Seminary Viewpoints

THE CHURCH IN BIBLICAL COUNSELING:

SCRIPTURE PROVIDES THE AUTHORITY – AND THE JURISDICTION

This Viewpoint blog post is a companion to the February 24 episode of the Theologically Speaking podcast featuring BJU Seminary professors Sam Horn and Stuart Scott.

Takeaways:

1. Individualism and experientialism have warped Christian counseling. The church’s authority to counsel derives from Christ and His commission to “teach (disciples) to observe” all that He has commanded us, which in turn points us to the Gospel and the Word of God as the basis for counseling.
2. Scripture across the Epistle to the Romans as well as in Galatians and James make clear that this counseling authority involves the whole church.
3. That authority is bounded by jurisdiction in the areas identified in 2 Timothy 3:16: Doctrine, reproof and correction (moral commands) and instruction in righteousness (ethical commands).

***

Stuart was once asked to contribute to a book on five different views of Christian counseling being compiled by the publishing arm of a major parachurch organization. Each author was to apply the approach he represented to a highly challenging case study.

The results, frankly, can best be described as appalling. Only Stuart’s contribution even mentioned sharing or applying the Gospel. Out of some 270 references to Scripture, more than 250 were in his section. And just as troubling: only Stuart’s “handling” of the case would have involved bringing in others from the church to surround the counselee with support and not just counsel but also model life application of the Word.

American Individualism and Experientialism Warp Christian Counseling

The root of the problem was raised by renowned New Testament scholar and our Seminary colleague, Dr. Andreas Köstenberger, at our recent CoRE Conference. He noted that we can see the “expressivistic individualism and experiential revisionism” in most Christian counseling.

What did he mean? In contrast to other cultures, Americans’ hyper-individualism often causes us to see our churches—and even ourselves—as autonomous local bodies with our own statements of faith, our own interpretations of particular aspects of doctrine and practice and our own approaches to “soul care.” And these individualistic approaches are too often informed and shaped by our own experience.

Matthew 28:18-20 underscores that our authority to counsel derives from Christ and from the complete authority that He has been given in heaven and on earth. We are told to teach others to observe all that Jesus has commanded us—to be doers of the Word, as James puts it.

This points us to the Word of God, not our own ideas, as the all-sufficient authority in informing both faith and practice, as expressed in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. Scripture is “God-breathed,” which supports its absolute authority, and is “profitable”—sufficient—not just for doctrine but also reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.

Biblical Counseling Belongs to the Church

The authority to teach, reprove and correct, according to God’s Word, is to be carried out in the church. Paul indicates in Romans 1 that his own sharing of the Gospel is for believers, a spiritual gift to strengthen them through the “obedience of faith.” Throughout the epistle, Paul makes clear that having faith is in fact obedience, and in chapters 12 to the end, makes clear that this obedience is lived out through the exercise of our gifts in love to other members of the church.

It’s a point reinforced by the “one anothers” throughout the New Testament: by one count, 100 of them in 94 verses of Scripture, but also, by specific references to church (“brothers”) involvement in correction and restoration:

• Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness….Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2)
• My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)

Jurisdiction: Boundaries on Authority

From these verses, one can glean that the church’s authority to counsel is also bound by jurisdiction. Author and 9Marks editor Jonathan Leeman defined authority as the “moral license to make decisions or give commands.” Every grant of authority has boundaries or limits as the Creator alone has absolute and comprehensive authority.

We can call those limits jurisdiction, and we can identify the church’s jurisdiction from the 2 Timothy 3 passage in three areas:

• Doctrine – what we believe:  As elders and pastors, we’re called to require people to theological fidelity and orthodoxy to clear truths that are taught boldly in Scripture, beginning with the foundational belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Pastors are not operating outside of their proper sphere of authority when they call on members to bring their beliefs in line with these clear teachings.

• Reproof and correction – moral commands: While there is some between morality and the third area, ethics, and even some theologians use the terms fairly interchangeably, morality can be best distinguished as relating to teaching of right and wrong. The Ten Commandments, for example, are clear presentations of “right” behavior – “honor thy father and mother” and “remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy” – versus the eight “thou shalt nots” proscribing wrong behavior.

• Instruction in righteousness—ethical commands: Ethics can be understood as the application of moral commands, of a clear understanding of right and wrong, to life practice. Rand Hummel, a friend of the Seminary and Director of the Wilds camp of New England, suggests that Ephesians 6:1 “obedience” to one’s mother and father involves obeying “sweetly and completely.” [SS1] Christ’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount relating to lust, anger and covetousness can be understood as ethical guidance in the application of the Mosaic law.

Again, churches are acting within their jurisdiction when pastors and elders look at the behavior of a Christian and inform that member that it doesn’t conform to the clear moral commands of Scripture and the resulting ethical expectations.

Pastors and counselors need to be careful that they are not acting beyond their jurisdiction, or delegation of authority, by elevating their preferences to the level of doctrinal, moral or ethical teachings from the Bible in working with members. In our recent podcast, Stuart relates a counseling situation where a husband and wife dealing with infidelity were in essence ordered by him and another pastor to attend church services together. The wife, not clearly trusting her husband, pushed back, and another elder rightly pointed out that she and her husband were both in keeping with Scriptural teaching in attending services. The notion that they had to attend together was a preference, not a clear Biblical command.

Resources:

1. Jonathan Leeman, 9Marks, “Authority: God’s Good and Dangerous Gift”
2. Sam Horn and Stuart Scott, Viewpoint and Theologically Speaking episode, “The Authority of Scripture: Giving God the Final Word”
3. Sam Horn and Stuart Scott, Viewpoint and Theologically Speaking episode, “Sufficiency: Everything We Need for Godliness”

 [SS1]I would be careful here to not confuse “Obey your parents” which is what a child does in submission to his parents and is temporary (until married or at legal age and no longer dependent on them) vs “honor” which carries the idea of respect them (but not the idea of obedience) . We honor our parents all our days but that does not imply obedience. I hope that makes sense.