Five things that biblical counseling is not and five things that it is:
Biblical counseling is not:
- Using the Bible as a magic formula/prescription.
Some people think biblical counseling equals doling out Bible verses and passages like a doctor gives prescriptions: take this and you will feel better in no time. Some people may do this, but overall this is a caricature.
- Attributing every problem to a sin issue.
Factors other than sin can exacerbate situations. Sometimes sin is never an issue. However, if we are honest with ourselves, this is rarely the case.
- Anti-medicine.
True biblical counselors don’t claim to be medical doctors. Biblical counselors should work hand in hand with medical doctors, the former focusing on issues related to growth in godliness and the latter focusing on physical and medical issues.
- A quick fix.
Biblical counseling is not meant to be a series of 7-10 meetings that fixes every problem in a person’s life and completely sanctifies them. The purpose of biblical counseling is to help people persevere in running the race of faithfulness to God and pursuing Christlikeness to the glory of God. Such persevering is central to the Christian life.
- Focused on the efforts of human beings.
Biblical counseling does not center on the work that human beings must do to grow spiritually.
Biblical counseling is:
- Ministering the Word to one another.
Col. 3:16 teaches us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another. Scripture is the voice of God (2 Tim 3:16-17), it is living and active (Heb 4:12) and God always accomplishes the purposes He sets out to do with His Word (Is 55:11).
- Speaking the truth in love.
If sin is contributing to a problem in someone’s life or is the significant issue in the problem, it is not loving to not say something about the sin. Not saying something is actually an act of indifference at the best and hatred at the worst.This does not mean that someone has to be abrasive in the way they bring up the sin. The goal of confronting sin is to bring the sin into the light so that a person can grow in Christlikeness. Different people call for different approaches with different levels of gentleness and firmness. Sometimes a simple question will immediately bring repentance. Sometimes the person is just as aware of the sin as you are.And there are the times when you will be met with resistance, excuses and pride. This is when sticking to your guns and really challenging a person do come into play. And you have to be prepared to do this from the beginning. You should always hope for the best, but prepared for the worst.
- Recognizing the finite nature of human beings and working with medical doctors.
Human beings are needy and dependent physical creatures. If God removed His sustaining work in anyone’ life they would immediately cease to exist. God has also created people as complex physical/spiritual/emotional/volitional units and the fall complicated matters even more.Thus, it is wise to ask about a person’s diet, physical exercise and overall physical condition early in the counseling process. If a person has a verifiable, organic issue, such as diabetes, he should work with a medical doctor to address the issue. That physical issue could affect a person, spiritually.What a biblical counselor should focus on is issues related to growth in godliness. This is the biblical counselor’s domain, for it is the Bible’s domain and the local church’s domain. Regardless of a person’s physical issues, he must be dealing with his spiritual issues and this is what biblical counselors should focus on.
- A process known as progressive sanctification.
While biblical counseling is not a quick fix, people can see marks of growth quickly and significant growth over time. Scripture is clear that God will complete in us the good work He has begun in Christ (Phil 1:6), Christ has promised to be with us until He returns (Matt 28:20) and the Holy Spirit dwells in each individual believer (1 Cor 6:19-20) and the church as a whole (1 Cor 3:16) helping apply Scripture to every area of life.Thus, each person of the Trinity is concerned about the spiritual growth of each and every believer in Christ. This is why believers should be characterized by hope, and faith and love (1 Cor 13:13). - Focused on the work of Christ on the cross.
Biblical counseling is concerned with putting off the desires of the flesh and putting on Christlike thoughts, attitudes and actions (Gal 5, Eph 4). But this putting off and putting on is based on the position we have in Christ. It is founded on the character, promises and works of God. It is centered on our standing as members of God’s family and citizens of God’s kingdom.In Christ, we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17): the old has gone, the new has come. Believers should seek to live in light of this reality. Thus, we seek to put off sinful desires and put on godly desires. We want our actions to match who we are in Christ: God’s people.