“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” Luke 11:23
Doesn’t that make you curious? It did me; without that understanding, I felt I was being gypped somewhat about receiving the totality of this parable’s intent. So I asked God to help me understand what that meant—what those “seven other spirits” were. He answered me by applying the parable to my twenty-first century life using some “evil spirits” I am more than just a little familiar with. Let’s look at it this way. If I were addicted to alcohol or some other drug and by the power of sheer, determined will, I kicked that habit, what other problems—as a result of getting dry that way—might befall me that could possibly be worse than the demon of that addiction?
First of all, without being filled with an awareness of and gratitude for where my help really had come from—the Lord God Almighty, who calms seas and raises the dead to life—I imagine that I would certainly be filled with a damning pride, an arrogance for having
accomplished such a feat.
I would also be beset by a dangerous, even deadly independence, believing I had some sort of super power, so what need could I possibly have for God?
Then, of course, the demon of fear would follow because I could never be sure I really had it in me to keep that first demon at bay for very long.
A self-sufficient independence from God is not just stubbornness; it is a form of idolatry. We are worshipping at the throne of self. I believe Jesus meant in this parable that by trying to behave alone, I would soon be taken captive by some other idol.
There are prisons within prisons and bars upon bars in the captivity of idolatry. Getting to the bottom of it is extremely complicated. There is flying on false winds and catering to counterfeit needs. Then with all the pride and arrogance comes the temptation to need appreciation, and sometimes even adoration. When these accolades we feel we have come to deserve don’t happen, usually disillusionment followed by bitterness assaults us and we we once again become easy targets for that first demon, substance abuse, to drown out the hauntings that plague us.
All of these could be what Jesus meant by the “seven other demons” that would come in and make us worse off in our apparent “good” behavior than we were in our obviously “bad” behavior. No, behavior alone, neatness alone, leaves us empty, and thus we get into serious trouble. Good behavior, alone, like things, alone, will never be able to fill us with peace.
From Lying Still on the Wheel, sequel-in-progess to Broken Jar: 365 Days on the Potter's Wheel, by Jan Doke
