There are ministries within local churches that are automatic in the sense that it would seem weird not to have them: men’s ministry, women’s ministry, kids ministry, just to name a few. Where there may be a blind spot for many churches, and it’s my prayer and hope is that this blind spot diminishes, is not having a biblical counseling ministry. I realize that there may be logistical obstacles to having one, and I’m not calling for churches to implement a full-blown 20-person team dedicated to a counseling ministry, but at the very least ask the question as to why there isn’t one.
What It Looks Like
Biblical counseling should be a natural ministry of the church where believers are regularly speaking God’s truth into each other’s lives. Counseling does not necessarily have to happen between a counselor and a counselee in a church office, but can and should happen between believers in the Body of Christ. The Bible gives a whole host of commands of how Christians in fellowship with each other should accomplish this: admonish one another (Romans 15:14), confess sins and pray for one another (James 5:16), be at peace with each other (Mark 9:50), being devoted to one another (Romans 12:10), building up of one another (Romans 14:19), serve one another (Galatians 5:13), bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13) and love one another (1 John 3:11).
Noutheteo Needed
The Greek word “noutheteo” means to admonish or instruct, and is derived from the Greek words “nous” (“mind”) and “tithemi” (“place”). The job of the nouthetic counselor is to place in the mind of a counselee the truth of God’s Word with a goal to conform the counselee to the image of Christ and biblically work through his sin or problem. In short, “nouthetic counseling is confrontation that is done out of concern for the purposes of changing something God wants to change.”1 With confrontation comes addressing the sin or problem directly with the counselee such as Nathan confronted David. With concern comes compassion and love for the counselee. With change comes wanting to see the counselee more conformed to the image of Christ and addressing problems in a biblical way. Confrontation, concern and change are the key ingredients for nouthetic counseling and should be woven into a counselor’s approach to each counseling case.
Counselors Needed
While believers in the church should be following the Scriptural commands listed above with one another, the church should also be building up a cadre of nouthetic counselors trained explicitly for this ministry. Counselors should be members of a local church, and under the leadership of that local church, they would disciple the local body in an effort to see the counselees grow in Christlikeness, to give hope to struggling believers and to bring about restoration. Additionally, they would be responsible for bringing forth cases to church leaders of any unrepentant counselees as well as involved in church discipline, if it came to that point. David Powlison writes, “The Bible calls for human counselors to be frank, loving, humble about their own failings, and change-oriented. They are to be servants of the Holy Spirit’s agenda, not autonomous professionals or gurus.”2
While believers in the church should be following the Scriptural commands listed above with one another, the church should also be building up a cadre of nouthetic counselors trained explicitly for this ministry.
A Ministry Needed
While biblical counseling isn’t the only ministry in the church, it plays a vital role in caring for and admonishing the believing body. It is a ministry every church should strive to have as a resource for Christians. For as long as sin still presides in the flesh, Christians will struggle with it and will need every weapon available to continually be killing sin. Along with preaching, worship and the rest of the body keeping each other accountable, biblical counseling as provided by the church offers a biblical picture of how believers are to be cared for, taught and nourished in their daily walk to follow Christ. And churches have that responsibility to provide what the Bible teaches.
1. Powlison, David. “Chapter 2: Biblical Counseling in Recent Times.” Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically. By John MacArthur and Wayne A. Mack. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005. 23. Print.
2. Ibid.
Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash
