Modern Biblical Counseling Is a Shrunken Version of Historical Pastoral Care

Timeless Truth for Our Changing Times

You’re reading Part 6 in an ongoing RPM Ministries blog mini-series on Timeless Truth for Our Changing Times: The Ancient Paths of Soul Care. In this series:

We’re examining ancient, historical Christian soul care to see what our 50-year-young modern nouthetic biblical counseling movement can learn from the ancient paths of 2,000 years of church history.

Here are links to our previous posts in this blog mini-series:

“Honey, I Shrunk the Pie!”

My title for today’s post is meant to provoke us to think. The title is not meant to make us quit being biblical counselors. The title is meant to expand our biblical/historical understanding of our one-another calling.

Here’s my biblical/historical premise, point-by-point:

Without realizing it, we are so integrated into our secular therapy culture and worldview that we turn every ministry encounter into counseling and talk therapy: Modern biblical counseling is a very small slice of the much larger category of the historical pastoral care pie. Historic pastoral care/counseling has always comprehensively engaged the whole body of Christ in helping the whole person in their whole life.

We’ve integrated the world’s talk therapy model into our modern biblical counseling movement: Like the frog in the slowly boiling kettle, we are so integrated into modern, individualized, formalized secular talk therapy culture that we fail to recognize how much we model our ministry after talk therapy.

Biblical counseling shrinks when we think like shrinks! We arbitrarily limit what we can do, and what we can focus on, in biblical counseling based upon individualized secular talk therapy with their 50-minute sessions and secular standards.

Historical pastoral care grows our vision as we think and act like the Good Shepherd: By examining the history of classic pastoral care, and by contrasting it with modern biblical counseling, our eyes open so we can jump out of the boiling cultural kettle and engage in more comprehensive church-based ministry.

Ancient Church History Versus Modern Biblical Counseling Practices

Let’s develop these premises further. Because our culture is awash in one-on-one talk therapy, when we, even as Christians, think of “pastoral care” we almost always think of “pastoral counseling.”

Our mindset is,

Pastoral care = pastoral counseling.

Pastoral care = talk therapy.

Equating pastoral care with pastoral counseling is a-historical. It was not until the 1920s when Anton Boisen developed the concept of “clinical pastoral training” that pastoral care “became” pastoral counseling. Boisen did this by integrating pastoral care and secular psychology.

The biblical mindset is:

Pastoral care = congregational care.

Prior to the modern secular era, pastoral care was not even just what the pastor did. Instead, pastoral care was congregational care.

Historically, and biblically, pastoral care involved the pastor overseeing and equipping the entire congregation to care for the whole person in their whole life situation (Ephesians 4:11-15; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

Pastors were never talk therapists; they were never primarily “biblical counselors.” They were overseers of equipping. Historically, pastoral care is not just what the pastor does; pastoral care is what the whole church provides to one another—pastoral care is “congregational care.

Think back to Acts 2:42-47 for the biblical history of pastoral care. The whole church ministered to the whole person—comprehensively meeting physical, social, spiritual needs. Acts 2 is simply reflective of all of the Book of Acts. Recently, I collated 31 passages (not verses, but passages) in Acts where God’s people ministered to the whole person.

Acts is simply reflective of the ministry of Jesus. I’ve collated 102 Gospel passages (618 Gospel verses) where Jesus ministered to the whole person.

Consider how our modern approach, using a modernistic mindset, has narrowed classic pastoral care.

Classic Pastoral Care: This is the ancient biblical model of comprehensive ministry where the whole congregation ministers to the whole congregation in their whole life. Instead of simply “giving counsel,” the church has always “given care” and “shared care.”
Modern Nouthetic Counseling: One person confronting another person to change (confrontation out of concern for change). This is one sliver of one slice of pie.
Modern Biblical Counseling: One person counseling another person who is a saint who suffers and sins. Though this expands the focus of counseling beyond confrontation, it still follows a modern model of talk therapy—a biblical counselor/therapist talks one-on-one in an office about problems. While fine; it is not equivalent to the broader ministry of pastoral care.

