Every one counsels every moment of every day, in the words we say and the things we do, we demonstrate to others what we believe about God (practical theology), and we show them what to believe and do in accordance to that belief. So the question is never "will I counsel people" but rather how I will counsel...will it bring people to God? Will it bring glory to God?
I am currently in the counseling program at the college I am enrolled at (Faith Baptist Bible College) and a requirement of this program is to write a philosophy of counseling paper. The following is just that. And I hope that it gives you some encouragement to take more seriously all of the interactions you are privilidged to have! This is def. not something that I have a total handle on, and is something I am working on. So I hope that you like I, will be challenged from the Word of God to take more seriously the everyday relationships and interactions!
On a mountain, in the days of Moses ten commands were given from the very hand of God, put into rock, expected to be followed.
On another mountain stood the very Word of God, His One and only Son, and from His mouth came the charge, the command to the church.
Often I look down on the Israelites for not being able to keep the Ten Commandments, but I am not better for all I have is one. Of course, when followed, it encompasses all commands of God that still apply today.
This new command seems to be four-fold: to go, to make disciples, to baptize and to teach. But in reality the first is an assumption, in that it assumes that I will go.
The latter two commands (to baptize/teach) are just two steps that need to come after I follow the first command.
The first and main command is to make disciples. And this is what counseling in the details is! What I do when I counsel is make disciples. The question is not if I will counsel, or if I will make disciples, but rather how I will counsel and what kind of disciples I will make, this is why Christ added “teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you.” The kind of disciples I am to make are ones that follow Christ and His commands!
So therefore since I make disciples everyday, I counsel every day as well. So this is then and therefore a very serious ministry, one I never cease to do. Thus it is highly important that I do it correctly, in a way that brings all honor and glory to God.
This is not a philosophy of ministry paper, but rather a philosophy of life paper. These are things that I need to implement every moment in every interaction I am privileged to have!
Commitment to the sufficiency of God’s Word:
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
I believe that this time has come! The time when people do not put up with sound doctrine is not a day far off in the future, it is here now! Instead of turning to the Word of God, people are flocking by the dozens to Psychologists offices. When hard times or depression or other things hit, instead of looking to God’s Word, people run to the nearest Psychologists office to find the next medication or therapy that will help them. They are choosing to cope when they could hope! They have as Paul said they would gathered a great number of teachers. They have itching ears that turn them away from the truth to myths! And though it seems good and sounds good, it is futile and foolishness:
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’ and again,” The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 1 Cor. 3:19-20
As a counselor one of the main things I will do is to call people back to God’s Word because:
A. Everyone lives in faith:
No matter what we would like to think, all people (even atheists) live with faith in someone or something. And who we have faith in, is who we will live for and worship. And thus I must call people to live with faith in God alone, and the only way that faith in God comes about it through the Word of God :
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
B. The real problem is the heart:
The psychologists want us to believe that our problems stem from our environment, from our childhood, or from our biology, pretty much anything but ourselves. And while it is true that there are some legitimate cases where our problems do stem from our biology, we are not bound by them. They may contribute but they certainly are not solely the reason for our problems!
God’s Word teaches that most of our problems stem from the heart : the worship center of every person. And so my ministry to others will aim and have its goal at the heart, not behavior.
We as humans cannot see our own hearts, let alone someone else’s. The Bible says that my heart is so wicked I can’t even fully know it: Jerimiah 17:9.
The only One who can is God, and the amazing thing is He not only sees every single heart, but fashions them toward Himself:
“He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.” Psalm 33:15.
And the way He fashions our hearts is through His Word!
“For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. “ Hebrews 4:12
God’s Word is the only thing that can discern the thoughts and intents of our heart! He does this through His Word thus it is important that I have a commitment to the Bible!
C. God’s Word lasts: 1 Peter 1:23
Psychology is constantly changing, jumping from one method/philosophy to another, without any real hope. But God’s Word has not changed and will not. It will stand forever, and its answers will always hold true! If I am accurately using it, it will never return void, it will never fail:
“having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” 1 Peter 1:23
D. It is rich and interpretive:
It is not that I make God’s Word relevant to people’s situations, but rather I demonstrate that it is! No it does not speak specifically to every issue, but it does help us to think like God does, so that when we encounter situations/issues that God’s Word does not speak specifically to, we will be able to think Biblically (like He does) about it and make the decision that He would make! This is how it speaks to everyone, every problem every situation! It truly is rich and interpretive, it holds all the answers!
And it is the only way that I can counsel people effectively. I must know the Word well, and not just that but be living it out, so that it will become second nature to me, that is the only way that I can truly be of help to people:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Col.
Commitment to the sufficiency of Christ:
Christ is the only true hope every person has and needs:
A. Christ is the answer to every need (so of course He can handle the smaller things) Romans Romans 8:1, 2 Cor. , 1 John , James , 1 John 3:5
Man’s greatest need is salvation from sin and death in hell. So many are caught up in this life, this moment, not even considering the truth that this life is just but for a moment, and in light of eternity it will matter nothing, if we have not accepted Christ. Our greatest concern is not to be so much this life but the life to come.
And Christ is the answer to our greatest need! He is the only salvation from sin and death in Hell. And since He has answered our greatest need, of course He can handle our smaller problems. If He is our only hope and security in the next life, then He is also our hope and security for today.
