Human worth in the attention economy deserves equal regard in church.

An essay by Alan Noble says churches often show partiality by paying more attention to people with socially prestigious jobs, which can leave stay-at-home parents and blue-collar workers feeling overlooked; he connects this pattern to James 2 and calls for attention as a form of love rooted in Christ.

Alan Noble argues that how we give attention shapes perceptions of human worth in congregations and beyond. He describes his wife's experience as a stay-at-home mother who was often sidelined in social and church settings. Noble links this pattern to the biblical warning in James 2 against partiality and notes a broader cultural prestige bias that values economic output. He also mentions online trends and social planning as factors that can deepen loneliness and narrow how people are seen. Key observations: - The author reports that stay-at-home mothers are often praised in principle but treated as less interesting or worthy of attention in practice. - In church settings, people tend to pay more attention to those with socially prestigious or higher-paying jobs, which the author calls partiality. - Common conversational prompts like "What do you do?" can narrow identity to labor and make other interests or stories invisible. - Being overlooked by fellow believers is reported to contribute to loneliness, alienation, and bitterness. - The essay cites James 2 and a passage from Andy Crouch to argue that attention is a meaningful gift and that worth should be grounded in Christ rather than economic role. Summary: The author contends that when attention is allocated by social prestige or economic output, many people in congregations feel marginalized, and this undermines the church's call to love without partiality. He proposes responding by giving attentive time to those often ignored, changing conversational habits, and reframing value in light of Christ's work rather than worldly status. The essay presents these proposals as ways to resist cultural categories of worth and to make church life more inclusive; specific next steps beyond these proposals are not detailed.