I have frequently heard pastors and lay leaders in the Church assert that it is the role of everyone in the Church to provide counsel. Christians cite verses that describe “godly counsel,” such as Psalm 37:30 (“The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong”) and Proverbs 27:9 (“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense”) in supporting their notion.
When I recently saw a tweet that again made the statement that all in the Church should provide counsel, it reminded me of what many in the biblical counseling movement have said about pastors and their competence to counsel. These verses suggest that godliness is the fundamental requirement for becoming someone who can provide wise and helpful counsel.
Note that I have not yet used the term “counseling” and I have certainly not used the term “therapy.” Why? Because these terms refer to specific treatments provided in mental health situations. And it is simply not the same thing as godly counsel.
Allow me to define some terms. “Counsel” is often referred to in the Bible as “advice.” Certainly there is a sense that wisdom and godliness provide a Christian with some discernment in a variety of situations. If a friend confides in you about a struggle she is going through, you might provide some wise counsel to her that would support God’s words in the Bible. You may have experienced a similar situation in life and you could offer advice from your own experience.
“Counseling” or “therapy” as I am using the terms here is specifically NOT centered around advice-giving. While discernment is necessary, it is a different level of emotional discernment used by trained and licensed clinicians in mental health service delivery. Therapy offers a place for a person to work through an emotional problem for herself, with a trained guide who possesses skills such as Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. An understanding of family systems and biological/psychological factors that influence our emotions is also a necessary skill. These factors along with spiritual wisdom and understanding are essential for providing mental health care and seeing the person in a holistic manner.
For comparison’s sake, let’s consider a scenario in which a person has a sore back. A close friend could perhaps give a basic back massage to ease the pain for the moment. But a physical therapist would have training and skills necessary to repair an injury. When anxiety, depression, trauma, Bipolar Disorder or other brain dysfunctions are present, godly advice simply will not provide the right kind of response. And in fact, it may do more harm than good as it often reinforces wrong ideas that make a person feel that their symptoms are a result of a lack of faith. I would argue that this type of response is actually not even godly advice at all as it creates wrong assumptions about God and illness. It is not based in spiritual or biological truth.
Can all pastors and godly followers of Jesus provide counsel? Assuming they possess wisdom demonstrated in the way they live their lives, yes. Can all pastors and godly followers of Jesus provide therapy for mental health problems? No. It is time for pastors and Christians to stop using these terms interchangeably so that people who need medical and psychological care can receive it freely with no stigma attached. And it is time for trained, licensed Christian counselors and therapists to actively provide these services where people seek them: in the Church.
Thanks for your thoughts and clarification, Bob. Always helpful!
I agree that there are bad licensed counselors and bad nouthetic counselors and bad pastors so a license or certification of any of these things does not guarantee competence. It is my hope that as a whole the Church can support and advocate for high levels of training and standards for ethical practice in order to provide the best care possible.
I also believe that the Church Therapy model, due to the nature of the team approach, raises the overall level of competence of the pastors and counselors. When you are all working together you can challenge each other and raise each other to new levels.
This is an extremely interesting and important post that my friend has published. As she is aware from numerous historical communication between us I agree with much of her posit. I would not in any way attempt to devalue or question her expertise which has proven to be historically above reproach in my estimation. I fully agree that Godly counsel does encompass at least a modicum of godliness and wisdom to support and affirm God’s word as written.
As a student, advocate and part-time practitioner of Nouthetic Counseling, I am compelled to clarify some points from my friend’s post. In the voluminous writings of Jay Adams (the founder of the biblical counseling movement) it is made abundantly clear that counseling technique such as MI or CBT as well as a working knowledge of family systems and biological/physiological factors, though not explicit in the training are implicit components of the process. “advice giving” has no place in the therapeutic nouthetic process, to assert so is inaccurate. Directive Counseling, Brief and Time Limited Counseling is a mainstay in biblical counseling, much as it is a component of the traditional and secular therapeutic counseling model. Biblical Counseling (nouthetic) dictates that the client be seen and treated in a holistic manner. The difference lies in the fact that this directive counseling is biblically based, void of human philosophy or interpretation. I always refer to what I consider as my foundational tent poles as written in II Timothy 3: 16,17 >>16. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17.so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Now particularly the training in righteousness aspect of this verse which in secular counseling terms would be similar to the treatment plan would be a dereliction of duty by the counselor to recommend a prayer and see them in the morning. It demands to treat the client holistically, by virtue of the data that has been collected, the expertise of the clinician and the knowledge and training in the aforementioned studies of the human condition. I totally agree that an ignorance of the human condition could potentially cause more harm that good.
I have heard antagonists of the biblical counseling movement in many cases claim that a client’s lack of problem or situation resolve is due to a lack of faith on their part. If in fact any practitioner were to volley that opinion, particularly to a client would be an act of ignorance, disregard and incompetence, simply due to the fact that the gift of faith is an evolving and ongoing phenomenon that is individually tailored. As my friend rightfully asserts “Therapy offers a place for a person to to work through an emotional problem for herself with a trained guide…” . The same offering is afforded in the biblical counseling modality but with the additional presence of the Holy Spirit to help her/him work through their problem in a biblical way aided by the love, conviction and support of the Lord as the clinician is free and expected to utilize any biblically compatible psychodynamic techniques coupled with the knowledge and training he/she has received.
Some would argue that this clinician person must be a licensed counselor. I strongly disagree. A license in counseling or a certification for understanding psychological counseling techniques does imply that one has passed an exam to the satisfaction of a governing body in demonstrating a certain knowledge but not the competence to implement such in a Godly and/or helpful way. I spent many years in the counseling field with licensed and non-licensed counselors and some of the most highly awarded counselors were in some cases the worst practitioners, perpetrating stigma upon their clients and in action violating the Hippocratic Oath …To do no harm… There are many reasons our society demands licenses, which is fodder for another post.
I concert with my friend, I strongly agree that counselors/therapists, licensed and non-licensed alike not only be at least minimally but preferably comprehensively trained in the art of understanding and assessing the human condition but also in the biblically compatible psychological tools available to provide the holistic services when called upon within the church setting.