Lesson 1

Introduction to Biblical Counseling

What is counseling?

The dictionary defines “counsel” as:

• The act of exchanging opinions and ideas; consultation.
• Advice or guidance, especially as solicited from a knowledgeable person.
• A plan of action.
• Synonyms include advice, direction, guidance, consultation, recommendation.

There are many definitions given from various sources for the process of counseling. A few of them include, counseling is something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action.

Counseling is “the process by which a professional counselor helps a person cope with mental or emotional distress and understand and solve personal problems.”–American Cancer Society

Counseling is “the application of mental health, psychological or human development principles, through cognitive, affective, behavioral or systematic intervention strategies, that address wellness, personal growth, or career development, as well as pathology.” –American Counseling Association

Do you see anything questionable about these above definitions?

A good working definition for our purposes is: “Counseling is a form of guidance in which a trained or knowledgeable person offers advice or education about specific life problems or issues of living.”

What are the various types of counseling?

There are several classical methods associated with the field of counseling. Most modern counselors find themselves using one of these or a combination of these. It is not our purpose to give exhaustive definitions of these methods but only to offer a brief summary of them for the purpose of comparison. A fuller understanding of these methods is discussed in The Christian Counselor’s Manualby Jay Adams.

There is the Rogerian method popularized by Carl Rogers.The Rogerian model is characterized by some of the following:

• It presupposes that man has truth within himself and through guided introspection can come to a solution.
• It usually avoids any direct advice, confrontation, and references to moral absolutes.
• The counselor’s primary function is to help the counselee unlock the inner secrets within and realize his or her inner potential. He does this my mirroring the patient’s thoughts and restating what has been said.

There is the Freudian method popularized by Sigmund Freud.The Freudian model is characterized by some of the following:

• It presupposes that man is basically a clean slate when he is born and that any problems he may have are due to the fact that he has been wrongly socialized by someone or something else (e.g. parents, environment).
• Most Freudians believe that guilt is an artificial and harmful activity that is the result of parental and societal mores.
• The primary method is to dig deep into the person’s soul (psyche) and past to try to analyze why they are the way they are. Balance is often achieved by being able to blame others or offer an excuse for one’s behavior.

There is the Skinnerian method popularized by B.F. Skinner.The Skinnerian model is characterized by some of the following:

• It presupposes that man is like any other animal and can be trained or behaviorally controlled by manipulating his environment or biology.
• The primary method is to employ various behavior modification techniques that include stimulus and response. It may include behavior modification by using various drug related treatments.

There is the biblical method popularized by Jesus and the Apostles. This, of course, is the method that we will be pursuing in this course about which we will give fuller definition and expression as we continue.

What is biblical counseling?

Biblical counseling is to be distinguished from other forms of counseling in several ways:

• Biblical counseling begins from the premise that man is created by God and did not evolve from lower life forms.
• Biblical counseling, therefore, sees man as the crown of God’s creation completely distinguished from the other animals, having a spirit, soul, and a body.
• Biblical counseling acknowledges that the God who created man understands man better than man understands himself.
• Biblical counseling accepts the fact that the God of the universe has an opinion about most of the issues that affect mankind.
• Biblical counseling acknowledges that the Bible is God’s word to man and represents His opinion relative to every area that it addresses.
• Biblical counseling assumes that God has given to man everything that man needs to make right decisions and solve all of life’s problems (II Pet. 1:2-4).

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. (II Pet. 1:2-7 NASB 1995)

Biblical counseling assumes that man will never be able to function properly unless he is in right relationship with God and His word.

Biblical counseling has been compromised in many ways.

• It has been compromised by the teaching of humanistic psychology that is taught in most institutions of learning.
• It has been compromised by educators who themselves have been trained in humanistic psychology and tend to see what they have been taught as being superior to religious teaching or insight.
• It has been compromised by the teaching of relative truth and situation ethics which see the Bible as an antiquated, religious relic.
• It has been compromised by evolutionary concepts that pervade many realms of society. These concepts include the ideas that…
  1. Man is inherently good.
  2. Man is a product of his environment.
  3. There is no absolute authority (God).
  4. Morality is relative and culturally developed.
• It has been compromised by Christian counselors that have blended biblical revelation with humanistic ideas.
• It has been compromised by the attempt to reclassify sinful behavior as diseases or disorders making it difficult to achieve biblical solutions.
• 1. Drunkenness becomes alcoholism.
  2. Fornication becomes “sexually active”.
  3. Homosexuality becomes “gay”.
  4. Thieves become kleptomaniacs.
  5. A variety of sinful behavior can be labeled emotional problems, co- dependency, personality disorder, dysfunctionality, etc.

It has been compromised by an exaltation of the process of counseling rather than the responsible actions of the one being counseled.

What I mean by that is that sometimes people see counseling as an unending discipline that puts most of the responsibility for a solution on the one doing the counseling rather than on the one being counseled. Some counselors foster this attitude because their livelihood depends on people never fully recovering.

This is where the term “counseling” often changes to “therapy.”

Therapy often implies that there is a process that might help if the process is continued on a continual basis, but no solution is guaranteed. Chemotherapy for cancer cannot guarantee success. Physiotherapy for restoring full motions cannot be guaranteed.

It is difficult to extend real hope to people when there is no guaranteed result. Hoping can become “wishing” or “wishful thinking.” The Bible offers real answers to real problems. The Bible has a solution for every need of man.

It has been compromised as pastors and church leaders are intimidated by professional counselors.

