Yesterday I blogged about how an unguarded strength can be a double-weakness. Today I want to think about those thoughts as they apply to people I have known over the years who want to be professional counselors or be part of a church’s counseling ministry.

It is true that everyone should be counseling at some level. Actually I would rephrase this and say that everyone should be discipling at some level. Discipleship is a more accurate descriptor than counseling and in almost every case it is a word I prefer over the word counseling. Discipleship is greater than.

Regardless of how we got here it is true that the local church has a counseling community today. And all along there have been some good hearted people who desire to be part of that counseling community even though it is evident they do not have the gifting to disciple at that level. They have a good heart. They love people. They want to be part of the solution, but there overall gifting is not at the level that is required to analyze, discern and apply truthful solutions in a counseling context. And in some cases they do not have the social gifting to sustain a long-term counseling situation.

They are nice guys. They are caring. They are enjoyable to be around for the most part. They do have strengths. But their gifting is just not strong enough to sustain on-going and in-depth counseling. In many cases these caring people are people who have been through a lot of adversity and are doing somewhat okay. I’ve seen folks who have been through a divorce, for example, and are doing well today. They have a desire and a burden for helping the hurting and they see counseling as a means to help, but they do not have the gifting.

I remember a few years ago a very nice mechanic had a burden to counsel folks. Because he had been in and through difficulty he saw counseling as a means to help others in similar difficulty. Unfortunately he had objective limitations regarding his counseling ability.

I suggested to him that it would be better to spend Saturday afternoon under a truck in his garage with a troubled teen teaching him a skill. A skill that my friend could definitely teach and the teen would benefit for the rest of his life. Unfortunately my friend has spent the last ten years going through a lot of certification in order to be a counselor. Though he has the credentials, he is not a good counselor.

His desire to care (a strength) has blinded him to his limitations (weakness). He could be doing so much better using his strength in other venues.

Other articles in this series

• Case Study: Counselees and the Local Church
• Case Study: Are You NANC Certified?
• Should I Be NANC Certified?
• To Certify or Not to Certify: That is the Question for Counselors
• Counseling Solutions Training Program to Equip Counselors
• Desire and Burden Do Not Make a Biblical Counselor
• Inherent Liabilities with Biblical Counseling
• Counseling Today: Standing on Jay’s Shoulders, Pt. 1
• Counseling Today: Standing on Jay’s Shoulders, Pt. 2
• Can’t the Local Church Do This?
• Two Ways to Become a Better Counselor
• My Top Choices for Counselor Training
• Do I Need a License to Be a Christian Counselor

Coaching Tips to Find Out What You Should Do with Your Life

• Case Study: I don’t know what to do with my life!
• What do you want to be when you grow up? 1.0
• How to be what you want to be when you grow up, 2.0
• Desire and Burden Do Not Make a Biblical Counselor