Biblical Counseling for a Complex World
Biblical counseling is a process of focused discipleship. It is one aspect of discipleship. It is an aspect of discipleship focused on the application of God’s Word and walking in God’s Spirit when dealing with matters of life as a whole. Biblical counseling can be defined as a fluid event and process, as part of the Great Commission, when a follower of Jesus Christ in the service of the Holy Spirit provides face-to-face ministry of the Word to others.
The form and flow of Biblical counseling, I believe, does not have to be strictly defined. Biblical counseling may occur in a single moment. It may occur among believers following a bible study or after a church service in the parking lot. Biblical counseling may happen between two people on a park bench or in a schoolteacher’s classroom or in a pastor’s office. The giving and receiving of God’s truth for life may be called an event.
And while Biblical counseling may exist as an event, it is most effective and best understood as a series of events; that is, as a process. The process of encouraging sanctification, bearing with the suffering of others, and applying the truth of God’s Word in a careful way takes time. It takes time to believe and follow the gospel more fully each day. The grace of God, the power of His Spirit, and faithful human effort are needed during the process.
Therefore, for the counsel to be Biblical it must be rooted in God, exalting of Jesus Christ, enabled by the Holy Spirit, and offered in love
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heaven realms. 16 In addition to all this take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD of God. Ephesians 6:10-12,16-17
Biblical counseling is the key to finding your true purpose here on earth. The counselors were able to show me the value in reading the Word of God daily. I can truly say that the Word has brought me peace in my life. Can not thank the biblical counselors enough for helping me get it together.
Biblical counseling allowed me and my wife to see our marriage the way that God sees it. Neither one of us was following, what the word says about marriage. We both would debate with each other, over the littlest thing, which would lead to major arguments. But once we allow God to be our referee, we could not have been happier.
Read Together and Grow in Faith
In biblical counseling, keeping the framework of Ephesians 2:1-10 has to be of the upmost importance. The tendency of the flesh is to seek worth and value apart from Christ. If that pursuit brings any sense of worth or value, over time it becomes a greater defining part of a person than it should. The fallout of all this reveals a heart filled with pride and idolatry.
I see this all the time in counseling. A wife finds worth in how her husband treats her or talks about her in the presence of others. A young man finds value from the promotion, praise and accolade he receives from his bosses at work. A pastor finds respect and meaning from the responses of the congregation after he preaches. Over time these pursuits become the greatest identity of the person. Their hearts elevate a sub-identity over their greatest identity. The power of their greatest identity in Christ is traded for a temporary descriptor of who they are or what they do. The progressive sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is greatly stalled amidst such identity confusion.
These examples may seem harmless. But, how devastated will the wife be if her husband has an affair? What will the fallout be for the young man if the company has major cutbacks and he is let go? What if the pastor begins to get consistent critique from groups of people in the congregation because of they don’t like his preaching? Their hearts are at the mercy of what they have leveraged to bring a sense of self and a sense of worth.