Romans
15:14 I
myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness,
complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
“Ministers of the gospel and other Christian workers
who have been called by God to help his people out of their distress, will be
encouraged to reassume their privileges and responsibilities… qualified
Christian counselors properly trained in the Scriptures are competent to
counsel – more competent than psychiatrists or anyone else.” (Pg.18)
When dealing
with the spiritual needs of people, the first question to ask: “Is the
fundamental problem of persons who come for personal counseling sickness or
sin?” (pg. 19) We live in a culture today that has distilled all human
suffering down to a medical solution. This Medical Model approach really
fosters personal helplessness, hopelessness and irresponsibility. This approach
says: “If a person’s problems in living are basically problems of disease and
sickness rather than problems of behavior, he has no hope unless there is
medicine or therapy which can be applied to his case. Since there is no medical
cure for people in such trouble, they move from despair to deeper despair.”
(pg.7)
Counseling is the work of the Holy Spirit and cannot
be effectively done without Him. Unsaved counselors do not know Him and ignore
His work in the counseling process. All holiness and change stems from His
activity in people’s lives. All the goals for growth (love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) God
declares to be the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit. It is futile to attempt to
generate these qualities apart from Him. By-passing the Spirit amounts to a
denial of human depravity and the affirmation of man’s innate goodness.
The Holy Spirit is the source of all genuine
personality changes. He ordinarily effects his character changes through the
means of grace. He uses the ministry of the Word, the sacraments, prayer and
the fellowship of God’s people as his principal means of change. He also works
in conjunction with the proper exercise of the gifts given to the counselor,
you.
Quotations from: Competent to Counsel, Jay E. Adams
