How Can Churches Equip Disciples to Make Disciples? Part 7: Developing Ministry Skills – Counseling

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I've been completely satisfied with who you are and what you are doing. You seem to me to be well-motivated and well-instructed, quite capable of guiding and advising one another. Romans 15:14 (MSG) 

All of us need periodic input from others in order to maintain an even keel in life. That is how God made us.

Most problems, including relational, financial, and marriage issues, can be solved by applying general life principles from the Bible.

In other words, the key to a happy and fulfilled life is following Christ’s teachings with the help of the Holy Spirit. For example, marriage problems usually arise when one or both partners violate Christ’s teachings. Marriages are always better when both spouses seriously seek to live as true disciples.

All followers of Christ who apply themselves to the study of God’s Word and listen to the Holy Spirit are able to guide and advise others who are open to their input.

All disciples are competent to counsel, to admonish, and to instruct at some level.

We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5  It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:4-5 (NLT) 

Some of better at it than others, but all can and should do it.

The most important counselors in the world are parents. They have the responsibility to disciple their children from birth forward to be fearers of God, followers of Christ, lovers of people, and responsible adults. During the child rearing process, parents must address and correct sinful and foolish behavior. They must teach the children the principles for holy and wise living. If we do a good job, our children will acquire practical skills that will help them be successful adults. Parents are able to use daily events and situations to instruct their offspring what it means to fear and serve the Lord and love and respect other people. No other counseling is so pervasive or important as parenting.

If we expect the average follower of Christ to be able to parent, surely we are also competent to counsel one another in most things.

The best counselors seek to guide the people with whom they work to learn how to go to God and the Bible for their answers. The goal of parenting is for children eventually to mature to the point where they do not need continual input from their parents. Because many people are lazy or insecure, they either do  not want to go to the trouble to seek the Lord and read the Bible for themselves or they do not have confidence in their ability to make sound judgments.

Rather than simply tell people what to do or not to do, if we are going to help them grow, we should ask them to first go to God for an answer, and then come to us.

We can then act as a sounding board for them. This way of doing things propels them into maturity and increases their confidence.

Just as a physician who is a good general practitioner knows when to refer a patient to a specialist, we must realize when people have problems that exceed our wisdom, experience, or faith level. For example, if a marriage is falling apart, the pastor or elders in a church should be consulted. If spouses are just struggling a bit, another believer or couple may be well able to handle it. If there are deeper and more serious mental, physical, or spiritual issues, It would be wise to consult church leadership. There is no shame in admitting we either do not know what to do or realize a particular situation is more properly another person’s domain. We certainly do not want to compound problems by trying to help when we do not really know how.

The more that average disciples are willing to accept the responsibility for inputting in to other disciples’ lives, the healthier will be the body of Christ.

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15  Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16  He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:14-16 (NLT)

Disciple making churches teach and equip their people to be competent counselors.

petebeck3

Pete Beck III has ministered in Burlington for over 34 years. He is married to Martha, with whom he has four children, ten beautiful grandchildren, and four amazing great grandchildren. He ministers locally and travels from LifeNet as a Bible teacher and minister. He has published two books - Seeing God's Smile and Promise of the Father - as well as a wide variety of Bible-related articles which he has compiled into books in PDF form. Currently he is working on a large Bible Teaching Manual.

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