ii. The wrong conclusion that people draw based on this strong conviction about the sufficiency of Scripture is that counseling is not necessary if

Transcription

1 Why Counseling? I. Story about David Dowdy a. Why are we teaching a class on Biblical Counseling? i. Because of stories like Dowdy s, and countless others ii. Stories of redemption iii. Stories of rescue iv. Stories of healing and hope b. Because we believe that the Scriptures offers transformation to all the areas of our lives! That s why we are teaching a course on Biblical Counseling! II. Aren t Preaching and Bible Study Enough? a. There has sometimes been a criticism of a counseling ministry that starts with a right premise and draws a wrong conclusion: i. It starts with the premise that the Word of God is sufficient for making disciples! 1. That is a true premise! It is one 100% accurate, and it is at the very foundation of what I believe both as a Christian and as counselor 2. One pastor use to deal with all counseling cases by telling people to sit faithful under his preaching, and he claims that he never had a repeat request for counseling. a. Now you might argue that he was just that blessed as a preacher b. Or you might argue that his people felt like he just didn t really care 3. The question is not about whether the Word of God is sufficient. The question is whether or not sitting under preaching and personal Bible study alone are sufficient for our growth. a. The answer to that question is no. b. Preaching and Personal Bible study by themselves are not sufficient to produce change. c. We cannot imagine that a sermon once a week, or even twice a week, is sufficient to shape the thoughts, attitudes, and affections of the heart. d. And while personal Bible study is important it is also easy for me to miss things in my study, twist things in my study, and be shallow in my study. e. Christian growth happens in the community of believers. It s not fundamentally about me and my Bible out in the woods with Jesus. I need you to help me grow and you need others to help you grow too. i. God set it up that way. 1

2 III. ii. The wrong conclusion that people draw based on this strong conviction about the sufficiency of Scripture is that counseling is not necessary if we just preach and study well. 1. That s simply false. Because this same Word that promotes Biblical preaching and Biblical study also commands Biblical counseling! 2. As we will see in a moment. 3. Biblical Counseling is part of God s ordained means of creating disciples. a. I liked the way Viars and Kellemen said it in chapter 15: Maybe the struggle from theology to practical living is a bit larger than many of us are willing to concede. (230) b. Life is complicated and we are complex. Application of Scriptural principles to our lives requires nuanced, specific, and consistent help from others. i. Sometimes we will grow just fine in the basic and regular ministries of the church ii. At other times we need more careful and personal attention iii. That s where Biblical counselors are needed in the discipleship process What is Biblical Counseling? a. That brings us to this question: What is Biblical Counseling? i. How should we think about this term ii. And how should we think about our roles as biblical counselors? b. I think the best way to think about BC is simply as discipleship i. Defining the BC as discipleship does two very important things for us: 1. It deters us from thinking about counseling as something only really messed up people need a. As if counseling is for the addict, the depressed, the really anxious and not for the rest of us b. It takes away the stigma associated with counseling 2. It reminds us that we all need to be involved in this kind of ministry. a. If BC is really just discipleship and since we ought all to be making disciples per Jesus command in the Great Commission, then we ought all to be Biblical Counselors. ii. There are basically two types of discipleship that exist in the church: 1. Intensive/Corrective Discipleship a. This is the sort of crisis-based counseling that focuses on correcting specific wrong beliefs leading to specific wrong behavior. b. It usually comes about because the individual in need of counseling is in a particular difficult situation that is magnifying their own sin or struggle 2

