As this post publishes, I’m enjoying the fellowship of nearly 75 biblical counseling leaders from around the world. We’re gathered for the Annual Leadership Summit of the Biblical Counseling Coalition.
The Confessional Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition
So, I thought it might be helpful to re-introduce The Confessional Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Back in 2010 and into 2011, I had the privilege of facilitating a ten-month dialogue with three dozen world-wide biblical counseling leaders as we sought to answer the questions:
“What do biblical counselors believe and practice?”
“What makes biblical counseling truly biblical?”
“How could we best articulate the heart and soul of biblical counseling?”
You can find the complete statement here: The Confessional Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. If you’d like a shortened link that is easy to share, here you go:
http://bit.ly/1BccConfessional
I’ll provide the Preamble, the Introduction, an outline, and the Conclusion. Hopefully that will whet your appetite for the full feast.
Preamble: Speaking the Truth in Love—A Vision for the Entire Church
We are a fellowship of Christians committed to promoting excellence and unity in biblical counseling. Our goal is to foster collaborative relationships and to provide robust, relevant biblical resources that equip the Body of Christ to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth. We desire to advance the biblical counseling movement in Christ-centered cooperation by relating in ways that are loving and wise, pursuing the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3).
We pursue this purpose by organizing our thinking around one central question. “What does it mean to counsel in the grace and truth of Christ?” All that we do flows from our calling to equip people to love God and others in Christ-centered ways (Matthew 22:35-40).
More than counseling, our vision is for the entire church to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:11-16). We are dedicated to developing the theology and practice of the personal ministry of the Word, whether described as biblical counseling, pastoral counseling, personal discipleship, one-another ministry, small group ministry, cure of souls, soul care, spiritual friendship, or spiritual direction. We seek to promote the strengthening of these ministries in churches, para-church organizations, and educational institutions by ministering to people who offer care, people who are seeking care, and people who train care-givers.
Introduction: In Christ Alone
The goal of biblical counseling is spiritual, relational, and personal maturity as evidenced in desires, thoughts, motives, actions, and emotions that increasingly reflect Jesus (Ephesians 4:17-5:2). We believe that such personal change must be centered on the person of Christ. We are convinced that personal ministry centered on Christ and anchored in Scripture offers the only lasting hope and loving help to a fallen and broken world.
We confess that we have not arrived. We comfort and counsel others only as we continue to receive ongoing comfort and counsel from Christ and the Body of Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3-11). We admit that we struggle to apply consistently all that we believe. We who counsel live in process, just like those we counsel, so we want to learn and grow in the wisdom and mercies of Christ.
All Christian ministry arises from and is anchored in God’s revelation—which is both the written Word (Scripture) and the living Word (Christ). This is true for the personal ministry of the Word (conversational and relational ministry which our culture calls “counseling”) and for the various public ministries of the Word. In light of this core conviction about Christ-centered, Word-based ministry, we affirm the following central commitments as biblical counselors.
A Dozen Central Commitments of Biblical Counselors
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Anchored in Scripture
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Centered on Christ and the Gospel
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Grounded in Sound Theology
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Dependent upon the Holy Spirit and Prayer
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Directed toward Sanctification
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Rooted in the Life of the Church
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Founded in Love
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Attentive to Heart Issues
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Comprehensive in Understanding
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Thorough in Care
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Practical and Relevant
- Biblical Counseling Must Be Oriented toward Outreach
Conclusion: Unity in Truth and Love
We desire to encourage this unity in truth and love through a fresh vision for biblical counseling. When people ask, “What makes biblical counseling truly biblical?” we unite to affirm:
Biblical counseling occurs whenever and wherever God’s people engage in conversations that are anchored in Scripture, centered on Christ and the Gospel, grounded in sound theology, dependent upon the Holy Spirit and prayer, directed toward sanctification, rooted in the life of the church, founded in love, attentive to heart issues, comprehensive in understanding, thorough in care, practical and relevant, and oriented toward outreach.
We invite you to join us on this journey of promoting excellence and unity in biblical counseling. Join us as we seek to equip one another to promote personal change, centered on the person of Christ through the personal ministry of the Word.
Join the Conversation
How would you answer the questions:
“What do biblical counselors believe and practice?”
“What makes biblical counseling truly biblical?”
“How could we best articulate the heart and soul of biblical counseling?”
