Biblical Counseling is a piece of the larger ministry of the church. All ministry should flow out of the church and be held under the authority of the church. Biblical Counseling may also be a stand alone entity (para-church ministry), this not ideal but is often necessary. In the case of a para-church ministry, every effort should be made to coordinate with the counselee’s church leaders and community.
Biblical Counseling ministries should be done within the context of the church. If churches are serious about discipleship and community, biblical counseling is inevitably going to be a piece of their soul care. Formal biblical counseling is done on a weekly, biweekly or periodic basis. This is insufficient for the complete care of a person’s soul. The church is a place where Christians corporately gather for worship, accountability, fellowship and discipleship. Struggling Christians need the accountability, encouragement, and discipleship of the church. While the counseling process addresses these things, it can never be a substitute for the church God has placed us in.
Culture of Biblical Counseling
For the church to play a critical role in counseling, it requires a culture that is not surprised by indwelling sin. I have seen less pure churches where sin is shunned as if everyone in the church fully sanctified. This kind of culture creates a stigma around counseling as something that is for sinners or other people. A culture of counseling within a church is taught from the pulpit and lived out in the life of the church.
The church is given the commission to counsel and to “admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). This should be seen as a whole soul care approach with counseling being one portion of that care. This in no way diminishes the call to one-on-one counseling. Churches should preach, have bible studies, talk about, have group confession and accountability on topics of sin struggles and the restorative work of the Gospel.
Church Leadership
There is no category of Christianity apart from the local church. God has placed you in a church for fellowship, accountability, counseling, discipleship, and to serve. You are placed under the authority of church. God has placed you under the authority of a pastor and elders to care for your soul and grow you in the love and knowledge of the Lord. Together with the deacons of your church, the church leaders are an integral part of counseling. Without knowing the struggles of the congregation, church leaders are In rare cases, it may be necessary to conduct formal church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20, Titus 3:9-11, 1 Corinthians 5:5) to bring about repentance and restoration. Church discipline should be done to restore the unrepentant member with a spirit of gentleness (Gal. 6:1-3).
Secular Authority
God has given the gift of secular authority in government to maintain order within society. in the United States, Local and Federal governments are a representation of the cultures values and priorities. With the growing secularization of the United States, government entities are growing increasingly hostel to a biblical worldview. This is especially apparent within the sexual and gender revolutions that are in contradiction to Scripture. Submission to secular governments and licencing requirements limit the counselor’s ability to counsel in a biblical way. One way this is evident is in a requirement for the counselor to maintain a professional relationship. Counseling within a local church is impractical or impossible as a state licensed professional counselor (LPC).
Definition
The working definition that we are using is:
Biblical counseling is the personal discipleship ministry of God’s people to others under the oversight of God’s church, dependent upon the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word through the work of the Holy Spirit. Biblical counseling seeks to reorient disordered desires, affections, and behaviors toward a God-designed anthropology in an effort to restore true worship of God and right fellowship with others. This is accomplished by speaking the truth in love and applying Scripture to the need of the moment by comforting the suffering and calling sinners to repentance thus working to make them mature as they abide in Jesus Christ.
Truth in Love – ACBC Podcast
This is part 3 of a multi-week series on What is Biblical Counseling.