Recently the WHO officially recognised “workplace burnout” as a workplace phenomenon. Defined as a state of “vital exhaustion…burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed…”.
Many of us shake our heads and wonder why it has taken the official medical authorities so long to recognise workplace burnout as a genuine and serious phenomenon. For many in the industrialised big cities of the world, burnout is an epidemic.
The syndrome is now an “epidemic,” according to Dan Schawbel, research director at HR advisory firm Future Workplace — and he expects the issue to worsen.
Unfortunately, the church may not take burnout seriously. Folks are already struggling to manage their pressure at work and often the church adds on another list of things that good church members ought to be doing. The internet can also add on to this sense of always being behind in wanting to be on top of things.
This will be the first of a number of eCommentaries that will link to a lecture I have given on the subject.
1. Time crunch in the modern world
2. How the world shapes us
In future eCommentaries we will look at biblical and practical ways we can recover more shalom in our lives.
If you are unable to access the audio files in this post, you can click on these links: