Competency in Counseling
Competency in Counseling
There is no shortage of advice-givers in today's society.
Actually, it seems no matter where you turn, you hear someone
giving advice or counsel on one issue or another. Frequently
it's hard to try and avoid those wanting to give advice. To
prove my point, simply express to others a dilemma you have, and
watch folks stumble over themselves to give their opinion. Some
counsel you hear is good, little is from a biblical worldview,
and much counsel is simply bad and ungodly. With that in mind,
who are capable to provide counsel or give advice? Are
Christians competent to counsel people with problems? What
actually constitutes competency? What are the qualifications for
a counselor?
Biblical counselors frequently quote Romans 15:14 to support the
position that Christians possess adequate ability (competency)
to counsel: "I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you
yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and
competent to instruct one another." Colossians 3:16 is
considered the comparable verse to Romans 15:14, "Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom,...." Continuing in Romans, Paul makes
the case for boldness: Romans 15:15, "I have written you quite
boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again,
because of the grace God gave me." Each of these verses contains
the necessary characteristics or prerequisites required of a
competent counselor. Counselors are to be, "full of goodness,"
"complete in knowledge," the word of Christ should dwell in them
richly, they should be full of wisdom, and they should speak
boldly.
First, counselors should be full of goodness. This is not
goodness that is natural within us, but is from the Spirit of
God whose fruit is goodness, Galatians 5:22. Being full of
goodness denotes an abundance of grace consisting of
benevolence, humaneness, and an understanding to fellow
Christians in the spirit of Galatians 6:1, "Brothers, if someone
is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him
gently." Second, counselors should be complete in knowledge.
This is spiritual knowledge relating to: 1. God, His nature and
perfections, His mind and will, 2. Christ and the work of
redemption, 3. The Holy Spirit and how He operates, 4. The
Gospel knowledge necessary to salvation. If a counselor is to
have an understanding of the biblical issues relating to human
nature and behavior, the study of the scriptures will be
fundamental to his or her qualifications and effectiveness. It
would be paradoxical for someone to say they counsel biblically,
yet lack the wherewithal or inclination to provide biblical
explanations to issues and problems. 2 Timothy 2:15, "Do your
best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word
of truth."
Third, the word of Christ should dwell richly in the counselor.
The counselor should understand the scriptures, especially those
which speak of Christ and testify of Him, teach pardon by His
blood, justification by faith, and salvation. He must know the
Bible thoroughly and how to use it practically. I would
seriously question the motives and presuppositions of a biblical
counselor who lacked the willingness or desire to study and
learn the doctrines central to the work of a true biblical
counselor. If a counselor believes "Thy word is a lamp unto my
feet, and a light unto my path," Psalm 119:105, how can that
truth be applied without having more than a Sunday school
knowledge and understanding of God's word? How can the counselor
provide the lamp and light if he doesn't know its whereabouts?
Richly implies he should not only possess the word, but it
should have a significant place in the counselor's life. The
counselor should be engaged in frequent reading, hearing, and
meditation on the word.
Next, the counselor should possess wisdom. James Strong defines
wisdom as "devout and proper prudence in relations with men
including the skill and discretion in imparting Christian
truth." The counselor must learn how to discover the facts about
the problems to which he must find biblical solutions. Psalm
111:10 states where one should start in obtaining wisdom, "The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his
precepts have good understanding." Finally, the counselor should
speak with boldness. He should reprove, advise, and exhort
without dread or fear. 2 Timothy 4:2, "Preach the Word; be
prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and
encourage--with great patience and careful instruction."
Having stated the biblical prerequisites for what constitutes a
competent counselor, what then constitutes an incompetent
counselor? One might assume it would be just the antithesis of
what I just stated. However, since all Christians possess the
key competent attributes in some degree (albeit many in
extremely small amounts), there is more to what constitutes
incompetency. The strength of biblical counseling begins with
its presuppositions. In other words, it accepts on faith that
God exists and the Bible is true, and understands the
implications of adhering to it.
What are some of the key presuppositions in biblical counseling?
To start, counseling issues are theological issues because our
life is lived before God. That is the exact opposite of
psychology's main presupposition of there is no God. If there is
one single difference that makes the two counseling models stand
out, it's the fact that one acknowledges God and the other does
not. Also, the heart drives behavior and all counseling issues
are heart issues. This establishes that all behavior is
righteous or unrighteous, not healthy or unhealthy; and
certainly not the psychological heresy "feelings are neither
good nor bad, they just exist."
Furthermore, one's view on the nature of man is critical in
understanding behavior and offering biblical solutions. If man
is depraved and his behavior is the result of sin, the biblical
counselor can offer solutions, hope, and a cure. If there is no
sin, reductionism becomes the presupposition and all behavior is
reduced to chemical imbalances, diseases or other ambiguous
impulses. Doctors David Tyler and Kurt Grady explore this
further in their book, "Deceptive Diagnosis: When Sin is Called
Sickness." Dr. Dr. Ed Bulkley comments from the forward of the
book are most appropriate: "The church has a growing tendency to
pathologize every form of spiritual discomfort..., instead of
seeking God's definitions and explanations of human behavior,
more and more pastors, elders, and congregations are accepting a
secular world-view which is based on humanistic psychology
rather than the Bible. The result is an increasingly weakened
Church, no longer certain of its message, mission and calling."