Some Preliminary Ponderings 

Here are some preliminary ponderings for discussion on the topic of: Church-Focused Soul Care & Biblical Counseling…. Basically, I’m “thinking out loud” and inviting us to interact together…

I Wonder…

I have wondered at times over the years whether “counseling” was the best word to choose when the “modern nouthetic/biblical counseling movement” launched in the 1970s. For a movement that so carefully highlights not using the world’s ideas, would it have been better not to use “counseling”? “Counseling” in the 1970s and in the 2020s has a very specific meaning, and format, and definition in the world’s mind.

Pushback #1

You might pushback (which is good because this post is inviting pushback, feedback, discussion, interaction) and say, “But everyone understands what we mean by ‘counseling.’”

Do they?

For the average person, which of the 250+ theoretical approaches to “counseling” do they have in mind? How much re-education do we need to do to help people to understand what we mean by “counseling”?

Apart from counseling theory, I agree that people in Western cultures do tend to have a somewhat similar concept of counseling practice. People hear “counseling” and picture a 50-minute, weekly scheduled appointment where a degreed-professional expert provides for-fee therapy from a professional relationship that purposefully maintains a professional distance between the counselor and the couneslee.

Is that the biblical image? Is that what Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 2 where he pictures his shepherding relationship with his people using family images of brother/sister, mother/father, child/parent, and says that he loved them so much and that they were so dear to him that he gave them his very own soul in a soul-to-soul personal relationship (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8)?

Pushback #2

Someone might also pushback by saying, “But there are various OT Hebrew words and NT Greek words can be translated into English as ‘counseling.’” Agreed. Thus the reason that Jay Adams chose the term “nouthetic counseling.” Which is fine. My question, my pondering, is, “Was that the best choice then and is it the best choice today?”

So you may say, “Well, by now, everyone understands what we mean by the term.” Oh? Most people rarely even use the original modifier “nouthetic” anymore, replacing it with “biblical.” And even to this day, there are many varied definitions of the theory and practice of “biblical counseling.”

And there are certainly many false stereotypes about what is meant by “nouthetic biblical counseling.” We constantly must inform and re-inform people that biblical counseling is not one problem, one verse, one solution counseling. It is not “stop it!” counseling. In some people’s minds, biblical counseling equates to “anti-counseling” that emphasizes what it is against: anti-research, anti-neuroscience, anti-science, anti-medication… So, does putting the modifier “biblical” in front of “counseling” really easily and automatically help everyone to understand what we mean by the term?

The Great Cloud of Witnesses 

Perhaps using words from church history (translated from various languages over the past 2,000 years) might have been better? Perhaps we should have and still should consider terms for church-based care like:

Soul physicians, soul care/soul caregivers, care of souls, pastoral care, spiritual friends/spiritual friendship, spiritual direction/spiritual directors, spiritual formation, one-another care/one-another ministry, gospel conversations, shepherding/shepherds, mentoring, discipleship, personal discipleship, the personal ministry of the Word, etc.

I certainly thought this in 2004 when my first two books released:

• Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction 

• Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction

Long before “the modern nouthetic biblical counseling movement” launched in the 1970s, the church had always been about the ministry of caring for one another—compassionately and comprehensively. There is so much we can learn from that “great cloud of witnesses” who went before us—men and women from scores of countries, ethnicities, denominations—who have practiced the historic art of one-another ministry.

Of course, no word is going to be without “issues” or “baggage.” For example, I define the phrase “spiritual direction” in the classic church history sense of mature Christians lovingly, relationally, biblically providing reconciling and guiding Christian care to another believer to help them in their progressive sanctification journey. Some may hear the phrase “spiritual direction” and have concerns for various reasons. This is why any label we might select would still need to be clarified and defined. Just like we must define what we mean by “counseling” due to the 100s of cultural and historical concepts surrounding that term.

Sustaining, Healing, Reconciling, and Guiding

That’ why almost every one of my books illustrates the historic church practices of sustaining and healing biblical soul care for suffering and reconciling and guiding biblical spiritual direction for sin and sanctification. Those four terms—sustaining, healing, reconciling, and guiding—in numerous languages and across scores of countries and denominations—have a 2,000-year history of describing one-another ministry…without using the word “counseling.”

I’m Not “Against” the Word “Counseling”

Again, these are just “ponderings.” And I’m not “against” the word “counseling.” I’ve used it for years—but I’ve always sought to define it through the grid of church history.

And I am wondering now whether we are better off just to use words other than “counseling.”

That’s why I recently changed my bio description on Twitter to:

Seeking to Be a Theologically-Saturated, Research-Informed Soul Physician of Embodied-Souls.

Of course, that description requires a lot of explanation, too, right?

As I noted at the start of this post, I’m especially thinking about church-based ministry. If someone is a Christian trained in counseling and they provide professional, for-fee services, then perhaps “counseling” should be in their self-description. That’s why you hear people using terms now like “Gospel-Centered Counseling” or the even more expansive: “Gospel-Centered, Clinically-Informed Counseling.” And those terms bring up a host of discussions and even debates…

There Is No One Right Term

Perhaps my main point is, there is no one right term and there is no need for one term/phrase to monopolize how we describe church-based care. Terms and usage change over time. Even the term “nouthetic counseling” which launched the “modern movement” just 50 years ago, has now mostly been replaced by “biblical counseling.”

In pondering all of this, it may be helpful to remind ourselves that the terms “nouthetic counseling” and “biblical counseling” are actually very new, very young terms—and that is okay. These modern terms do not carry a long church history background—which is also okay. However, that does mean that we are not locked into having to use those terms to describe church-based care. 

For a dozen books on the long history of church-based care, see: 12 Top Resources on the History of Biblical Counseling, Pastoral Counseling, & Soul Care.

Join the Conversation 

For “the personal ministry of the Word,” provided in the church by pastors and equipped lay people, what words and concepts best describe such a church-based ministry? What do you think?

Of the terms below (including terms using “counseling”), which one(s) do you prefer for church-based personal ministry?

• Biblical Counseling
• Biblical Soul Care
• Care of Souls/Cure of Souls
• Christian Coaching
• Christian Counseling
• Christian Counseling and Discipleship
• Counseling
• Discipleship/Personal Discipleship
• Gospel-Centered Counseling
• Gospel Conversations
• Mentoring
• One-Another Care/One-Another Ministry
• Pastoral Care
• Pastoral Care and Counseling
• Pastoral Counseling
• Personal Ministry of the Word
• Shepherding/Shepherds
• Soul Care/Soul Caregivers
• Soul Physicians/Physicians of the Soul/Soul Physicians of Embodied-Souls
• Spiritual Direction/Spiritual Directors
• Spiritual Friends/Spiritual Friendship
• Spiritual Formation
• Other(s): _________________________