Page 72 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

Church Traditions for a Christian Psychology

Good, bad and God. Our emotions are usual- Fearful people know God, but they see first
ly the most apparent feature of the soul. Our the masks of those who have hurt them.
moral choices can also be quite apparent, but Those who feel guilty might assume that God
I place them a little more out of sight because is like a mere human being who forgives be-
moral choices can hide at the level of our moti- grudgingly and with strings attached.
vations and can even be unknown to our selves. Those who hate others have pushed aside the
Even more than our emotions, our moral culpa- truth that God extends his love even to ene-
bility distinguishes us as humans. That is, ani- mies.
mals seem to demonstrate an emotional range, Those who always want more know God but
but only human beings set out on moral direc- believe the lie that there is satisfaction out-
tions that have eternal implications. Given this side of God.
doctrinal perspective, we cannot avoid the mo-
ral decisions of those we counsel. These features of the human heart indicate that
Deeper still - in the sense that it is least obvious the Apostle Paul’s great prayers in Ephesians
- is our connection to God. We are his and we 1:16-17 and Ephesians 3:14-19 are prayers that
know that (Rom.1:19-20). Our lives are lived address our deepest needs.
vis-à-vis God. We might push that truth asi-
de, and people can honestly claim to be athe- Some Clarifications about Biblical Counse-
ists, but the knowledge of God typically makes ling
itself known and is especially apparent during Eric Johnson in his book, Foundations of Soul
the challenges of life. For example, irreligious Care, placed biblical counseling near the center
soldiers might pray in foxholes. Schizophre- of the spectrum of Christian counseling pro-
nics are aware of guilt and their standing before fessionals. In the minds of most professionals,
God. Addicts know that they are worshippers, however, biblical counseling is summarized as
and what they worship is killing them. The only anti-psychology and pro-sin, which consigns it
hope is to find something bigger and better that to the fringes of the reactionary right.
can control them. One of my desires is that biblical counseling
would be judged fairly. So please allow me to
Our souls recognize God’s voice. We know amend some stereotypes. But first I will identify
love because he is love. We want justice be- one weakness in biblical counseling.
cause he is the righteous judge. We are drawn
to compassion and mercy because he is the My critique of biblical counseling. Biblical
compassionate and merciful God (Ex. 34:6). counseling certainly has its weaknesses. Of the
Our souls have the “work of the law” written many that come to mind, I will mention one:
on them (Rom. 2:15), and that law reflects some biblical counselors are unskilled and woo-
God’s character. We have a conscience that den. This can be said for practitioners of any
condemns the wrong and approves of the system, but I think biblical counseling is more
right. prone to having poor practitioners. Whereas
Our souls are never fully at rest until we rest DBT and other cognitive-behavioral methods
in him. can be systematized and laid out in steps that
Our souls are at their best when we love and can be replicated by most careful students, bi-
worship the triune God above all else and blical counseling is less mechanistic and more
follow his commands. organismic.
It starts with, “How are you today?”
If this God-wardness really is the center of life, Then we are left without a clear script. Rather,
one of the tasks of ministry is to unearth the we work to know the person and what is espe-
guiding mythology we have about God and cially important for that person, and then we
learn the true knowledge of God delivered to us bring an ancient text that can reinterpret, bring
in Christ and him crucified. meaning and hope, and mobilize love. Surely, in

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