Biblical Counseling: The Private Proclamation of the Word—and Responsibility of Every Pastor
This Viewpoint blog post is a companion to the March 3 episode of the Theologically Speaking podcast featuring BJU Seminary professors Sam Horn and Stuart Scott.
The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors’ defines biblical counseling as “the personal discipleship ministry of God’s people to others under the oversight of God’s church, dependent upon the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word through the work of the Holy Spirit.”
A simpler way of understanding biblical counseling is as the private proclamation of the Word of God.
The concept originates with the late biblical counseling leader David Powlison, who in Speaking the Truth in Love distinguished among three kinds of ministry:
- “The public means of grace—preaching, teaching, the Lord’s Supper, worship, and fellowship… (which) meet people in crowds.”
- “The private ministry of the Word of Truth” – our own prayer lives, study of Scripture and personal meditation and application.
- “Interpersonal ministry of the Word,” of which biblical counseling is one form, but in its broader sense involves many interactions in the church.
For our purposes, we’ll focus on the first and third, and under the “public means of grace” in particular on preaching and teaching—the public proclamation of the Word of God.
Public proclamation, usually well-scripted, applies the truth of the Word generally. No one is named, and no one’s specific struggles nor exact life situation are pointed out. The Minister doesn’t necessarily know all his hearers’ names, and they may not know him. Yet, all can (and should) still profit.
Interpersonal ministry—or private proclamation—applies truth to life situations of specific people, where pastors and others in ministry need to know not just names, but also the unique individual needs they must understand and address. Private proclamation is an improvisation involving give-and-take in which questions are asked, details are drawn out and listening combines with expressions of concern—all working toward the goal of speaking and applying the truth in love on a one-on-one basis.
Both are vital, and the pastor has the responsibility to lead the way in both—a truth illustrated in the Scriptures. Jesus engaged in public proclamation in his sermons, discourses and confrontations with religious leaders, but also extensive private ministry—for example: to His disciples, Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Paul spoke both in synagogues and other public forums as well as house-to-house.
Yet sometimes pastors can get in a rut of performing teaching or proclamation in group settings, such as men’s ministry, Sunday schools or other communal gatherings. But as Powlison expressed it, part and parcel of Great Commission “disciple-making” is also ensuring the truth of Scripture is applied to specific problems plaguing the lives of individual sheep.
As the saying goes, the shepherds need to smell like the sheep and not just apply the pastor’s knowledge and understanding of Scripture directly in the lives of believers. Also, if pastors remain at the proverbial 30,000 feet and never “land” where members are living, even the most extensive knowledge, preparation and study won’t prevent their public proclamation from being sterile.
That is to say: the public and private proclamation of the Word by a pastor don’t just feed the flock, they feed each other.
What are some key considerations in fulfilling this pastoral responsibility?
- Intentionality: Sam’s church benefits from an executive pastor who keeps before the elders that God has entrusted them both to ensure doctrinal fidelity and to care for members’ souls. A pastor friend of Stuart’s goes a step further: meetings include exercises of examining hypothetical scenarios, with elders providing input on applicable Scripture and potential questions.
- A submissive attitude towards God’s Word: As servant leaders, pastors must commit to following the Word of God in counseling—and observing the limits of the authority it grants—but also to be zealously growing in their own faith and private exercise of the disciplines of grace.
- Balance and focus: Pastors juggle many responsibilities in ministry and their personal lives—yet some go the opposite direction than limiting themselves to public proclamation; they believe they must take on every counseling challenge coming their way. Stuart’s own experience with other pastors—and Powlison’s recommendation—is that pastors should focus on counseling two individuals or couples at a time.
- Humility: It often seems that counseling challenges presented to pastors are more complicated than ever. And some pastors may find themselves facing the very same problems as counselees, such as anxiety or depression, which can lead to ministers feeling out of their depth or unqualified.
The three-fold response:
a) remembering that Scripture is indeed sufficient to address every human problem and need
b) “running just ahead” in learning how to address our own problems and then applying that learning and/or experience to the counselee and
c) having humility enough to recognize when we need support from others whose own experience or specialized knowledge can help apply the appropriate Scripture.
- Involving the church: The key to balance and humility is involving the entire church in counseling ministry—as they are to be involved across the Great Commission “disciple-making” of which it is a vital part.
Pastors should avoid the temptation to “outsource” complex issues to professional counselors outside the church. In Romans 15:14 (ESV), Paul declares himself “satisfied” that the brethren are “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.” Expertise exists—and can be developed—within the church to help take on even complex counseling challenges. Pastors can, as appropriate, have members sit in and learn from them how to apply Scripture to members’ needs, and training resources exist in the biblical counseling community to deepen that preparation.
ACBC has 90 Certified Training Centers that provide quality training leading to certification, and they also conduct events in churches to provide instruction from the Scriptures to church leaders and members interested in counseling ministry.
Resources
- Contact Dr. Scott directly via [email protected] to receive advice on and be directed to ACBC training resources.
- Contact an ACBC Certified Training Center
- David Powlison, Speaking the Truth in Love(the link is to Amazon, but the book is also available via various used book sites)
