Focus: Untamable

Text: Mk.5:4

"Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: NEITHER COULD ANY MAN TAME HIM."

This is the description of a certain mad man in Mark 5. Human methods of handling madness or mental disorders did not work on him. He easily breaks chains and fetters. He cannot be tied, tamed or controlled. He is as free as air, but inside of him a legion of demons lives, thrives and feels at home, and that informs the reason why no one could tame him. His power is invisible and invincible. He suffers from the worst kind of bondage, though acting like he is free all the time. On the outside he is a free man, but within, he is a slave to forces beyond his control. His outward appearance alone suggests that all is not well with him. He resides in places that show that he's sick.

Man deceives himself into thinking that he is free when all the while he is bound by inward chains. Sin has injected into man the virus of insanity. We are all suffering from it, whether we admit it or not. We are all acting crazy. 

If you must know, independence is not freedom, but just another form of bondage.

Today in the West, a lot of children can't wait to be 18 years of age to leave home and be independent. Today in our sin-ridden world, nudity has become a fashion. In the fashion industry nudity is trending. If you haven't bared it all, then you are not fashionable. You are looked upon as someone who is living a B.C life in an A.D world. So I see SIN as Stupidity, Insanity, and Nudity - S.I.N. Every man is mad, in one way or another.

Geneva-born political philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau, wrote a book entitled, The Social Contract. This book made him world famous and inspired the French Revolution. In it he said, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself the master of others, but remains more of a slave than they." He saw social structures as manacles and advocated for a freedom that is internally realized - freedom from within.

But can anyone be free who has not encountered the truth, and by truth I am referring not to a proposition, but to a person - Jesus Christ? Truth is much more than a 'what;' it is a 'who.' Jesus Christ says it Himself that "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," and again, "if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (Jh.8:32,36). In John 14:6, He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life…" Freedom born out of falsehood is nothing but a sham. Falsehood only makes the bondage stronger.

It seems that we are only familiar with the wrong kind of freedom. Chicago columnist, Sidney Harris wrote that "the liberty most men clamor for is merely the right to remain enslaved to the prejudices they have grown comfortable with. Genuine liberty to become who you are is more feared than coveted."

Man's real need is liberty by truth, and liberty by truth implies life without boundaries, an adventure into the boundless unknown with Jesus Christ.

To be truly free we need to kick fear out. David Neiswanger of the Menninger Foundation said, "If each of us can be helped by science to live a hundred years, what will it profit us if our hates and fears, our loneliness and our remorse will not permit us to enjoy them? What use is an extra year or two to the man who kills the time he has?" O, how we need truth in the inner recesses of our hearts! Knowledge of truth is vital to freedom. We need the taming power of truth. 

The purpose of freedom is not for us to live as we like; the purpose of freedom is to worship God.

God said to Pharaoh, "Let my son go, that he may serve me…" (Ex.4:23). That's the essence of freedom - to worship God with our whole life, our lips, and our loads of blessings. Paul talks about "the liberty of the children of God."

Let's yield to the taming power of Christ. He says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me…" (Mt.11:29). Those who let Christ rule in their hearts experience true freedom. Scripture has it that where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty. We pray to see genuine freedom everywhere, not chains. Our world needs spiritual rebirth and a classroom where the Spirit teaches us the curriculum of Christ, which encompasses all facets of life.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter