We're all tainted ... tainted by humanity. Or maybe a better way to state it is that we're all dipped, soaked, and soggy in humanity. It's something we all need to face. We're best off when we face it.

I have been thinking a lot about the phrase "freedom in Christ". I have done a little web searching to see what that phrase means to other people and I have found that we, as Christians, are all over the map in terms of what we think it means. No wonder pre-Christians looks at us and decide that we are a confused lot!

For me, I think a big part of "freedom in Christ" has been exactly what I opened this post with -- the realization that we all -- and by that I particularly mean "me" -- are tainted. My freedom in Christ allowed me to see that we are all the same. We're all broken, we all make mistakes, we all have things in our past that haunt us, we all deal with "stuff" today as well. We're all the same. Dipped, soaked and soggy in humanity.

This realization has set me free in how I think about and, hopefully, how I approach others. Don't get me wrong, freedom doesn't come in one fell swoop ... it is a never-ending process. But I hope I am progressing.

This freedom involves looking at all others as our equals ... knowing we are on the same footing in terms of our brokenness and humanity. It encourages a reaching out to others for relationships that are on even ground. It brings humility that hopefully invades, permeates, and propagates our love for others.

I can still, sometimes even with great frequency, lapse into putting myself above others ... tearing them down in order to raise myself up. What a weak and pathetic existence that is, though. It is a life full of comparison and full of dependency on others for our own self-worth.

Freedom comes when we see our true state. When we see that God created us for perfection but that humanity drags us far short of perfection. When we realize this, we can relate to our fellow man on common ground, realizing that we are all broken. We have all sinned and no sin is worse than any other. It is sin regardless of how our human nature wants us to rank it.

Tainted. Dipped, soaked, and soggy in humanity. That is what we are. But in the realization of that fact, there is great freedom.

I pray that I not only realize it but that I live it out.