I really do have to write this but not sure on which blog it would be most appropriate. The church is at a place and time where she doesn't really even see the need for counseling, yet, it is so necessary for Christians to be doing Biblical counseling.
We need Biblical counseling because humans are complex beings. Salvation is not as easy as just wanting to go to heaven and asking Jesus to forgive you for your sins, and then your good to go. We must first of all understand the big picture of everything. We know the Bible describes God as holy, perfect, loving, all-knowing, omni-present, eternal, judge, all-powerful, and many other things can describe Him. Man was created 'good' at the beginning of time, but with the temptation of the devil, Adam and Eve fell, and plunged mankind into a world of darkness. Human beings are now born spiritually dead and will live lives which will bear the fruit and behavior of sinful hearts. Now, human beings will have no desire whatsoever, to know God, or to care about spiritual things. The Enemy of our souls also is a big factor in keeping us in darkness because he lies continually, and when we believe those lies, we fall into a trap. We could fall into a trap that we cannot get out of.
People genuinely come to Christ with all their baggage and chains they have built for themselves. They need someone to help take all the baggage off and to help them become unchained. That is where Biblical counseling comes in. Working with people is not as easy as finding a formula to fix their problems with. If a person is a new believer and is left alone, the devil will most certainly feed him or her lies. The new believer doesn't have enough foundation in his or her life yet, to begin to tear down strongholds. Many new believers grow into old believers who have lived defeated Christian lives because they were never properly trained, nor were they discipled.
When a woman has a baby, she doesn't take the baby home and expect the baby to take care of himself. A baby has to be fed and trained. One day, he or she will be an adult and will have been taught how to function properly in life. The same is true spiritually. If we have the mentality that the only thing that matters in life is not going to hell after we die, we have missed the boat. God created us to worship Him alone. If we use God as a means to solve our problems or keep us out of hell, we are going to be defeated and deceived.
All of this ties in with Biblical counseling. You have to have some understanding of what is going on in the church today, and also the history of Biblical counseling. Until the mid 1800s, people were ministered to by the church. In other words, people were counseled by the church. But in the mid 1800s, either the church abdicated her responsibility in counseling, or, the secular society took over the area of counseling, and the church was indifferent to this action. Whatever the reason, Biblical counseling was now put into the secular realm and it was being redefined as a medical category. At first, it was given to those who practiced neurology. By the turn of the century, there was a new category formed called 'psychology', which was supposed to be the 'cure for people's souls'. Since God is the only One Who can cure people's souls, psychology was only a substitute for the real thing.
There was a lot of disagreement among psychologists, and they really could never come up with the absolute cure for people's souls. They shuffled things around a lot. The main psychologists (Freud, Rogers, et al) formed their own religions, even though they claimed that psychology was neutral. Freud was the pastor of his own church, which consisted of his patients whom he discipled. Others followed this example with their own religious bents, whatever those were. Mental hospitals were established and the pharmaceutical companies got on board. New organizations and professions were started. The church stood silent, until, the mid 1900s, when a man named Jay Adams saw what was going on. This man gave his life to bring back Biblical counseling to the church, and he fought a good fight. Others picked up the ball after him and ran with it.
Today, we are considered the third generation of Biblical counseling, and we still have a long way to go to get it right, for, one of the unfortunate things that have happened was, 'Christian' psychologists today want to bring in methods and thinking from secular society, and add Bible verses to it. Many trust in science as if science dictated everything that was or ever will be true. In other words, science has more power than Scriptures. Some would say that the Scriptures are outdated, now that new science methods have come along. Part of the problem with the science situation is simply that much of the research that comes up with supposed 'proven' facts is biased. For example, there was research done to determine if homosexuality is genetic or not. A flimsy test was given and the results were out; homosexuality is genetic. Now, we know if that were true, then God's word is false. Since God's word is true, this test result must be false. And it really was, for if homosexuality were truly genetic, then, identical twins would either be both straight, or both gay. Since that doesn't usually happen, we know that this test was not valid. Yet, those who want to defend homosexuality will insist that science is on their side. Plus, if homosexuality is genetic, then there must be an ancestor who was gay, and if he were gay, then he would most likely not have fathered children. The family line would have stopped long ago.
Today, sadly, we have Christian counselors who believe when culture and Scripture don't agree, then Scripture must bow to the culture. This is seen in the situation with Amy Grant, while she was having an affair. She went to a 'Christian' counselor and he or she recommended a divorce. The counselor believed that God created marriage so each one could enjoy the other to the fullest. If someone is not happy in the marriage, then it is best to get out of the marriage. Does this sound like good counsel? There is no where in the Scriptures where you will find this thinking. But again, this is a case where Scripture must bow to the culture, for, Scripture is outdated. God didn't realize that people were going to be having problems like the do today, in America. That is how far away we have gotten from reality.
We don't fear God today. We have made 'gods' in our image and likeness. We've made a god that is supposed to make us happy. Is it any wonder that the divorce rate in the church is so high?
We need to get back to the Bible. We need to get back to Biblical counseling. The church needs to bring back the Gospel, which is the heart of Biblical counseling. We can put a bandaid on people's problems, but only God can cure their souls. God wants the church to be equipped and ready to serve those who will come in, baggage and all. Are we ready to do intercessory work? Are we ready to love other people, even those who are ungrateful or ugly? Are we ready to become part of another person's life? Can we lay down our lives for others? Can we let go of our successes so that others can succeed?
If persecution comes to America, we will be getting ready quickly. Right now, life is too easy for us. We have so much from God, yet, we still live so much for our pleasure and relaxation. Can we get ready to take on one another's burdens? If we don't take the time to do it now, we will do it when things get hard. Which one is the better choice?
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