Biblical and Historical Realities

Let’s be clear on a few biblical/historical facts:

“Biblical counseling” is not a biblical term. “Biblical counseling” is not a church history term. “Biblical counseling” is a modern term invented just fifty years ago in response to secular talk therapy, secular psychology, secular psychiatry, and secular counseling.

We should not define or delimit ministry based upon the modern cultural term “biblical counseling.” We should never limit what a pastor or a Christian brother or sister in Christ should do or not do based upon the modern cultural term “biblical counseling.”

No Christian should have as their primary identity “biblical counselor.” We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9).

No pastor should take as their primary identity “biblical counselor.” We are pastors-shepherds-teachers-equippers (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

Some Personal Illustrations

What does it look like in real life and real ministry to follow the biblical/historical model of pastoral care? Here are a few ways I’ve tried to reflect this historical reality.

Congregational Discipleship Pastor: When I was a pastor, I never identified as a “biblical counselor.” As a “Sr. Pastor,” I didn’t even take on the title “Sr. Pastor.” I created the novel title, “Congregational Discipleship Pastor”—because my role was to minister with the elders to equip the entire congregation.

Equipping Pastor: When I was an associate pastor, I took on titles such as, “Equipping Pastor,” “Pastor of Discipleship and Counseling.” I never wanted to be viewed as a “Christian talk therapist.” I never wanted to limit my ministry to a 50-minute session of talk therapy.

MACCD: When I launched and led an MA program at Capital Bible Seminary, I wanted to name it, “MA in Discipleship.” But the administration did not like the abbreviation of “MAD”! They also, sadly but realistically, did not think that “discipleship sold.” So, we compromised, and named it, “MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship” (MACCD). At least I was able to keep “discipleship” as a core part of the name and made discipleship the core focus of the entire MA. Our goal was not to graduate “counselors.” Our goal was to graduate equippers—Christian leaders who could equip the whole congregation to minister to the whole person in their whole life situation.

“Steve and Alexis”: In my book, Equipping Biblical Counselors (the sub-title keeps to this focus on discipling the whole congregation—A Guide to Discipling Believers for One-Another Ministry), I start with a chapter called,“More Than Counseling: Catching God’s Vision for the Entire Church.” In that chapter, I share a story about “Steve and Alexis.” Rather than it being a story about me “counseling them” (which I did), it was a story about becoming a church that cares. I illustrated from our “average-size church of 275,” how the entire congregation came around Steve, Alexis, and their children. Ministering to them was less about “offering biblical counseling sessions,” and much more about a congregation saturated by the vision of every-member ministry and equipped to offer one-another ministry. And this one-another ministry was much more than just lay people doing lay biblical counseling; it was God’s people providing comprehensive care for this hurting family.

**Why This Is Relevant to Us Today: “Brothers and Sisters, We Are Not Professional Counselors!”**

This is relevant to us today because some people are using secular standards to set false, secular boundaries around what we should or should not do, say, or focus on as “biblical counselors.” Who cares what the man-made boundaries are for the man-made term “biblical counselor”?

If you are an LCPC (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor), then, yes, you must follow the world’s standards and state-based licensure standards about what you can and cannot do/say/focus on as an LCPC. But brothers and sisters, we are not professionals! We are not Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor.

We are a royal priesthood called to comprehensively care for one another with Christ’s care. Let’s not limit what we should or should not do in ministry based upon some idealized modern definition of “biblical counseling” that is a far cry from comprehensive historic pastoral care and counseling.

A Recent Online Conversation

A recent online conversation with a new Twitter/X friend, illustrates this issue. My friend argued that we must distinguish between “broader Christian care” and “narrower biblical counseling,” and that we must not blur the lines between them. He argued that biblical counseling focuses on the sanctification of the inner person, and that meeting physical needs, addressing symptoms, and caring for practical needs, while good, is beyond the boundaries of “biblical counseling.” He further stated that,

“If biblical counseling is fundamentally a ministry of the Word, then while it should be aware of the physical realities people face, its primary role is not to directly address those physical needs but to guide people in responding to them biblically. I worry that collapsing all forms of pastoral care into biblical counseling may unintentionally blur important distinctions. If counseling is aimed at heart-level transformation through the application of Scripture, then it must remain focused on that goal.”

