A Word From Bob
You’re reading Part 2 of a two-part blog mini-series on scriptural sufficiency and counselor competency. You can read Part 1 here. Here’s the question we’re addressing:
“While Scripture is sufficient to provide wisdom for every soul issue, does that mean that every biblical counselor is always competent to address every soul issue?”
In Part 1, we define our terms: sufficiency of Scripture and counselor competency. In Part 2, we share how to assess our competency and how to assure that competent help is provided for our counselees.
I’ve developed this two-part series from my book: Consider Your Counsel: Addressing Ten Mistakes in Our Biblical Counseling.
2 Preliminary Ways to Assess Our Competency
Let’s return to Jim (see Part 1). By his own admission, he’s a “rookie counselor.” If he read this blog mini-series, he’d be quick to say:
“I agree. I’m not automatically, self-sufficiently, or independently competent to counsel this man who is hearing voices! Yet, I’m a rookie counselor who believes and trusts God’s sufficient Word. So, what should I do, Bob?”
Jim should assess his competency. So should we. Here’s how…
- Competency Assessment #1: “What’s my level of overall growth and maturity in the ‘4Cs’ (Character, Content, Competence, Community) of Romans 15:14?”
Before we counsel others, we should be doing some self-counsel and we should be receiving feedback from others.
- “To what degree am I growing in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?”
- “What equipping and discipleship am I receiving to help me to grow in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?”
- “What feedback am I receiving from others about my own progressive sanctification journey in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?”
- “Am I at a stage in my Christian life where I’d be better off receiving formal counseling rather than giving informal one-another ministry or formal biblical counseling?”
- Competency Assessment #2: “What’s my level of ‘4C’ equipping related to this particular issue I’m being asked to address?”
- Character Assessment: “I’m being asked to help someone with anger issues. To what degree do I evidence growing Christlike maturity and progressive sanctification with this issue?”
- Content Assessment: “I’m being asked to help someone with self-harm and cutting issues. What’s my level of biblical knowledge, formal training, and personal research about this issue?”
- Competency Assessment: “I’m being asked to counsel someone dealing with past sexual abuse. What’s my level of supervised experience with this sensitive issue?”
- Community Assessment: “I’m being asked to counsel someone hearing voices. Am I the best person in our church and in the surrounding Christian community to address this issue? Or, are there others who are more qualified, and should I play more of a support role?” “If I am qualified to counsel, what additional help do I need to ensure that I minister well?”
5 Guidelines to Assure That Competent Help Is Provided
Notice the precise wording in this header: to assure that competent help is provided. The united body of Christ through the power of Christ and the sufficiency of Scripture is competent to provide help for soul issues. However, no one individual is competent to provide all help for all issues.
We’ve been talking about Jim “the rookie counselor.” Let’s talk now about Bob “the experienced counselor.” After almost four decades of counseling and almost three decades of equipping counselors, I do not see myself as automatically competent to counsel every person with every issue. For example, I’ve not had a great deal of education or experience counseling people regarding cutting. So, if someone came to me requesting my help with that issue, what might I do? What should you do? If we self-assess and determine that we don’t have enough “4C” qualification, what might we do?
- Guideline #1: Consistently Involve a Comprehensive Body of Christ Team Approach
Regardless of whether I have sufficient training and experience with a given counseling issue, I always involve a team approach. If a Christian is coming to a biblical counselor, they should be attending church, spending time in the Word and prayer, be involved in a small group, men’s group, or women’s group, have had a recent complete physical, etc. Depending on the issue and the resources in the church and community, they should also be involved in an issue-specific “recovery” group. They should be reading good Christian resources related to their issue. Ideally, they also have a family member or friend attending counseling with them as an advocate.
Counseling is one subset of the wider encouragement and discipleship ministry of the church. Counseling is not some “magic therapy hour” that negates the other 167 hours of the week. We always want to communicate:
We are not the answer; Christ is the answer; growth in grace is a church community journey.
- Guideline #2: Prayerfully Ponder Whether the Wider Resources of the Universal Body of Christ May Be Needed
The context of Romans 15:14 indicates that no one church is necessarily autonomously proficient to address every counseling issue. Paul writes Romans to the churches of the city of Rome. In Romans 16, he addresses some of the many house churches in Rome. In a similar context, Paul leaves Timothy in Crete to appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5).
