How Should Biblical Counselors Grow? 

Sometimes blog posts just kinda’ take a life of their own… 

I had no intentions to write about 5 Reasons It’s Past Time to End the Stereotypes about Biblical Counseling. But then I was told about a Christian integrative counseling professor who charged a wise and winsome biblical counseling leader with being “dangerous.” 

Then, Dr. Aaron New read my blog post and began a very stimulating discussion with me on the comment thread. People expressed that what we said (speaking truth to one another) and how we said it (speaking respectfully in love with a desire to learn from and sharpen one another) was encouraging and helpful. 

So, I then post three blogs containing my conversation with Aaron: 

• Christian Integrative Counseling and Biblical Counseling: Continuing the Conversation  

• Christian Integrative Counseling and Biblical Counseling: The Conversation Continues  

• Christian Integrative Counseling and Biblical Counseling: The Conversation Continues Forward  

I also had a blog post interaction with Dr. Phil Monroe. Today I’m sharing our conversation. Then I’ll introduce where I want to head next with this ever-expanding blog mini-series. 

Phil Writes 

Bob 

I agree with all your points. It is what prompted me to write “Building Bridges with Biblical Counselors” back in 1995 (after a year of hearing these same pejorative comments). I appreciate the fact that you also point out that the labels can go the other direction too, from biblical counselors to Christian integrative counselors. 

Seems to me that one solution for biblical counseling is to do a better job (or to continue to promote an already existing effort) to police itself and to define the outliers as not legitimate or representative. Too often, both groups tend to spend more time pointing out the errors of the other side instead of pointing out the errors of its own side. 

I recall Ed Welch’s AACC presentation where he responded to one who criticized biblical counseling. He spent a good deal of time admitting the portion of truth the nay sayer had to say. 

Thanks again. 

My Response to Phil 

Phil, 

Thanks. I appreciate your ministry and your irenic spirit. 

I agree that there is a place for addressing weaknesses in our own approaches as biblical counselors. I’ve presented and written on that for years, including in my work on 12 Dreams for the Future of Biblical Counseling. 

By God’s grace, I’ve seen all of those dreams developing to various extents in the past decade or so. 

So, for me, I don’t have much time to give to criticizing the views of others or even to a lot of self-criticism of the BC world. The limited time and energy I have, I want to give to positive presentations of the richness of God’s Word. That’s why this post was an anomaly for me. 

That said, the BC world is committed to iron sharpening. A large part of the motivation to launch the Biblical Counseling Coalition was so that we could talk honestly with one another—including about areas we need to address and strengthen. So, I believe the BC world is “policing” itself (to the extent that any huge movement can do so). And I believe we are working to communicate best practices, such as through the BCC’s Confessional Statement and through our recently-released book Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling.  

I guess I would ask, “From your perspective, what should the Christian counseling integrative world be doing to ‘police itself’ and to address this nagging issue of pejorative attacks on the BC world?” I know you’ve said you agree with my list. I’m just wondering if you have any additional insights. 

Thanks again. 

Bob 

The Rest of the Story 

As I said, years ago I challenged myself and my fellow biblical counselors by addressing 12 Dreams for the Future of Biblical Counseling. It wasn’t necessarily a challenge that was easy to hear, but hopefully it led to some healthy introspection and changes. 

That’s not to say that my 12 dreams were that novel. Biblical counselors were already asking many of these questions and growing in many of these areas. I simply collated the conversation. 

In a future post or posts in this blog mini-series, I want to share a challenge for my Christian integrative counseling (CIC) friends and my Christian psychology (CP) friends. I want to ask some rubber-meets-the-road questions. 

That’s not to say that my CIC and CP friends aren’t already asking many of these questions and growing in many of these areas. I simply want to collate some thoughts that have been prompted by my interactions with Aaron and Phil. Prayerfully, they will provide some respectful and helpful counsel worth at least some consideration. 

Stay tuned for Rubber-Meets-the-Road Questions for My CIC and CP Friends… 

Join the Conversation 

What counsel would you give the biblical counseling world? 

What counsel would you give the Christian integrative counseling world? 

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