Pastors and church leaders are made to feel that they are ill-equipped to handle the modern problems of sexual abuse, abortion, repressed memories, and the like. Pastors are intimidated by terms and concepts that are not referenced in the Bible and can easily capitulate to the pressure placed upon them by trained professionals.

Pastors and church leaders are also intimidated when their solutions are called “simplistic” by those who love to complicate things. We are just as simplistic as Peter was on the day of Pentecost when he gave counsel to about 3000 people.

I like what Martin Luther once said. It went something like, “A poor uneducated man armed with the Bible is more equipped and more powerful than all of the university-trained doctors and lawyers without the Bible.”

I am not anti-education or pro-ignorance. I am saying that no problem that occurs in the lives of people is a surprise to God. His word addresses every condition of mankind.

What are the main reasons why people seek counseling?

“Counseling is the interaction of people at the need level of life sharing insights toward the solutions of real problems.” Charles H. Nichols

Counseling is sought in many different realms of life and living.

• Career Counseling
• Relationship Counseling
• Marriage Counseling
• Family Counseling
• Financial Counseling
• Grief Counseling
• Behavioral Counseling (Addictions, Anger, Worry, Fear)
• Crisis Counseling

Counseling is sought for many different reasons.

• The counselee simply needs advice about a decision.
• The counselee needs guidance concerning life goals.
• The counselee needs support through an emotional season.
• The counselee needs motivation for change.
• The counselee needs assistance in resolving conflict.
• The counselee needs to be free from bondage in an area.
• The counselee needs insight into the expression of gifts and ministries.
• The counselee needs to understand principles of cultivating and maintaining healthy friendship and relationships.
• The counselee needs instruction in some of the practical areas of life (marriage, child-rearing, finances, etc.).
• The counselee needs to deal with issues of bitterness and unforgiveness.
• The counselee needs help in sorting out their priorities.
• The counselee needs direction and inspiration relative to their personal spiritual growth.

The counseling process may be initiated by the presence of certain symptoms in the counselee(s).Some of these include depression, loneliness, bitterness, resentment, stress, guilt, relational conflict, fears, frustration, etc.

Where is the ministry of counseling found in the Bible?

There are not many times when the words “counsel or counseling” are found in the Bible. The closest Old Testament word that is most often translated “counsel” is the word yah-gatz. This word literally means “to advise.”

Jethro gave counsel to Moses (Ex. 18:19, 23).

Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, (Ex. 18:19 NASB 1995)

If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.” (Ex. 18:23 NASB 1995)

Ahithophel was a counselor to David and Absolom (II Sam. 16:23).

The advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one inquired of the word of God; so was all the advice of Ahithophel regarded by both David and Absalom. (II Sam. 16:23 NASB 1995)

God is the source of counsel (Ps. 16:7-8).

I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:7-8 NASB 1995)

He is the Wonderful Counselor (Is. 9:6; 11:1-4).

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Is. 9:6 NASB 1995)

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:1-4 NASB 1995)

Much of the time this word is used in a negative sense of wicked people taking counsel together to devise wicked schemes (Jer. 49:30).

“Run away, flee! Dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares the Lord;
“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you
And devised a scheme against you. (Jer. 49:30 NASB 1995)

The closest New Testament word that is most often translated “counsel” is the word sumbouleo. This word literally means “to give or take advice jointly.” It means “to recommend, deliberate or determine.”

Most of the time it is used in a negative sense of the opponents of Jesus taking counsel how they might destroy Him (Mt. 26:4).

and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. (Matt. 26:4 NASB 1995)

The primary positive use of this word reminds us that God does not need anyone’s counsel (Rom. 11:33-36).

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33-36 NASB 1995)

This is assuring, because it indicates that God has answers. He not only has answers, He has all of the answers (all knowledge and all wisdom belong to Him).

Notice how the Message Version states this passage:

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.

There are many words that are found in the Bible that enter into the counseling process.

Reprove (Elenko)

Definition: To convict, to expose, by conviction to bring to light, to admonish, to correct, to call to account, to show one his fault (demanding an explanation), to chasten, to punish.

This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, (Titus 1:13 NASB 1995)

Other references: Mt. 18:15; Luke 3:19; John 3:20; 8:9,46; 16:8; I Cor. 14:24;Eph. 5:11,13; I Tim. 5:20; II Tim. 3:16; Tit. 1:9,13; 2:15; Heb. 12:5; Jam. 2:9;Rev. 3:19

Rebuke (Epitimao)

Definition: To tax with a fault, rate, chide, reprove, censure severely

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (II Timothy 4:2 NASB 1995)

Other references: Mt. 12:16; 16:22; 17:18; Luke 9:55; 17:3; Jude 9

Admonish (Noutheteo)

Definition: To admonish, warn or exhort

But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, (I Thessalonians 5:12 NASB 1995)

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. (I Thessalonians 5:14 NASB 1995)

Other references: Acts 20:31; Rom. 15:14; I Cor. 4:14; 10:11; Eph. 6:4; Col. 1:28; 3:16; II Th. 3:15; Tit. 3:10

Correct (Epanorthosis)

Definition: To correct, to restore to an upright or right state, to raise up again, to reform, to restore, to reestablish

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17 NASB 1995)

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20 NASB 1995)

Judge (Krino)

Definition: To separate, put asunder, to select, to approve, to determine, decree, to judge, to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong, to rule, to govern, to preside over with power of giving judicial decisions.

For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. (I Corinthians 5:3 NASB 1995)

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. (I Corinthians 12-13 NASB 1995)

Other references: I Corinthians 6:2-31; 14:29