Page 67 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

Church Traditions for a Christian Psychology

and culture make me more parochial. In all this longer give ourselves to prostitutes or anyone
I still maintain that Scripture speaks universal- else that God himself has not given us in mar-
ly, and, if I cannot, the problem is mine and not riage (1 Cor. 6:12-20). When we understand
Scripture’s. the structure of Paul’s thought, his wisdom and
ethics are consistently linked to the life, death
Guiding Theology and resurrection of Jesus. Everything emanates
As Christians who work within the discipline from this relational center.
of counseling, whether applied or academic, This adds depth and attractiveness to moral
we believe that our theology gives shape to eve- persuasion. We do not live according to an im-
rything we do. Whether we are committed to personal code of laws. Instead, our life in Jesus
Dialectical Behavior Therapy or a model that is has much more in common with marriage. In
explicitly shaped by categories of Scripture, we this relationship we are joined to the one who
have our theological reasons. Furthermore, we loves us and we share in his fortunes. We re-
have priorities in our theology - some features spond by loving him and turning away from
of our theology are more important than others. those previous relationships that once held our
For example, I subscribe to a fairly traditional hopes and trust.
paedobaptist position, but it is not a priority in “Christ and him crucified” means that our
the theology that guides my counseling. Part of counseling should sound attractive and good.
our discourse within Christian psychology in-
cludes both identifying our guiding theology The world is personal. One of the fruits of this
and the most influential aspects of that theolo- grand unifying theory of Scripture is that our
gy. world is personal. We live before the personal
Here are some parts of my theological thinking God, and we live with and among other per-
that actively shape my life and practice. I will sons. By persons I mean that we have the ability
focus on only two theological categories: the to speak from our hearts, and the one who hears
centrality of Christ and him crucified, and the can take what we have said, be affected by it and
embodied soul. One is gleaned from the doc- respond to us.
trine of God, the other is from a doctrine of the
person. To be a Christian is to live one’s life not me-
rely in obedience to God, nor merely in de-
pendence on God, nor even merely for the
“Christ and Him Crucified” sake of God; it is to stand in conscious, reci-
The Apostle Paul is my favorite guide to Old Te- procal fellowship with God, to be identified
stament interpretation and the person and work with Him in thought and purpose and work,
of Jesus Christ, and he summed up his theory to receive from Him and give back to Him
and method in the person of Jesus Christ. “For in the ceaseless interplay of spiritual forces. 1
I resolved to know nothing while I was with
you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Back-and-forth, knowing and being known,
Cor. 2:2). If I understand Paul accurately, he is God speaks and we respond, we speak and he
not saying that every question has Jesus as the responds - this touches on the essence of our
answer, though Jesus really is the answer. He humanness and it is replicated in our everyday
is saying that his way of understanding all of relationships. As it has taken root in my coun-
Scripture, and, indeed, life itself, has been reo- seling, I have noticed that the process of grow-
riented by the death and resurrection of Jesus. th and change becomes more collaborative and
less formulaic. I am more affected by others. I
Ethics are joined to the cross. For example, se- am no longer an objective professional expert
xuality is no longer merely trying to say “no” who announces the diagnosis and prescribes a
to temptation. Instead, we have been bought at helpful course. Rather, I am a friend who is mo-
a very high price, we are now joined by faith to ved by what I hear and is willing to speak open-
Jesus, and we are united with him in his death 1 Geerhardus Vos, “Hebrews, the Epistle of the Diatheke,”
and resurrection. As members with him we no in Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, ed. by
R. Gaffin, Jr. (Phillipsburg: P & R, 1980), 186.

067