View of Christian Counseling

I was recently asked on a post to talk about my views of Christian Counseling after taking the Biblical Counseling 101 course at Dallas Theological Seminary. I really enjoyed the class and found it very helping in forming a philosophy of Christian Counseling.

I embrace the DTS approach to Biblical/Christian Counseling. They have what they call an “integrated” approach. This means that they are trying to integrate Biblical Theology with Psychology. Dr. Barnes was quick to note that this can be dangerous business. There is so much bad secular Psychology that if one is not grounded in orthodox Biblical Theology then devastating mistakes can be made.

I embrace the integrated approach for what will appear to be two scandalous reasons.

First, the Bible does not speak to all situations. I believe that the Bible is God’s inerrant infallible Word and is truth without mixture of error. The Bible is largely a Theological History of the things that God wants us to know about Him and his mission. It deals with the “big” issues and enables Christianity to have the answers to the most important “big” questions. The Bible is special revelation meaning it is truth handed down from the divine and gives us knowledge that we might not otherwise possess. Human reason alone cannot arrive at the conclusions of the Bible. Psychology can help us understand general revelation. Good Psychology can help us understand humanity in areas that the Bible remains silent. The danger is what defines “good” Psychology? Good Psychology must stay within the bounds set by Biblical Theology.

Second, those who only use the Bible without “good” Psychology can possibly misdiagnosis a situation and cause major harm to the client. I am a pastor and most of the problems I deal with end up being sin issues. In pastoral counseling the problems that people have are typically brought upon by their own sin or the sin of others. There are times that this is not the case. For instance, ADD is a real disorder that can and should be treated. ADD is also misdiagnosed a lot. I say misdiagnosed because there are times when a child has ADD and it is not diagnosed and other times when the child is simply not being submissive to authority and they are diagnosed as ADD (sin issue). The best thing I learned from my class is when I am out of my training with someone and when I need to refer them to a professional Christian Counselor.

If done properly, the Christian community (small groups, accountability groups, or Sunday School classes) will point out sin is an individual’s life. Authentic community will help us in counseling each other through the different problems that we have. If a problem is out of the training of the small group then the pastor should be able to handle the situation. If it is out of his/her training then the individual should be referred to a Christian Counselor.

Much of our emotional problems are a result of sin. These should be dealt with in an honest, loving, and gentle manner. Many of our emotional problems are as a result of our past. Groups like Men’s Fraternity should aid in overcoming those past demons. Emotional problems can also be biological in nature, thus one of the roles of Christian Counseling.

Theology and Psychology working arm in arm can help us accurately identify problems that people are having and then the solutions to the problems.

I feel it is important to tag a footnote to this discussion. God might not bring ultimate healing from pain, He might be using it to sharpen us and grow us. We should pray for healing, but if in God’s sovereign plan we are not healed from physical or emotional pain then we must learn to glorify God and find our happiness and joy in God through the pain. God has never healed Joni Eareckson Tada. God has not completely healed thousands of Bi-Polar people across our country. We should always be working towards healing the many Psychological diseases, but if you find yourself struggling then don’t give up when God does not answer your prayers in the manner in which you want Him to. You don’t have to be happy about your situation and it is fine to go through periods of anger and fits of crying if you are hurting, but at the end of the day God is still good and He is still sovereign. Even in our darkest days God loves us so much that He died on the cross for our sin and indwells Christians with the Comforter. At the end of the day embrace His grace.