In response, I proposed that:

Historical pastoral care and counseling went far beyond talk therapy. It was a ministry of reflecting the Living Word’s ministry to people—Christ’s comprehensive whole person ministry.

If the goal of sanctification is Christlikeness, and since Christ Himself made giving a cup of cold water to the least of these a mark of Christlike kingdom living, then comprehensive compassionate care for the whole person is not symptom relief, but Christlike care.

If we say that once we engage in practical care for others, that may be “ministry,” but it is no longer “biblical counseling,” then our definition of care and counseling is more like the world than like the Word. Ministry becomes “50 minutes of talk therapy.”

Our “biblical counseling ministry” is done as a pastor, shepherd, elder representing the church. Our “biblical counseling ministry” is done as a one-another minister representing the body of Christ. Historical pastoral care and counseling, and historical one-another ministry, never followed a secular model of talk therapy that limited us by only allowing us to talk, and not act. In facts, James 3:14-17 nouthetically confronts believers who simply speak words of peace, but do nothing to meet real needs.

When we’re talking as a representative of the body of Christ, marshalling the resources of the whole church to care for the whole person is exactly our calling. As soul physicians of embodied-souls, we need to look beyond a modern talk therapy model for defining what constitutes pastoral care and counseling. We need to define sanctification comprehensively as the Bible does—as Christlikeness, and Christ ministered to the whole person.

Some Biblical Reflections…and Corrections on Ephesians 4:11-16

Our secular talk therapy culture has so saturated our thinking that we even get Ephesians 4:15 wrong.

I know this may shock many of us, but Ephesians 4:15 is not about counseling. In fact, it isn’t even about “speaking the truth in love.”

In Ephesians 4:15, Paul uses the Greek word ἀληθεύω (alētheuō). It means to maintain the truth, to act truly or sincerely, to live with integrity. Rather than “speaking the truth in love,” it should be translated “living the truth in love,” or “truthing in love.” We are to embody truth in love. Galatians 4:16 uses the same word, and once again, it should be translated not by “telling you the truth,” but by “dealing truthfully.” “Have I become your enemy by dealing truthfully with you?”

What is Ephesians 4:11-16 about?

Ephesians 4:11-16 is about shepherd-equippers equipping the congregation to shepherd one another. God’s people, overseen by shepherd-equippers, live the truth in love so the whole body of Christ builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

Pastors don’t simply do the work of the ministry. Pastors equip the saints to do “the work of the ministry”/“works of service” (4:12). As the whole congregation is equipped for congregational care, then by embodying the truth in love we grow up in Christ as we build one another up in love as each part does its work (4:15-16).

Some Biblical Reflections…and Corrections on “One-Another Ministry”

Our secular talk therapy culture has so saturated our thinking that we even get “one-another ministry” wrong.

We’ve falsely made one-another ministry primarily about counseling one another. The Greek word ἀλλήλων (one another) is 100 times in 94 verses. One-third of the one another commands are about unity—getting along—how we relate to one another. One third are about loving one another. About 15% are about humility toward one another. Another 15% are miscellaneous ministries. About 4% are about speaking to one another (Eph. 4:25; 1 Thess. 4:18; Col. 3:16; Heb. 10:24) (and Col. 3:16 is actually not ἀλλήλων).

The vast majority of biblical usages of “one another” ministry are not about talk ministry at all. They are about action ministry, about relational ministry that goes beyond “talk therapy” and “biblical counseling” to comprehensive whole-person ministry.

The Bottom Line

Historical pastoral care teaches that biblical ministry is much more comprehensive than modern biblical counseling. When we are biblically and historically faithful, we do not limit our ministry to talking about the soul. When we do talk, we talk about the embodied-soul.

When we minister comprehensively, we talk and act. We don’t say, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but do nothing practical to meet people’s physical needs (James 3:16). Like Jesus, we comprehensively care for the whole person. Maybe instead of saying, “I’m offering you biblical counseling,” we say, “I’d like to share Christlike care,” and we go from there…