3 c. This is the kind of discipleship most people think about when we use the term counseling. But there is another form of counseling. 2. Intentional/Preventative Discipleship a. This is the basic type of disciple-making that happens as we involve ourselves in one-another s lives. b. As we encourage one another, challenge one another, spur one another on to love and good deeds, and as we walk alongside one another we are doing discipleship c. It s the type of long-term discipleship that helps to fight ongoing sin and keep it from becoming the kind of crisis-creating moments that necessitate more intensive counseling. d. This is essentially fellowship, it s preventative in nature because it is its fighting sin on the front end of a destructive cycle. 3. Both should be considered counseling and we will talk in the coming sessions about our need for both Crisis Counselors and what I term Spiritual Friends. a. In other words, regardless of how some think all Christians are to be Biblical Counselors of some kind! b. And that leads us to our next point. c. Who should counsel? i. Everyone! 1. Because counseling is discipleship and because discipleship is something God has given to all believers, then all believers are to be counselors! ii. The Bible uses different language to talk about this idea, namely it uses the terminology of One Anothering iii. Throughout the Scriptures we read over and over again that the church is to do a number of different things for, to, and with one another in the church. In that sense, everyone is called to make disciples. iv. Let s look at some verses together that communicate this principle that everyone is a counselor! 1. Matt 28: Rom. 15: Cor. 1:4 4. Gal. 6: Eph. 4: Eph. 4:25 7. Col. 3: Thess. 5:14 9. Heb. 3: Heb. 10: James 5:16 3

4 d. How should we counsel? i. We must begin with a proper theological foundation. 1. We ll actually spend all of our next class introducing the basic elements of a proper theological foundation. 2. At the moment it will suffice to say that we need to that most of our problems are theological problems a. We are all beings in relation to God so we are all theologians. b. The question we must wrestle with is whether or not we are good theologians i. When we sin we are responding from bad theology and we need to be challenged and corrected in both belief and action. ii. That means that we must address issues of the heart, the head, and the hands 1. Ignoring any one of these pieces will result in deficient counsel, frustration for the counselees, and disappointment in the counselor ii. By addressing issues of the heart I have in mind the Biblical concept that what we love determines what we do. Scripture helps us to see this reality, let s look at a few key passages. 1. Understanding the heart a. Psalm 34:18 b. Psalm 51:10, 17 c. Psalm 119:11 d. Proverbs 4:23 e. Proverbs 27:19 f. Jeremiah 17:9-10 g. Ezekiel h. Mark 7:21-23 i. 1 Corinthians 10: So in addressing the heart we are often going to be driven to expose idolatry. a. We are created as worshippers! b. But because of sin we are prone to worship created things rather than the creator this is idolatry c. The nature of worship is such that we become like what we worship. i. So we see this in the Scriptures as God describes Israel after their idolatry golden calf worship 1. He speaks of them like cows. 4

5 IV. 2. God uses the language of sensory-organ malfunction to describe idolatrous people: a. Isa. 42:17-20 b. Isa. 43:8-10 c. Ps. 115: Paul speaks of the God of this world as blinding men to the glory of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4) 3. Often our idolatry creates our problems a. We turn all sorts of things in to Idols b. We could look at it like an acrostic: IDOLS i. I items ii. D Duties iii. O Others iv. L Longings v. S Sufferings iii. Change begins as we reorient our hearts to God 1. We worshiped our way into this mess, we will have to worship our way out of it too 2. So Biblical Counseling seeks to identify any would-be idols, that may very well be at the root of the problem. In conclusion I want to say a word about where I hope this course will take us. a. I do not want this course to be launching point for a Biblical Counseling Ministry. i. The truth is that I don t have any interest in developing a Biblical Counseling ministry, because that s not really how the Bible pictures this subject. ii. I don t want us to be a church that has a Biblical Counseling Ministry, but rather a Church that is a Biblical Counseling Ministry 1. It s the difference between having a few people who do Biblical Counseling and being a church full of disciple-makers 2. A Church of Counselors vs. A Church with Counselors 3. It is my hope that as you grow through this class, and hopefully continue with tracks 2 and 3 that you will seek to apply the principles and tools you acquire to your own life and to the lives of the other members of this church. 4. That s what, in the long run, is going to continue to make and keep Cornerstone a healthy church. 5. Discipleship is the very heart of what the church does, not one thing among many. iii. It s not about you all becoming professional counselors, though this might be a starting place for that kind of a ministry. iv. But there is a reason I am not promoting a certification program, or a certain organization of Biblical Counseling (NANC, CCEF, or Biblical Counseling 5

6 Coalition), and ultimately that s because I don t want to communicate that counseling is a professional ministry. 1. It s what pastors and certified professionals do. 2. No, it s what Christians do and my hope is that we will deprofessionalize the ministry at CBC and equip you all to do what Christians are supposed to be doing anyways. 6