A Framework of Biblical Counseling: Part 1

Biblical Counseling: A Vision for the Church

For those who don’t know me, I come from a small town in the Texas Panhandle called Borger. I live in a smaller city outside of Borger named Fritch, which has about 1,800 residents as of 2023. Before 2013, I served in the military and completed two back-to-back tours overseas. When I exited the Army, I was diagnosed with PTSD, which I initially thought was not real until I began experiencing it. The nightmares, flashbacks, and triggers became all too real for me. After moving back home, I noticed no counseling ministries within the churches here. Most had never even heard of Biblical Counseling until I mentioned it. This marked the beginning of my journey with Biblical Counseling and my desire to help others find peace.

My journey began with my level 1 certification through ABC (Association of Biblical Counselors) and then moved on to seminary for the next 7 years of education. I am now pursuing my level 2 certification with ABC alongside a counseling ministry known as The Redeemer Care Network. During this time, I have revisited the level 1 certification guide and its vision for counseling ministry. In this series, I hope to build a vision for counseling ministry in small towns that have yet to see the importance of counseling in the church. In this first part of the series, I will begin laying out this vision by explaining why counseling in the church is needed.

Why Counseling in the Church

The main point of this section is to say that there are two methods of gospel teaching in the church: preaching the Word and counseling the Word. Both are essential if we seek to have gospel-saturated and healthy churches. But we are not here to look at preaching; we want to look at the personal ministry of the Word, also known as Biblical Counseling. In 1 Thess. 5:14 Paul speaks of a more one-on-one ministry where one believer, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can come alongside other believers in the more intimate details of their lives and “warn those who are idle, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” God is pleased when we faithfully seek to help and warn others through this personal ministry of the Word.

Another benefit of counseling in the church is that its elders and pastors can grow closer to the sheep they have been given to guard. When we think about counseling in the church, we begin to see how much our people are hurting from everyday issues. This enables us to grow closer to them by counseling them and understanding their pains and trauma in life. 1 Peter 5:1-3 reminds us to be shepherds of the flock we have been given. Therefore, we must know our flock well, and we accomplish this by having personal and sometimes challenging conversations that help us minister the Word to them. Counseling is a must for all elders and pastors in the church.

A third benefit, and there are many more, is that the sheep begin to grow and mature in the faith, able to discern truth from falsehood, especially in matters of suffering and hurt (Gal. 1:6-10; Heb. 5:11-14). We all need to grow and mature in our faith and the Word of God. Discernment is a critical factor in how we respond to issues in life. So, we must understand what is false and true and apply those truths to our lives to grow in godly living. This personal ministry of the Word, one-on-one soul care counseling, helps us grow as believers.

Where did Counseling Start?

So, if counseling is necessary in the church, it must be important to God and have originated with God. Genesis gives us some insight into what counseling should be within the church. After creating Adam and Eve, God gave an explicit command to not eat of the tree amid the garden, or else they would die (Gen. 2:16-17). We all know what happened after that: the serpent deceived Eve by questioning God and his clear command not to eat the fruit (Gen. 3). Adam and Eve followed in disobedience, and sin was ushered into the world. During all this, God asks particular questions about what happened and allows Adam and Eve to respond truthfully. God then responds with the truth of His words about what will occur due to their disobedience.

The same thing takes place in the personal ministry of the Word. God has given us a design for counseling. Therefore, counseling is rooted in God and his Word, for the ordering of our lives as a response to the sins in our lives. Even in Genesis 4, when dealing with Cain and Abel, God seeks to counsel by asking questions and responding in truth. From the garden onward, God has ordered the personal ministry of the Word around Himself for his glory and our good. 

The Mission of Counseling

If God has designed counseling to be the personal ministry of the Word within the local church, then God has purposefully intended counseling to be missional. At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus gave the disciples and us a mission to make disciples of the nations. This mission is accomplished through the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ the Wonderful Counselor (Isa. 9:6), and the institution of the church. Because of the accomplished work of Christ in his life and glorification, the church can go forward on this mission of making disciples through the very Word of God. We have everything we need to be successful disciple-makers in Christ and for Christ. 

Biblical counseling belongs in the church for the church. It is a means of being successful disciple-makers and helping one another through the trials and sufferings of this life. “If we want to make disciples of Jesus Christ, then we need to help people see, hear, know, love, and enjoy Jesus Christ through face-to-face conversation.” Jesus also reminds us in John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” The church’s mission in disciple-making is to help each other bear much fruit, proving ourselves to be disciples of Jesus Christ. But, we must have a means of doing so, and the personal ministry of the Word is one way we accomplish this mission.

Summary

I want to define biblical counseling and look into this series’s future segments. John Henderson provides a great definition in the Equipped to Counsel material from ABC: “Biblical counseling is the personal ministry of God’s Word. It is face-to-face gospel ministry. It is a fluid event and process where a follower of Jesus Christ offers loving direction and comfort to someone according to the truth and power of God’s Word under the ministry of the Holy Spirit.” God’s Word is powerful. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, it can be utilized by fellow believers to direct and guide other believers to the One who has paid the price for their sins and can provide all the love and comfort they could need for this life and the next.

In the future segments of this series of blogs, my goal is to provide an overview of the foundations of biblical counseling in the local church and how God’s Word relates to our suffering today. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s story of redemption provides sufficient knowledge and wisdom to comfort us in this life. Therefore, God’s Word is our primary source for authentic, gospel-saturated, mission-driven, personal one-another ministry. I hope you enjoy this series; it provides encouragement and wisdom as to why we need biblical counseling in the church.

For more information or to schedule counseling, please go to www.redeemercare.net or email rdawson28@outlook.com

Equipped to Counsel, pg. 32

Equipped to Counsel, pg. 38