City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

-Luke 11:24–26

Reflection

This is a fascinating passage of Scripture because in it Jesus gives us a peek into the realm of the demonic. He pulls back the curtain so we can understand what our eyes can’t see and believe what the world tells us doesn’t exist. 

As one of my mentors once said to me, “Welcome to the NFL.” This is the big leagues, and while before we became Christians we might have had the luxury of the materialist delusion that what we see is all there is, we now have it on the best information that that is not true. The seen world is only part of the true picture. Welcome to reality. 

We live in a world where the spiritual intersects, overlaps, and is interwoven with the natural. Demons exist, they make their home in people, and from that home they influence how people behave. 

Jesus didn’t tell us all this for our entertainment but for instruction. Jesus was dispelling the deception of neutrality. There is no Switzerland in the spirit realm. One may repent, get delivered, and get cleaned up, but then one needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit and follow Jesus. If one decides to remain respectable but doesn’t follow Jesus, “believing” but not being filled, one is in a dangerous place.

The danger is that demon from which the person was delivered will return, and after tempting the person to return to the sin or addiction from which he repented, the demon invites other more vicious demons to join him in his old digs. Now, instead of one’s soul being a demonic single-family dwelling it becomes a rooming house of unclean spirits. 

Application

When we hear such things, we immediately think of the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer or Adolf Hitler, but I doubt Jesus would have taken the trouble of describing this situation for us if it were rare. I think Jesus was clearly warning us of the danger of thinking we can live safely and happily in a neutral state, temporarily cleaned up but not committed.

Formula 1 drivers understand the concept of commitment. Formula 1 cars are designed so air passing over its wings and surfaces force the car down onto the track. However, if a corner is taken too slowly the car doesn’t get the full effect of the downforce. A driver needs to go into a corner committed to avoid crashing.

Prayer

Lord, help me always to stay fully committed and filled with Your Holy Spirit. Amen.