Stress, Pathology, Burnout, and the Kingdom of God
By Brent Davis, Campus Ministry Coordinator
Today, May 24, 2024, AUHS hosted the Summer School of Stress, a conference about research on stress. AUHS is privileged to have one of the students of Hans Selye, the Father of Stress, as dean of the School of Medicine. There were many excellent presentations, but Dr. Lambrecht’s presentation on burnout among pathologists stressed (pun intended) the need for a supportive community. Pathologists have very stressful workloads and, after a period of time, many experience burnout. Among other things that Dr. Lambrecht suggested would help prevent burnout was building community. This is, as our regular readers should know, the goal of our campus ministry, Salt and Light.
Community in the Kingdom of God is not just a means of developing resilience, it is God’s plan for you and me to flourish. Our culture tries to tell us that you need a lot of stuff to flourish, to be happy. Jesus told a story to combat this common misconception:
The Story of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “tell my brother to divide the family property with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge or umpire between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has.”
16 Then Jesus told them a story. He said, “A certain rich man’s land produced a very large crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them. 19 I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “That is how it will be for whoever stores things away for themselves but is not rich in the sight of God.” (Luke 12)
How do we become rich in God’s eyes, riches that lead to a close relationship with God and others? The answer is a robust system that balances inputs and outputs so as to minimize distress and avoid burnout. The Bible calls this system the Kingdom of God. While it will not be fully in place until God makes the new creation, we can enjoy many benefits today, and avoid burnout. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 outline what we need to do to enjoy these benefits together.
Romans reminds us that we start by becoming transformed by God. As we repent of our sins, God’s Spirit begins to provide us with the circumstances that lead to character formation. The Spirit gives us ‘gifts’ which are special abilities to meet the needs of others. As we interact in a virtuous manner applying our gifts to the needs of others a strong system—the body of Christ—develops and we find that we are more resilient. Certainly, a healthy diet and good exercise we build a certain amount of resilience, but to be in top form we need the Kingdom of God.
