Biblical Business Leadership: STRESSSýnishorn

1. Introduction to Stress & the Bible.

As we begin our leadership study on stress, let’s start with the definition of what stress is and what the Bible might have to say about that. 

According to the American Institute of Stress, the term “stress”, as it is used today, was first coined by Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye, in 1936, as a result of his research in animal responses to (negative) external influences.

Selye struggled to find a satisfactory definition of stress that people could easily understand. In his later years, when asked to define stress, he told reporters, “Everyone knows what stress is, but nobody really knows.”

Stress is difficult to define because it is so different for each of us. Yet, however we may define it, and whatever situation may cause it for each of us, the Bible has words of wisdom and comfort to help.

In a general sense, the Bible’s answer is easy – almost too simple. Look at Jesus’ opening and closing words on the topic of worry given as part of the Sermon on the Mount:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”  – Matthew 6:25a

Also:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”  – Matthew 6:34a

Jesus’ teachings are so simple and so effective that they are as amazing today as they were two thousand years ago:

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.  – Matthew 7:28-29

Of course, as simple as Jesus’ teachings are, they sometimes – many times – can be very difficult to put into practice, especially when we’re in the thick of leadership issues at work.

No doubt that Jesus’ insights are “textbook perfect”. But, the issues we face at work seem so much more complicated, urgent and so far from “textbook perfect” that we may find the simplicity of Jesus’s teachings too difficult to accept.

That’s understandable. 

And, that’s exactly why we’re going to dig deeper into the various sources of stress in our leadership role at work, and find the truths in the Bible to help us at our point of need.

Reflection / Application

1. On a scale of 1-10, how stressful is your work? What are the high/low stress ratings that you might encounter in a typical week?

2. Jesus' advice of “do not worry” sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Are you able to not worry about the stressful situations in your job? What permits you to do that? How does faith in God help?

3. When the stress builds up beyond what you can handle at work, what happens then? What is your reaction? What role does your faith play at those times?