Apart from Christ, we are all bound to our own selfishness and preservation. And the chains of this oppression are the ones I willingly clothe myself with as I seek to build my own kingdom. I expect to find fulfillment in pleasure and instead find myself a slave, imprisoned in the kingdom of my own discontentment. Relationships, money, music, parties, alcohol, sex, marriage, kids, retirement, work, and so on. None of these things truly quench the loneliness and extinguish the fire of that awful question, "Why am I here?" How thirsty the soul that longs for true liberation!

Unfortunately, many churches have placed themselves in an ivory tower of self-righteousness. And in turn, the world has distorted the message of Christ to look like a power struggle. But orthodox Christianity doesn't promote slavery or the oppression of people; rather it seeks to free the captives and show us that we're all equally desperate for a savior.