The New Testament assumes the interdependency of likeminded churches within a geographical area. Thus it is totally appropriate for a church to utilize the expertise of other churches (and para-church ministries) in the universal body of Christ.
- Guideline #3: Prayerfully Ponder Whether Resources Outside the Church May Be Needed
The complexity and interrelated nature of many issues require resources in addition to the church. As the Confessional Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition wisely reminds us:
We recognize the complexity of the relationship between the body and soul (Genesis 2:7). Because of this, we seek to remain sensitive to physical factors and organic issues that affect people’s lives. In our desire to help people comprehensively, we seek to apply God’s Word to people’s lives amid bodily strengths and weaknesses. We encourage a thorough assessment and sound treatment for any suspected physical problems.
We recognize the complexity of the connection between people and their social environment. Thus we seek to remain sensitive to the impact of suffering and of the great variety of significant social-cultural factors (1 Peter 3:8-22). In our desire to help people comprehensively, we seek to apply God’s Word to people’s lives amid both positive and negative social experiences. We encourage people to seek appropriate practical aid when their problems have a component that involves education, work life, finances, legal matters, criminality (either as a victim or a perpetrator), and other social matters.
- Guideline #4: Have a Candid Conversation, Mutually Determine Your Next Steps, Potentially Refer to Others in the Body of Christ, But Remain Part of a Team Approach
If we sense that a counselee’s need might be outside our “4C” competence, then we could share:
“The issue you’re wrestling with is very important and I want to be sure you have the best help possible. Though I’ve counseled for years, I’m not all that experienced in counseling people who struggle with cutting. I know a biblical counselor within driving distance who has done so much work in this area that they’ve literally ‘written the book on it.’ Let’s talk about whether I’m the best person to provide primary care for you, or whether this other counselor might be a better fit. If so, I could come along side and provide support…”
Ideally, you could still participate in the counseling as an advocate, or counselor-in-training, or eventually as a co-counselor. If not, the counselee could sign a release of information so you are kept informed by the other biblical counselor. And you can meet informally for one-another ministry, encouragement, and discipleship as adjunctive help.
- Guidelines #5: Potentially Decide to Be the Primary Care-Giver, but Become Further Equipped and Be Supervised
There are other times when you and your counselee might have a candid conversation about your competency to counsel them, and you mutually decide that you will be their primary counselor. As always, there is a team approach, and now you add even more avenues for support for them and avenues of equipping and supervision for you. For instance:
- You counsel them under supervision from a more experienced biblical counselor—who reads your case notes, listens to your recorded counseling sessions, and provides ongoing mentoring.
- You do extensive research and study—exploring the Bible’s teaching on the issue, reading biblical counseling books on the subject, and reading descriptive research on the subject.
- You attend specialized seminars, courses, and conferences to obtain further training.
- You learn from and together with your counselee. Early in my counseling ministry, a man asked for help dealing with past sexual abuse. I had my Master’s degree. I had specialized course work in sexual abuse counseling. But I had not counseled anyone who had been sexually abused. He still wanted me to counsel him. I asked him to teach me, to help me to understand his heart, his suffering, his hurts, his walk with Christ.
It’s All About Humility…
It’s all about humility. The Word is sufficient. We are incompetent in ourselves. Any competency comes from Christ. Counseling competency requires ongoing “4C” growth. Even the most competent counselor must depend upon the comprehensive resources of the body of Christ.
Assessing Our One-Another Ministry and Biblical Counseling
- As one-another ministers and biblical counselors, do we understand that while the Scriptures are sufficient for every soul issue, no individual counselor is competent for every soul issue?
- As one-another ministers and biblical counselors, are we committed to ongoing “4C” growth in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?
- As one-another ministers and biblical counselors, do we insist upon a comprehensive body of Christ team approach where we humbly acknowledge our need for Christ and the body of Christ?
- As one-another ministers and biblical counselors, are we humbly willing to refer to other more experienced biblical counselors? Are we humbly willing to receive additional biblical supervision and equipping?
Additional Self-Assessment Questions
For 40 Biblical Counselor Self-Assessment Questions from Consider Your Counsel, visit here.
