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8/12/2019 1989 Issue 1 - The Attack on Biblical Counseling - Counsel of Chalcedon
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The
ttack on
iblical Counseling
by James A.
Jones
I could not believe my ears. A well
known member
of
the presbytery
of
which I was then a part stood and
pleaded with
us
to not become involved
in counseling members of our congrega
tions Then another stood and echoed
those sentiments. And, the members of
the presbytery nodded in agreement.
0 course, the reason they did
so was
that four pastors in as many years had
to be disciplined for sins of adultery and
wife abuse. Three of those problems
arose due to "counseling situations
gone wrong." So the solution, we were
being told, was to stop or radically cut
back our counseling activities. Instead
of dealing with people's problems
we
were to refer them to "professionals"
who knew how to handle those matters.
Before I go any further let
me state
that there are some legitimate, Biblical
issue raised here. Yes, there are tempta
tions involved in counseling.
t
is true
that i f certain situations are not handled
properly sin can result. But is referral to
a "professional" the answer?
I do not believe so. n fact, I believe
that counseling is a Biblical require
ment for teaching elders.
In the Book of acts the Apostle Paul
states that his ministry was one of pub
lic and private counseling.
He
mentions
in Acts 20:20 how he taught the Ephe
sians both publicly and from house to
house. Then he reminds the elders how
his three-year ministry could be
characterized: "Therefore watch, and
remember that for three years I did not
cease to warn everyone night and day
with tears" (Acts 20:31, NKJV .
The verb translated in the New King
James Version
as
"warn" is, in the
Greek, "noutheton," the word from
which Jay Adams coins the term
"nouthetic counseling." This word
carries the connotation of
lovingly con-
Jim Jones is pastor of the Dick
enson First Presbvterian Church
(PCA) in Haysi, Virginia.
fronting someone with the
claims
of
the Bible while seeking to bring about
change in that person's life for his own
good and the glory of God It is often
translated "warn" or "admonish."
It
does
not mean "beating someone over the
head with a Bible" as various critics
of
nouthetic counseling often misrepresent
it. Paul says that he counseled "with
tears." His love for those who were hurt
ing is evident in his portrayal
of
his
emotions during those counseling ses
sions.
In Col. 1:28 Paul states that coun
seling is one
of
the tools
he
used in his
ministry: "Him we preach, warning [lit.
"counseling"] every man and teaching
every man in all wisdom, that we may
present every man perfect in Christ
Jesus." n this passage Paul declares
that counseling is part of his plan to
bring believers
to
"perfection" (i.e.,
Christian maturity). Of course, he is
referring here to public counseling with
in the context of his preaching, but
from his example in Acts 20 we know
that he also engaged in private "house
to house" counseling as well.
Lest someone think that counseling
was only for the apostolic ministry,
Paul declares it to be for the whole
church
as
well: "Now I myself am
confident concerning you,
my
brethren
that you also are full of goodness, fllled
with all knowledge, able also
to
admonish
[lit.
"counsel"] one
anotheJ
(Rom. 15:14).
If
this passage means
anything, it means that mature Chris
tians, who have a knowledge of the
Word of God, are competent to counsel
others from those Scriptures.
Not
only is
it
a Scriptural require
ment for elders to counsel from the
Bible, but referral to a "professional"
can often mean that the counselee is
going to be given unbiblical advice.
I know, I know -- there are truly
Biblical counselors
out
there, and
we
can, and should, support them. But at
the present time they are few and far
between, and there are many who pass
themselves
off
as Biblical counselors
who are not. They may be Christians
themselves, but the counsel they give
is straight
out
of Sigmund Freud,
or
some other ungodly source. Just be
cause a person is a Christian and a
counselor does not mean that
he
will
give Christian counsel.
A case in point: I was chairman of a
presbytery commission which investi
gated a pastor for allegedly beating his
wife. We
determined that this was in
fact the case,
and
were advising him
from the Scriptures. At the same time
he
was seeing a "professional coun
selor" (a professing Christian). This
man called me one day to state that his
counselor had made a "breakthrough.;'
The counselor had told him, after hear
ing only the man's side
of
the story,
that, and here I quote, no man could
have put up with
what
you had to put
up with during the
past year and not
beat his wife" What ungodly counsel
This sinner was looking for justifica
tion for his sin, and there
he
found it
from a so-called Christian source. This
"professional" counselor's statement un
dercut all that the presbytery's commis
sion had been trying to do to get the
man to confess and repent of his sin.
What was wrong with the "profes
sional" counselor's statement? It was
totally unbiblical: Jesus Christ could
have put up with such alleged abuse
without sinning in return. And, ac
cording to 1 Cor. 10:13, the Christian
himself can
never
use the excuse that he
is forced to sin. God always provides a
way out for the Christian so that he is
not forced to sin by the circumstances
around
him
In conclusion, let me say that though
Biblical counseling is time consuming,
and may place one in a situation where
he could be tempted to sin, sin
is
not
an inevitable result
of
counseling, and
to use that as an excuse to stop doing
what God requires of His ministers is to
bow to sin rather than to the Word of
God.
Should
we
ever refer people to others
for counsel? Sometimes. But let us
refer our members only to those coun
(Continued on page 22)
The Counsel of Chalcedon, January, 1989 Page 19
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8/12/2019 1989 Issue 1 - The Attack on Biblical Counseling - Counsel of Chalcedon
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of
Yahweh's sovereignty over those
who persecuted
his servant. It
is not
a
case
of
a
petty
vendetta waged against
Jeremiah's persecutors,
but
rather a
display
of
Yahweh's positive action
to
restrain the evildoers and
to
enable his
servant to
continue the task
to
which
Yahweh
had
called
him.