My main ministry to others will be to call them to faith in Christ (if they are unsaved), or to call them to continue in their faith (if they are saved). This is the only true hope that I can offer!
B. He is the only hope for real change
I do not want to offer people cope. I don’t want them flitting about from one solution to the next seeking in vain and never finding any real hope. I want them to not just change for a day, or even a year, I want them to have real change, real hope and the only way that can happen is through Jesus Christ!
Commitment to the sufficiency of God’s process of change:
The only way real change can come about is sanctification. But there are some key things that I must remember about sanctification if I am to be used effectively by God:
A. Process not an event Phil. 3:12, Eph. 4:15
We live in a microwave society. We want things now! I mean just look at the lunch hour! Many will choose a fast food restaurant versus a sit-in one because we don’t want to sit and wait. The most popular meals today are fast food, foods that can be nuked in the microwave and made in less then ten minutes. The most popular internet services are the fast ones, and they are constantly modifying them to be faster! The most popular way of communication is texting because it is faster. The most popular exercises today are the ones that don’t take too much time.
Why? Because we value time, and we don’t like waiting.
And often this attitude carries over into my view of sanctification and sadly not just in my life, but those around me as well. I want change in my life and others’ lives to happen now, right away, but I must remember that sanctification takes time, it is not an event (like a microwave meal, or WIFI, or instant chatting) but rather a process (like a full thanksgiving dinner, or dial up, or snail mail). It takes time, and patience.
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Phil. 3:12
If anyone had arrived in my eyes, it would have been Paul. He seemed to have it together, he of all people was godly, someone that no sin is ever mentioned of him after salvation. And yet we see here that he had not been perfected, and that he was going to continue to press on. This verse is proof that sanctification on this earth is never done, I will never fully get there, but is something I must keep striving for and call others to as well!
“speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—“ Eph.
There is not “easy button” for sanctification! Here Paul states that to become like Christ (what sanctification’s end is aimed at), we must grow up into it. A baby does not come to the physical stature of an adult, and training to come to the full mental, and emotional, state of an adult. And so it is in our walk with Christ. It is something we grow up into! We start out as babes, just baby Christians feeding on milk, and gradually we move onto the meatier truths of the faith. Step by step, we gradually transition into spiritual adulthood.
- Grace alone
Salvation is by grace alone ( Eph. 2:8-9), it is not something we can in and of ourselves attain, it is God giving to us what we otherwise could not have. And the same is true for sanctification! It is not something that I can attain on my own:
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Cor. 15:10
In counseling people I must always remember that it is only by God’s grace that they will ever handle their problems correctly. This helps me in two ways:
First it gives me a proper view of myself, in that I am never the counselee’s savior! It is never my work, but God’s through me and I am then and therefore only a mirror instrument. Keeps me humble!
Secondly gives me a right view of the counselee. Often I struggle in thinking “well at least I am not like that person” like as if I myself am able to keep me on the right path, but it is only by God’s grace if I am not like them! And besides if I am truly looking at them honestly and being truly honest with myself, I would realize that I am like them in some way shape, or form, and it is only by the grace of God that I am not just like them!
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have abundance for every good work.” 2 Cor. 9:8
When we realize that we can’t do it on our own, and realize that our sanctification is through God alone, is when we are headed in the right direction.
Commitment to the sufficiency the church
The church cannot be set aside! In this day and age, there are many who are forsaking the church and who are moving towards a different philosophy, one of worship on our own. And while it is true one can worship God alone, God still commands us to get together, to encourage and uplift one another and to be encouraged :
“not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Heb. 10:5
We were not made as independent creatures, but inter-dependent! We need God and others in our walk with Christ!
A. Not a separate entity: matt. 28:19-20
God gave the command to disciple (counsel) to the church, thus I can never serve as a separate entity but always must serve and counsel others with the goal of getting them back into the church.
Conclusion:
God has given me everything I need to be godly, but I must use what He has given: His Word, His Son, His Process and His Church!
These things all need to be utilized and implemented in not only my counseling but my daily walk as well!
I counsel every moment of everyday, may I realize the serious gravity there is in that statement and always be striving to be godly so that I can be a better instrument fit for the Father’s use. And may I always humbly serve, realizing that I am only a mere instrument! We don’t praise a violin after a wonderful concert that would be absurd! No we praise the instrumentalist, the one who used the violin to make music.
The same goes for counseling (and really every ministry I am privileged to be used in) the ministry should never be about me, what I get out of it, but about God because it is His work not mine :
1 Cor. 3:5-7 “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
I don’t want to be gathering my rewards here on this earth like the Pharisees (“surely they have their reward). I don’t want the mere praise of depraved men, but the praise of the Almighty God! Yes I will have to wait for it but oh how much better to hear the words “well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” This ought always to be my aim, to lay hold of treasures in heaven, not on this earth.
Thankyou for taking the time to read. If you have any further thoughts I would love to hear your insights! If you have any further questions I welcome those as well!
God bless and keep you! May All Glory go to Him!
Really good post. Discipleship every moment of every day.
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I really enjoyed reading the posts on your blog. I would like to invite you to come on over to my blog and check it out. God bless, Lloyd
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