Conversations on the Future of Biblical Counseling
Part 3: Who Is Competent to Counsel?
Note: Welcome to our blog mini-series on The Future of Biblical Counseling. I’m sharing my expanded version of an interview Brad Hambrick (BCH) of the ABC did with me. Read earlier posts: post 1 , post 2.
BCH: Who do you mean when you say biblical counseling—not name or organization, but target audience? How broadly or narrowly are you using that term?
Are these (a) dreams for self-identified counselors who believe their counseling is biblical; (b) dreams for the entire Church because of the “one another” commands of New Testament given to all Christians; or (c) dreams for those who hold to a certain set of convictions regarding counseling?”
RWK: As I penned my definition of biblical counseling, and as I dream about the future of biblical counseling, my target audience includes several groups. Dream eleven, which we will discuss in more detail later, states that biblical counseling is universal—it is what lay people do as spiritual friends, what pastors do as soul physicians, and what professional Christian/biblical counselors do as soul care-givers, and what educators do as equippers.
I base this expansive dream upon Paul’s conviction in Romans 15:14. “I myself am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge, and competent to counsel one another.”
Lay People as Spiritual Friends
First, I dream about the future of biblical counseling for lay believers. My passion is the local church. The holy of holies of my local church passion is the equipping of the saints to do the work of the ministry.
I tell my graduate students that the M in MA stands for Master which means you master something so well that you equip others to do it also. My greatest joy is to see our graduate students equip their people for lay discipleship (which is what biblical counseling is—discipleship).
For instance, Sister Ellen Barney is the “First Lady” (pastor’s wife) in a large African American church in Maryland. In the past seven years she has equipped over 500 women as Lay Encouragers And Disciplers (LEADers). When I speak at their elaborate graduation ceremonies, she says, “Dr. Kellemen, these are your grandbabies!”
I dream of grandbabies and great-grandbabies in every local church. Each of the twelve dreams are dreams I have for lay spiritual friends—that their ministries would be scriptural, theological, historical, positive, relational, relevant, transformative, comprehensive in theory, comprehensive in methodology, comprehensive in equipping, universal, and multi-cultural.
Pastors as Soul Physicians
Second, I write and dream for pastors as soul physicians. Having pastored most of my adult life, and ministering to pastors for the rest of my adult life, I have a heart for pastors.
I absolutely believe in the pulpit ministry of the Word. I believe most Evangelical seminaries train pastors well for the pulpit. I happen also to believe in the personal ministry of the Word. Unfortunately, I think most Evangelical seminaries drop the ball in training pastors as soul physicians. If they train them at all, it is one course and that one course often is more psychological than it is theological/biblical.
I dream of the day when pastors are not only equipped to counsel biblically, but they are equipped to equip others. The church, as my friend Pastor Steve Viars points out, should not simply have biblical counseling, it should be a church that is a biblical counseling discipleship ministry. The sufficiency and relevancy of Scripture and the art of helping people to grow in grace (progressive sanctification) should be central to what every pastor equips his church to be.
Professional Christian Counselors as Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors
Third, I write and dream for professional Christian counselors as soul care-givers and spiritual directors. These are dear people, committed people, godly men and women. Some of them will tell you that they have more training in secular psychology than they do in biblical counseling.
But frankly, even when we have a seminary-level knowledge of the Bible, we need equipping to learn how to relate the Biblical text to people’s lives. While I was at seminary, I worked for four years on a psychiatric inpatient unit. I worked hard to relate God’s truth to human relationships in a way that made a lasting difference. My passion is to help professional Christian counselors to use Christ’s changeless truth (Scripture) to change lives (soul) in our changing times (society) through a comprehensive approach to biblical counseling and spiritual formation.
Professors, Educators, and Students as Equippers
Fourth, I write and dream for professors, educators, and equippers. We need to equip the equippers who equip others also.
I pray and dream that as professors equip men and women for biblical counseling that they are equipping lay, pastoral, and professional counselors for biblical counseling that is Christ-centered, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed. The equipping of the next generation starts with this generation’s educators.
Extending the Conversation
1. Who do you think God calls to be biblical counselors? Who is competent to counsel?
2. What different roles might be best suited for lay people, pastors, professional Christian counselors, and educators?
3. Do you agree or disagree that every person can become competent to counsel?
The Rest of the Story
So what does make biblical counseling truly biblical? I invite you to return for our next post as I begin to outline my answer to that by sharing my twelve dreams for the future of biblical counseling.
