Does He Lead?
Pastoral | February 5, 2026 | By: Ethan Clark
Dad, can I have a snack? Dad, can Evelyn and I sleep in the top bunk together? Can we watch TV? Can I have a snack? Can I have a Labubu doll? Can I have a wheelie backpack? Can we listen to Frozen? Can I have a snack?
Like the caws of crows on a day at the park, these are the questions that fill our home and can be heard from every corner. Our 2nd grader has outgrown the need for our attention and assistance in most basic tasks, yet as is with most young children, she still requires the guidance, wisdom, and care of an overseer to help her with daily decisions.
Left to her own devices, she would single-handedly pad the bottom line for Welch’s Fruit Snacks shareholders and be a disciple of Disney. So, we step in as parents and against our impulse, say ‘no’ about as much as a casting agent but seek every opportunity to respond with a ‘yes.’ We say ‘no’ because we care. She listens because she knows we love her. And somewhere in that little developing mass of firing neurons, she understands her parents want what is best for her.
Yet, in the next decade, she will develop self-control and grow in wisdom and stature. Then one day, we will not merely adjudicate requests but provide wise counsel to questions that we pray by God’s grace she brings to us. This is the natural progression in life.
We as adults have long since passed the stage of permission. Our independence is not only a part of who we are but seen as a virtue in our western American mind. We have the freedom to post, speak, decide, and choose—to the point where we answer almost to no one except the “Authorities.” Working for “yourself” is valued more than “reporting” to another. Many of us follow the speed limit when a cop is in sight but willfully speed down the 51 because, well, we need to “go with the flow of traffic.”
Our independence is not only a part of who we are but seen as a virtue.
Independence is not inherently wrong, but what it breeds, especially in the Christian, is not a virtue. One spiritual reality that has lost its prominence, both culturally and in the evangelical pulpit, is the vision of Christ as Lord. Not in a universal sense but in the individual heart.
Most believers define their life of faith as, “Jesus died to save me from sin and death, so I can walk in the freedom of who I am.” Yet the reformer John Calvin speaks for historic Christianity saying, “The sum of the Christian life is this: the denial of ourselves, and the yielding of ourselves to God.”
Two vastly different starting points that result in different fruit. One is tied to the authority and lordship of the self, the other yoked to the authority and lordship of Christ.
Jesus’ authority as the Son of God is emphasized early and often in the Gospel accounts. In Mark chapter 5, He steps off a boat into the region of the Gerasenes and has an encounter with a man possessed by demons. The darkness and power of the evil forces inside him were so great that “no one could bind” him. He broke chains and shackles meant to contain him with ease, and “no one had the strength to subdue” him. While the aid of others was futile, he existed in a constant state of torment as he cut himself with stones day and night (Mark 5:3-4). But when he sees Jesus “from afar,” the demon-possessed man runs and falls at His feet and cries out, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” (vv. 5-6) Jesus had apparently already begun to exorcise the unclean spirit because He then asks its name, which was Legion, “for we are many.”
What happens next is astonishing. Twice the demons “beg” Jesus to not send them out of the country and subsequently beg Him to “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” Jesus then “gives them permission” and they enter a herd of 2,000 pigs and then destroy them all by stampeding off a nearby cliff (vv. 9-13). Jesus in control; demons fleeing at the expression of His will and power.
Let’s take a moment to make a few observations. First, the demons immediately recognize the authority and awe-inspiring power of our Lord in their address and fear of judgement. Second, they desire to flee and seemingly cannot stand being in the presence of the Holy One. Third, they understand that if they go, they must appeal to and make a request of this fearsome Lord for permission. Fourth, only after receiving APPROVAL do we see them move on with their destruction and penchant for death.
The demons, in a constant state of rebellion, are subject to the rule and reign of Jesus. They do not obey out of desire but spiritual obligation and compulsion.
Now we turn to the response of the people in the nearby town. Word had spread quickly of the suicide of swine and the liberation from Legion. The townsfolk see the once demon-possessed bedraggled man neatly dressed and in his right mind, and like the demons in Jesus’ presence, they respond in fear (v. 15). One would expect rejoicing and worship, but they, like the demons, beg Jesus to leave.
While they had witnessed Jesus’ power and benefited from His deliverance, they did not desire His dominion in their land because of the associated cost. His rule meant a loss of livelihood in the dead herd, a change of the landscape, and a new way of life.
They had witnessed Jesus’ power and deliverance but did not desire His rule because of the cost.
The demons out of obligation and compulsion beg Jesus to let them flee; and the people He came not to cast out, but invite in, beg Jesus to go. Instead of celebrating and surrendering to the Lord of the universe, they beg Him to leave their little kingdom. Now that their demonic inconvenience was defeated, so was their desire for a deliverer.
Amazingly, Jesus honors their request as He returns to the boat on which He came.
We scoff at their worldliness and audacity, at their blindness and hardness of heart. But if we are honest, is this not our response as well? We yearn to benefit and witness the saving power of God, but we do not really want His ruling presence in our lives.
We delight in Him saving us from our sin, delivering us from our demons, and restoring us from our deepest darkness; but then, we turn to see the consequences of His work—our money no longer ours, daily life changed by His will and rule—and we quickly ask Him to leave our domain.
Jesus does not force any person to obey Him, to ask Him for help or advice or permission, but like a good father He always offers it. And He has infinitely more wisdom and knowledge, along with power, to assist us in any and every decision. But most of us—outside of our life-altering transitions or dire moments of need—do not seek His guidance or permission because we do not desire it.
We want a strong Lord to save us but a weak Lord to rule us.
Jesus wants to rule over all of our life. He wants us to ask Him about the money we spend, the words we use, the food we eat, the jobs we take. He is the Lord of ALL. It is not an afterthought, but the way of life for the Christian to include God in and ask His permission in our day-to-day. He delights to do life WITH us. Do you want to do life with Him?
We see this life lived in the man whose chains had been broken.
He begged to go and be with Jesus (v. 18). He wanted nothing more than to be in his Savior’s presence and was ready to set off from his home with Jesus as Lord. Yet “He did not permit him.” Jesus tells him to go home and “tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” This man, honoring Jesus as LORD, returns to his town, proclaims the victory of Jesus, and the people marvel.
He had a desire, but that did not rule over his life. His LORD did.
Will you do the same?
This might seem like an insurmountable task—asking Jesus to be Lord of your every decision and not only your salvation. But it is one we must grow in if we want increased fellowship with our Father. I’m not asking you to overanalyze every decision you make or second guess every word and methodically pray each morning through your wardrobe (though I know a saint who does!)
But I am inviting you into the reality that God has better things for you if we will learn to listen, obey, and trust Him as Lord. Might I suggest you start with one question posed by the great John Wesley, one of 22 questions he asked himself daily?
Do I pray about the money I spend?
It may not seem like much, but in my time of asking this simple question, the Lord has turned moments of impulse purchases into divine conversations. I now look forward to asking if I can purchase another $7 coffee because the One who loves me is going to answer. He may say no, He may say yes, He may leave it up to me, but I now expect Him to speak.
Let the Lord speak in your life today by making Him Lord as we all joyfully ask daily, “What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”
Ethan Clark
Central Young Adults and Singles Pastor
Want to find people who will join you in pursuing more of Jesus and His Lordship in your life? Check out our Young Adults, Men’s, or Women’s ministries to get connected.
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