CT – “Brittany is deeply interesting: She cares about art, ideas, and people. Yet when we went out socially, most people failed to see her as particularly interesting. Once she left the workforce, in group settings, people tended to ignore her to talk to me about my work and interests. I (apparently!) was the interesting and insightful one; she was just the housewife. Sadly, this pattern extended to church. If people asked her questions, they were about our children. Her value and interest to other people was defined by her labor, even within the church. And because her labor produced no immediate capital, people didn’t know how to talk to her….

“Christians are still captive to the sin of partiality. Those of us who are white-collar workers (and it’s to this segment that I’m writing), “pay attention” to those who work in socially prestigious careers, typically those who earn the most money, and overlook those whose labor we deem insignificant, thus making distinctions….Many men who work in blue-collar jobs are often treated as less significant and interesting than those with professional careers, like business owners, doctors, lawyers, politicians, and college professors. The call of the church is to give loving attention to all its members without partiality…

When we determine our attention based on a person’s economic output, we alienate large segments of the population. Popular outlets have picked up on the self-conscious shame of “only” caretaking. In an experiment of sorts, I spoke with several stay-at-home mothers. Anxious about these sorts of questions, they felt an unacknowledged judgment: All you are is your labor, and your labor is just your children and household… Read it all…