As humans, but especially as Americans, we tend to judge the people around us by some version of what I've heard one pastor call the Sin Scale; we categorize the sins of the world into a list:

• Small
• Medium-small
• Medium
• Medium-large
• Large
• Extra-large
• Supersized
  
  But God just calls sin, "sin." He doesn't section it off and label some people as better or worse than other people, even if we do the same thing all of our lives. We assess how we're doing in life by looking at other people and comparing ourselves to them: "I'm not a rapist, and I'm not selling drugs, and you sure as heck had better believe that I'm not doing as bad as Hitler did, so I must be doing okay." We say this because the sin scale dominates how we think about human morality. But I want to share with you a story from John that shows how this is just plain wrong:
  
  1 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:1-12 ESV)
  
  We need to understand here that legally, the Pharisees were justified. This girl could be legally executed (so could the guy--wonder where he is...?), but Jesus reacts in a very unorthodox way. As Someone who says He has come to fulfill the law, not abolish it, legally He should kill this woman. But He acts like He can't hear them almost, and starts doodling in the dirt, not entirely unlike a 4-year-old in tee-ball, and He says something profound:
  
  "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
  
  And they all walked away, one by one. Why?
  
  Because when they were confronted with it, these men couldn't ignore that they, too, were just as messed up as the girl was. Their sin was different, yes, but it was no better or worse than hers. They were equals, and when they left, Jesus pointed out that not even He (who really was without sin and could've stoned her and been 100% immune to punishment) was condemning her. He showed her mercy the likes of which the world had never seen before.
  
  Our sin doesn't scare Jesus. In front of the Pharisees, He's not running options through His mind about how to handle the situation, He's literally just doodling.
  
  I think too often we put ourselves in the girl's role, when most times we're really the Pharisees. We readily recognize that others have problems, but we're always quick to answer the question, "How's it going?" with a hasty "Oh, great!" even if our lives are falling to pieces behind the scenes. Suddenly we find ourselves loving the sin of hating the sinner, not realizing that those people we call "evil," are no worse than us, and often times don't even see themselves as evil either, because there's always someone who's doing worse than them.
  
  We like to put ourselves at the top of the Holiness "Food Chain," as if it exists, and as if there was ever a good reason to put ourselves there anyway.
  
  See, the problem is, we don't like to include ourselves in the same category as rapists and murders; they sin, we just mess up. But real freedom starts with honesty, so let's all just agree that we all need help. The more we start judging people by our own rules, the more separated we become. If we separate ourselves from our definition of "sinners," we don't have to walk in their shoes, let them break our hearts with theirs, or get our hands dirty helping them piece their lives together like we'd appreciate them doing for us in roles reversed. If we're separated, we can ignore that without the grace of God, that role reversal could very well be a reality.
  
  But our rules are no proof of our spirituality--recognition of our helplessness and that Jesus does not condemn us for it in spite of its existence is.
  
  Jesus came to break the cycle of sin and condemnation to give us back our future. When are we going to start living like it?