I just finished a 20+ page paper on the Sufficiency of Scripture as related to biblical counseling. WOW! Intensely wonderful! Now I am moving on to finish putting all my notes for my next paper into their final form - this one is on Repetance and remorse vs. Repentance and penance. Also intense! But in the midst of all this reflection, I was reminded quite vividly about why biblical counseling is so important to understand, not just for the biblical counselor, but for the local church, which is the primary place in which biblical counseling should be happening. Here are a couple of thought-provoking quotes:
"Our ecclesiastical theology has inadevertantly taught Christians that church is where I learn how to get to Heaven, but the psychologist's office is where I learn how to live right now." - Dr. John Street
"To deny a counseling ministry in the church is to deny the church to fulfill its purpose." - Steve McAlister
And so I remember again why am I doing this. Because God has called the Church to meet the needs of its people and to try and do so outside of the local body is to go beyond the bounds of Scripture. Let me clarify that I am not saying that believers don't minister outside the local body. However, that would be a different type of ministry as the only true counsel that can be given to an unbeliever is to call them to Christ in repentance. Teaching an unbeliever biblical concepts without a regenerate heart results in nothing more than moralism and behaviorism, neither of which will secure eternal life or freedom from the bonds of sin. For the true believer, there is no source of counsel other than that which is based on the Scriptures. The Word is wholly sufficient! If it was not, God would have provided another means of help. The reason this is so precious is because that means that I don't need an "expert" because I have the expert handbook right infront of me, accessible at all times!
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