The Big Idea: To understand the need for biblical counseling, we must honestly assess its assets and liabilities in order to see its proper relationship to the local church as the primary locus for change.

It is not PC (politically correct) for a trained Biblical counselor to admit that Biblical counseling has a built-in liability that sets itself up, in some cases, for failure. To be more specific I’m referring to the “professional” model of Biblical counseling where a counselor meets someone once a week or every two weeks in some official counseling context to work through a situational difficulty.

To clarify, I am not primarily referring to Biblical counseling that is contextualized in a local church where the whole church is engaged in the change process. However, I could be referring to a Biblical counseling ministry contextualized within a local church if the entire body of the church is not engaged in the change process.

If the counseling of the church is designated exclusively for trained people, then that ministry has built-into itself at least three potential liabilities:

1. Change may never happen during the actual counseling season with a counselee
2. The Biblical counselor may be tempted to sin during the counseling season if change does not take place
3. The counselee may also become frustrated if they do not see change during the counseling season

There are many counselors in graduate courses today being trained to counsel, and after they are trained, they go off into the big, hopeful world of Biblical counseling with the expectation they will see lives changed for the glory of God. And some lives are changed for the glory of God!

However, in some cases the Biblical counseling process faces challenges to its effectiveness. And even worse, during the process of counseling, the counselor can be tempted during this process just as much as the counselee can be tempted to resist change during the process.

There is something inherently wrong with the process when a struggling individual comes to a counselor for help and the counselor falls into sin through the process of helping. 

How does this happen? In such cases, soon after the counseling process begins, the counselor becomes perplexed at the resistance he/she gets from the individual being counseled. The call to repentance does not resonate within the heart of the person, and the counselor is tempted to ask the rhetorical question, “Why did you come here in the first place if you’re not going to change?”

And even worse, the counselor is tempted toward frustration because change is either absent or nearly imperceptible. The counselor is further tempted with impatience when the counselee doesn’t do his/her homework, is late to the appointment, and shows little gratitude for the counselor’s care. And as things continue to fly sideways down this discouraging path, the counselor begins to sin in different ways.

For example the counselor can become less faith-filled, less hopeful (unbelief) that the counselee can change. The counselor can become impatient or rude or harsh or unkind. The counselor can become cynical, suspicious or, even worse, gossip about this “stubborn, resistant counselee.” 

Here are a few questions that may expose some of these temptations:

• Have you felt yourself losing hope in the possibility of the counselee’s changing?
• Have you become impatient because of the counselee’s seeming lack of responsiveness?
• Have you ever spoken harshly to a counselee because the person seems unresponsive?
• Have you, through your frustration, shared details about your counselee to someone else?
• Have you felt self-righteousness (I’m better than you) during the counseling process?
• Have you ever sinned against a counselee while trying to serve them?
• Have you, based on your experience with this resistant person, questioned your ability to offer counsel?
• Have you ever become more focused on your strategies for change than focused on God’s power to bring change?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, its time to repent from self-focus and to refocus your mind on the only source of real change–God Himself. After examining your heart, examine the Biblical counseling model you are participating in. It may have some inherent liabilities that need to be addressed.

• Inherent Liabilities in Biblical Counseling – Part One
• Inherent Liabilities in Biblical Counseling – Part Two
• Inherent Liabilities in Biblical Counseling – Part Three
• Inherent Liabilities in Biblical Counseling – Part Four
• Inherent Liabilities in Biblical Counseling – Part Five
• Inherent Liabilities in Biblical Counseling – Part Six
• Inherent Liabilities in Biblical Counseling – Part Seven

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site