Does The Bible Stress You Out?

The American Bible Society recently published the results of a survey conducted to measure stress levels in our culture and to determine what role reading the Bible regularly might have in alleviating it or creating it. 

The results on levels of stress revealed: 

“One-quarter of Americans are experiencing moderate levels of stress, and 10 percent are experiencing extremely high levels. Nearly half of respondents said they had trouble sleeping, 44 percent reported feeling tense, 44 percent said they were lonely and cut off from others, and 37 percent said they felt numb or detached.”

Interestingly, those levels were higher among the respondents who indicated they read the Bible regularly than those who don't.

There are many ways to interpret these findings. Some people may read the Bible more when stressed, while others may discover that reading it makes them more stressed because of how they interpret it.  

There is another thing to consider, though. 

Evangelical Christians are probably skewing those numbers. Having spent my formative years in the Evangelical world, I have some salient reasons why I believe that. 

Due to community pressure, Evangelicals are more likely to make regular Bible reading a part of their lives. They are taught that the only way to be a faithful Christian is to read their Bible daily, and many of them dutifully comply.  

But Evangelicals are also more likely to experience a great deal of stress about what they believe to be the deterioration of the world around them, what they consider a move toward secularism.  

I remember being told repeatedly by pastors and youth leaders in my youth that if I didn't spend time "in the Word," I would be overcome by "the World."  We were taught to fear the secular world because of the toll it would take on our faith.  

We were also taught that non-Christians, liberals, and godless people were forever trying to take away our rights and freedom of religion.  Public universities were to be avoided at all costs because atheist and agnostic professors were bound to make us doubt our faith.  

When you combine that with how many Evangelicals have been manipulated by pastors and politicians to choose fear over faith, you can see why the survey done by the American Bible Society ended with the results mentioned earlier. 

Here's the thing, a Bible in the hand of someone who critically interprets it with an eye toward love and justice can be a blessing to others. 

A Bible in the hand of someone who uncritically interprets the Bible literally and narrowly can be used as a weapon to bludgeon people.  

The Bible is authoritative in many ways but subordinate to the Spirit of Christ.  The work of the Spirit is ongoing, and it's not confined to the pages of the ancient writ, no matter how much power we try to give it.  

Reading the Bible uncritically is also not an act of faithful discipleship.  Neither is forcing the text to fit the shape of our worldview.  When we impose our will on the Bible, we do violence to the message of the Gospel.  

Additionally, the context of the Scripture is vital in understanding it in our own time and place.  Without historical, literary, form, structural, and linguistic criticism, we limit our understanding of the Bible and dumb down the text.  

At this point, someone may ask, "But isn't the Bible the Word of God?"  

No, it isn't. According to John's Gospel, there is only one "Word" of God: Jesus himself. 

The Bible, however, is God's written and revealed word (or words), a collection of ancient stories, histories, poems, prayers, and narratives demonstrating how God has been revealed and understood over the centuries.  

It's not inerrant.  It's not infallible.  And it most certainly was never meant to be weaponized. 

It is inspired and inspiring, though. The Bible continues to be the most studied, argued, and transformative book ever. Within it, you can find inspiration, guidance, conviction, direction, and much more.  

Reading it well should not cause you stress.  It should help expand your mind, lead you to ask hard questions, and learn to embrace a faith grounded in trust in God rather than motivation by fear.  

May it be so for all of us who read it.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us now and always. Amen.