-Thompson
3. God's
words (vs. 16)
were
found in Jeremiah's mouth, .having
been
sovereignly placed there
by God
himself. Jeremiah did
not
question
them.
He
digested
and
proclaimed them,
and
in
his suffering, they became the
joy and
delight
of
his
heart
B.
(15:19-21)
Til
ANSWER OF
JEHOVAH
1. (15:19)
God
calls upon Jere
niiah
to
repent, a fter Jeremiah
had
been
calling
Judah to
repent.
The
bitterness
of
Jeremiah's experience
had
almost
closed
his mouth and
brought
him
close
to
abandoning his divine mission. God
calls
upon
him
to tum back
to
God
and to
renew
his trust
in him God
says:
i you utter what is precious
without uttering what is worthless, you
will be y spokesman. This is a re
buke for
questioning God's character.
2. (15:20-21)
God reafftrmS
his
promise to
Jeremiah th
at he
would
be
invincible
in
his divine calling.
a.
This
renewed promise moti
vated Jeremiah to
persevere in his mis
sion for years with renewed vigor.
b. 1lris
p r o ~
contrlns three
significant O.
T.
verbs of deliverance:
(1). save hosia), which word
stresses bringing
out of
those under op
pression into freedom.
(2). deliver hissil), which
word pictures
the
activity
of
someone
who
snatches
his
prey
from the grasp
of
a powerful captor.
(3).
redeem pada),which word
is
used in
reference to liberation
from
the possession
of
another
by the
giving
up
of
a ransom.
D
Biblical Counseling
Continued from page 19
selors whose
mes
sage and methods
are
consistent with the teachings
of
the
Bible.
Above
all, let us
who
believe
the
Bible
continue
to
counsel
from the
STUDIES IN BIBLICAL DOCTRINE
What
is Calvinism
or the Confession
of
Faith in Harmony
with the Bible and Common Sense
In
a series of dialogues between a Presbyterian
minister and a young convert
by William
D.
Smith, D.D.
DIALOGUE
XXll
Presbyterianism
of the
Reformers
Convert.-In
our
former conversa
tions I have not noticed, that among the
officers of the Presbyterian church,
you
said
anything respecting Deacons,
yet
they are frequently mentioned
in the
New
Testament;
and I fmd
, also, men
tion made of
them
in the Confession of
the
Waldenses.
They are
also,
I
believe,
in
most
Presbyterian churches that I
am
acquainted with.
Minister.--The office
of
Deacon is a
very important one,
and
should
be
found
in
every church, where circum
stances require and
admit
of it; still,
however,
it is
not an essential part of
Presbyterianism, that is, a church
may
exist,
and act
upon Presbyterian princi
ples,
in
which they are
not
found.
The
want
of
this office does
not
desrroy
its
Presbyterianism; whereas, a Presbyter
ian
church
cannot
exist without Elders.
Deacons existed
in the
synagogues, and
were
afterwards introduced
by the
apos
tles into the primitive church, as soon
as circumstances seemed to require it.
We
find
the
church
had
existed for some
time,
and
when the number of disci
ples was multiplied,;, circumstances
seemed
to
call
for the
ap
pointment
of
some,
whose
special business
it
should
be
to
attend
to the
temporal concerns
of
the church, especially to superintend
her
benevolent operations.--Acts 6. So in
every church
in
which this
part of
its
business requires much
of the
attention
Word of
God.
It is our
duty, and
God
will bless
us and our
counselees i f
we
are
faithful in performing that duty to
His glory.
of he minister and elders, i f he i r c u m ~
stances
at all admit of
it, they should
have Deacons
set over
the work, who
should be solemnly ordained by prayer
and the laying on
of
hands, in the same
way
that the other officers ~ ordained.
The
importance of the office to the
church you
can
easily perceive,
and it
shows in a very clear light the wisdom
of
the Great
Head of
the church,
in
arranging all things necessary to her
peace, comfort and prosperity. Hence,
we
find, that though the office
of
Deacon has
not
been uniformly found
in
all Presbyterian churches, yet
it
has
been generally contended for
by
those,
who
seek
entire conformity to the order
of
the primitive church.
Con.-Was Calvin the first of the
Reformers who sought to establish
Presbyterianism according to the order
of the
primitive church?
I
have thought,
that perhaps this gave rise
to
the idea,
that
he
originated it. f he was
the
first
of
the Reformers .
who
adopted it, the
more ignorant
might
conclude that
it
originated with him.
Min.--
The allegation that Presbyter
ianism originated with Calvin, has not
even that foundation. Ulric Zuingle, the
leader
of the Reformation
in
Switzer
land, who
lived
long before CalvQl, and
died before ever Calvin saw Geneva,
or
had
appeared among the prominent
Re-
formers, thus speaks on the subject of
Ruling Elders: The title of Presbyter,
or
Elder, as used
in
Scripture, is
not
[This article is reprinted,
by
p e r r n i s
sian,
from
the November,
1988
issue
of
The Presbyterian Witness]
0
P ~ e 2 2 ~
'l'he Counsel
of
Chalcedoti., January, 1989
