But what if, instead, humans were image bearers of God in their essence, as the scripture says,
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
And, yes, sin has tainted all of that. It is a deadly cancer eroding its host and will end in death if it is not taken away.
But the cancer of sin is horrible precisely because it has brought corruption and putrefying sores to something that was in essence very beautiful.
Start there. View your neighbor, the barista with the tattoos and nose rings, the lesbian co-worker, your middle aged boss – first and foremost as God’s image-bearers. Practice looking at the world beyond the taint of sin, to the beauty beneath. There you will find the connection, the common ground – the thirst for significance and beauty and intimacy and belonging.