maybe a legion of problems best describes his plight.

This tormented soul had been exiled from the community to live out his days in a cemetery near Lake Galilee. The man was literally overcome by demons. And so total was his possession that he could use extraordinary strength to repeatedly break the chains and smash the leg irons that confined him. 

“No one could control him,” Mark wrote. “Night and day he was in the graveyard or on the hills, yelling and cutting himself with stones.”

And that would have been the end of the man’s bizarre narrative. But then along came Jesus and his disciples from their voyage across the lake. Recognizing that Christ was God in the flesh, the demons that possessed the man begged to postpone their own eternal fate, and instead inhabit a vast herd of pigs that roamed the hillside. Jesus agreed. And the demons immediately fled from their victim.

Fast-forward now to 21st century America. Does it seem like “demons” are only found in horror movies and ancient fairytales? And when a celebrity, sports star or even a neighbor faces the consequences of alcohol, drugs, anger-management issues — or some other destructive force — we can count on their loved ones to comment that they struggled with their share of demons. Sometimes that’s a figure of speech. But actual demons really can torment people, and they do their best to make their victims’ lives a living hell.   

The fact is that everyone has their share of demons to one extent or another — even Christ-followers. And even though we’ve accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, asked him for forgiveness and then received it, we still can slide back into all those bad habits and behaviors that we thought we had left far behind. And then we slide back time and time again.

So what’s the problem? Doesn’t the Bible say that becoming a Christ-follower makes you a new creation?

It does. But our transformation is a work in progress on God’s timetable. Although it can happen immediately, shedding our personal demons often takes place bit by bit and day after day along our faith-journey. What's more, our journey’s pathway is narrow, twisting and full of unexpected hairpin turns. And it’s when we take our eyes off our destination and follow our demons instead of Jesus that we wind up in a ditch.

Let’s finish by considering the life-lesson of the apostle Paul — the unlikely Christ-follower who wrote much of the New Testament. In his 2,000-year-old lament that sounds so familiar to modern ears, Paul complains that he continues to do the very things he despises. Yet at the same time, he fails to do the things he knows he should accomplish.

If this great Apostle to the Gentiles had so many problems with sin and temptation, what hope can we have of breaking free from our own chains? Well … quite a bit! As Christ-followers, we don’t have to accept sin’s dominance in our lives. It all comes down to our ultimate trust and dependence on a Power that's much greater than ourselves.

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” asks Paul. “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”