It has been said that we ought to look for and see the "little Christ" in each person we meet. It has also been said that whatever you do to the least of these you do to Christ. It is also said that we need to show hospitality to people because we might find that we are entertaining angels.
So I have spent a lot of time and energy trying to treat people as if they are Christ himself, but I suck at this. In fact I would go so far as to say that this way of thinking is impossible and can be at waste of time at best, harmful at worst. This is the type of thinking that allows me to objectify the other person and see them only in fragments.
but then I heard it said in Galatians (bible) (and Luther's commentary of Galations) that Christ took and takes on all forms of sin and is the most despised of all because of the sin he bears (our sin: hatred, violence, greed, lust, idolatry, etc.).
This being said, when we are called to see the "little Christ" in our neighbor it means seeing this despised Christ who takes on all of my sin and the sin of the world. So that means I don't need to search and search and justify my neighbor trying to see God in them, but see their sin as sin that is taken on by Christ himself.
This liberating to me because I wasted time trying to excuse people and make them "acceptable" enough to carry Christ when I don't need to do that. Instead I can see people as they are, indeed see myself as I am. I can treat people with dignity and respect and as a radical equal without trying to change them or justify them because God has already done that. That other person who I think is a jerk, is a jerk but like me that person is a forgiven sinner.
I don't know if this makes sense to other people, but it is awesome for me to finally understand this.
