It's weird being without a job. Hopefully my period of unemployment is reaching its end, but I've learned so much through this time in my life. One lesson that has really been pounded home is the strong correlation today between a person's worth and what he or she does for a living. This applies to both sexes, but it seems biased more towards males. If a man isn't "supporting his family" he somehow seems to be less than whole. He's a slacker, or something is wrong with him. In fact, not having gainful employment makes you a kind of modern-day untouchable where people do their best to avoid you, or they dance around the subject with you when you do get around them - as if you have the plague or something. I'm sure most of this is done out of kindness, but there is clearly a kind of societal taboo associated with not having a paying job. It would be interesting to see if this is mainly a byproduct of the Protestant work ethic - or if it is more universal than that, cutting across cultures.
What's the value of a man or woman? In school I once had a teacher once announce that, based on the chemical composition of our bodies, the typical human was worth $4.50. Most would agree we're worth more than that - but how much? Is our value based on how much money we make, or how well we can shoot a basketball, play a guitar or close a deal? The Bible has plenty to say about this. Genesis 1:26-27 says we are made in the very image of God. Psalm 139:13-16 says we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Perhaps the most important verse concerning our worth is John 3:16 which says we are so valuable that God gave his only Son to redeem us.
What I'm trying to say is our that our worth is often based on the wrong parameters. And that, of course, leads to a lowered self-worth. We listen to what others tell us about ourselves rather than recognizing how valuable we really are in God's eyes. Who knows, perhaps the best thing that could happen to some of us would be to lose our job, then we might turn to the Source for the real answer to the question, "What's a person worth?"
