In Mark 5 we read of a man with an unclean spirit. He had been living among the tombs; he was uncontrollably violent; he spent his days crying out and cutting himself with stones.
When Jesus arrives near these tombs, the man runs out and falls down before him. Jesus, wasting no time, commands the demons to come out of the man. For some reason, Jesus then honors the request of the demons to be sent out of the man into a nearby herd of pigs. Upon possession, the pigs rush down a steep bank into the sea and drown.
Let’s set aside for the moment an interesting discussion we could have about human and animal demon possession and look at the reactions of the people effected by Jesus’ actions in the story.
The herdsmen, now suddenly unemployed, flee the scene and start telling people – in other words, the story goes viral, and of course the usual ambulance chasers and journalists and presumably the pig’s owners, rush to the scene. There they see a trail of hoof prints down a steep bank and in the water below the carcasses of some 2000 pigs. Not a pretty sight.
Returning from this gruesome sight, they find the man who was previously possessed by a demon sitting calmly, now clothed and in his right mind. For some reason this causes them to be afraid and they beg Jesus to leave the area.
Why?
Jesus had just healed a man; he had freed him from derangement. This man went from living in tombs, spending his days crying out and cutting himself, and responding with uncontrollable violence to calm, composed, and clothed. You would think these facts would be a cause for rejoicing. But no.
To replace a herd of 2000 pigs, at today’s prices, would cost a farmer upwards of $500,000. You can see why Jesus is suddenly seen as a threat. 
How could he show such careless disregard for half a million dollars worth of someone else’s assets just for the sake of saving one lunatic?!? Obviously the pigs’ owner is going to have some questions, like “Who’s going to pay for that?”
Ultimately, by begging Jesus to leave, the people of that region were telling him that they valued pigs over people. Jesus of course doesn’t see it this way, but he honors their request. Freedom from bondage is not your thing? Ok, I’ll take it elsewhere…
In Jesus vision of economy, in the Kingdom Economy, humans are valued over dollars. So is freedom.
This reminds me of a situation I was involved with a few weeks ago. I met and became a friend of a young man who is a cocaine addict about a year ago. It’s been a long, tough year for him. His mother has prayed for him and begged him to enter Teen Challenge and recently, after a bad user experience, he finally called and set up a screening interview for himself.
It costs $100 just be interviewed for admittance and another $1000 if you are accepted into the program. This is partly because Teen Challenge accepts no government funding in order to remain a Jesus-based solution to drug and alcohol addiction.
So I gladly took $100 of our church’s money and paid for the interview for my young friend. Of course, even if he does get into the program there’s no guarantee he’ll stay or that he’ll be cured of his addiction. Nonetheless, it was a hopeful development and I was happy to pay for it.
At one of our staff meetings that week we talked about this situation.
We dreamed of a world where dollars equaled cures and all agreed that if throwing money at serious problems always worked, we’d spend our days raising money instead of doing the heavy but rewarding work of helping addicts and others in bondage. Of course, this isn’t exactly the way it works.
Even so, there are ways in which a financial sacrifice can make a crucial difference in the life of someone in bondage. 
That sacrifice might look like an emptier bank account, but it might also look like working a few less hours each week so that you can help free someone in bondage.
The question is: Given the choice in cases where the mental and spiritual health of one individual could be restored, would we choose that restoration at a personal financial cost or would we rather choose to live at a reasonable distance from the deranged man living in a nearby graveyard?
We choose the latter all the time. Just substitute the word “graveyard” with “psychiatric hospital” or “hostel” or “alley” and you’ll see what I mean.
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