Stacey Stone “The Great Rethinking”

This morning, sitting at breakfast with a girlfriend, we started talking about the way that things have changed. She has a daughter in high school and one in college, so we talked about the “missed years” and how she and her husband have been a steady foundation for their children. We also talked about families where the children are not doing that great and how anxiety and depression is alive and well in our teens. Then we switched over to the workplace and “The Great Resignation.” 

You’ve seen the headlines or read the studies that one in four workers have quit their job or changed jobs (in person or remote.) Maybe someone you know made a complete career change during the process of dealing with the pandemic. My friend Kat packed up her two daughters and moved from the DC area to Seattle to be near her father and sister. My college roommate Blair, who has worked remote for years for a major financial institution, moved to Texas from San Francisco to be near her brother and aunt. Americans are relocating, leaving the workforce, and/or changing jobs in record numbers.  

In a poll by JobSage, they found that mental health was the main reason 28 percent of those asked left their job in the past two years. The three biggest reasons they found were feeling overworked (37%), lack of work-life balance (33%), and being under paid (31%). And to turn everything on its head, 98 percent of workers who are at companies who take care of their mental health still consider themselves happy. Wow!  

Midway through the conversation with my friend, I used the term “The Greatest Resignation” to describe what is going on and she scrunched her face up. “I really don’t like that term,” she explained. She went on to say that management is taking a lot of the brunt of that term when people are simply trying to prioritize their lives in a different way. “I’ve got it!” I exclaimed, “Let’s call it ‘The Great Rethinking!’” We both laughed and talked about how that felt much better. 

But isn’t that what we are asking our listeners to do with Jesus. We are asking them to change their lives to make Him a priority. Stations hope that, by leading those who listen to Jesus, the listener will experience greater mental health and their lack of motivation in life will increase. We encourage them to think differently about their lives and how Jesus can impact them. They may have never entered a church in their lives, and we are asking them to believe in something they cannot see but we know the peace that He provides is worth it.  

Jesus/life balance is “The Great Rethinking!”  If they are leaving or changing their jobs to find happiness, peace, and a better way to live, we have it to share. This is also the time for Christian organizations to shine by embracing their employees needs for mental health care, implementing wellness days at the office, and mental health days away. God created our brains to react to crisis but not on a global level. Craig Groeschel said it best, “Great people are not in a great place right now.”  

“The Great Rethinking” is a search for better and Jesus is always our better. If we shift our thinking and priorities to be resurrection people, we can lead our listeners out of the crisis to the light of Christ.

Stacey Stone serves God by loving her husband, Johnny Stone, her family and friends, along with her little dogs and her listeners on WGTS 91.9, Washington DC. In addition to her 26 years in broadcasting, she is a licensed professional counselor with a private practice in Maryland, a public speaker, and the author of The Rescued Breed: When Jesus Shows Up And Transforms Your Pack. She can be reached HERE.