From Jethro to Barnabas…

Biblical Gospel Tips of Grace for Counselees Christian Growth

(Using the word D.E.C.E.M.B.E.R. as a Mnemonic device for Memory Retention)  

Doxology and Worship

The straightforward but magnificent call, “Let us worship God” might just be the most under-utilized form of helping those with mental disorders. Even though the Bible is very clear on the benefits of worship for our mental health. The Psalms bear eloquent evidence that going into the house of God does wonders for turning mental disorders into mental stability (Psalm 42:5). For instance, the book of Daniel reminds us that King Nebuchadnezzar, at least, suffered mental disorder because of unmitigated pride that dishonored God’s glory (4:28-33). What was the cure? The king testified (4:34), “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.”  This is not an isolated episode because Asaph is Psalm 73:16-17 testified, “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their finally destiny.” How was it oppressive to him? He answers in Psalm 73:21-22, “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.” (emphasis mine) The cure for this mental distress was coming into the House of God to learn from God (Psalm 73:23-28).          

Although there is no recorded modern case study that shows the healing effects of exalting God in worship (Psalm 92:8, 99:5) on the person suffering from mental problems, the Bible is abundantly clear that keeping away from idols (1 John 5:21) and coming near (James 4:7-9) to the one true God is incredibly beneficial for the human mind and the human condition (James 4:2, 10). Jay Adams captures this truth well when he wrote:

                        In counseling, it is important to explain and emphasize adoration.

                        Counselees typically are oriented toward the solutions to their

                        problems, and they tend to forget the One Who brings those

                        solutions. Self-centeredness is one common underlying cause

                        of counselee problems . . . As the spirit of adoration grows, the

                        counselee’s ability to handle life in the right attitude grows too.

                        One cannot spend time in loving adoration of God without

                        experiencing the many good effects that accompany adoration.

 

Adoration of our awesome God is the antidote to all aloneness, apathy and arrogance.    

Evangelism

            Romans1:16says it best that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Biblical counseling shortchanges the process when it forgets that its first duty is to share the Gospel and that nothing can be truly accomplished without Christ. Where there is no Gospel proclamation there will be diminished episodes of God’s power in people’s lives. Christ Jesus came to rescue sinners; therefore, we can do no less as biblical counselors.

Church Fellowship

It is in when the church is gathered together in the Risen Lord where the most powerful healing can take place for the glory of God and the good of others. The Christian church can help those with problems by welcoming them into their fellowship, providing bible-based support groups, and teaching people that taking their medicine is not only a good health practice but also a biblical means of assistance (2 Kings 20:7, Proverbs 31: 6-7:, 1 Timothy 4:8, 5:23, Luke 10:34). The local Christian church can have an enormous impact on the life of a counselee by simply “speaking the truth in love” in an encouraging manner (Ephesians4: 15).

Expository Preaching

            Nothing can substitute for acquiring good mental health and a strong spiritual disposition than a Christian submitting to the regular expository preaching of the Word of God. As John Calvin has opined, “God has ordained his Word as the instrument by which Jesus Christ, with all His graces, is dispensed to us.”

Meditation on the Word of God

            The biblical counselor should be confident in the infallible power of the word of God (Isaiah 55:10-11) on making a huge impact in the lives of people—even those with mental health issues or worse (Mark 5:15). The book, The Healthy Christian Life from the Minirth-Meier Clinic, makes the point that “One of the most powerful tools available to help maintain a healthy Christian life is Scripture memory, especially when combined with Scripture meditation.” There are research studies that suggest that more involvement in the Bible leads to better mental health. In the book, The Healthy Christian Life, professional Christian counselors apply Bible verses to people who are suffering from: Schizophrenic disorders, Paranoid Disorders, Dissociative Disorders, Narcissistic Personality and the Sociopath. In fact, the final chapter of their book is called Handling Mental, Emotional and Behavior Disorders where they provide Bible studies specifically designed for people suffering from mental disorders. These clinical counselors developed these Bible studies because they have discovered how healing these particular Scriptural passages have been to clients in the past who were suffering from mental issues.

The fact that Bible meditation can help those with mental disorders does not surprise the biblical counselor because we are aware of the great promises contained in Psalm 19 and 119. For example, biblical counselor Wayne Mack helps people with mental disorders become God-centered in their thinking instead of man-centered as he says, “Helping people to develop a right concept of God and true God-centeredness in their lives is very important.”  In fact, helping people get a right perspective of God and a correct evaluation of themselves is critical for good mental health. In Romans 12:3 Paul uses a play on words to indicate how important it is to have a proper faith-based mindset for the Christian. The famed Greek professors A.T. Robertson exegetes this verse with these telling words, “Self-conceit is here treated as a species of insanity.” Jacob Firet, Professor of Practical Theology at the Free University of Amsterdam makes this most encouraging statement, “The word of God is not just a vibration in the air: it breaks into a situation and creates a new one (Jeremiah 23:29) . . . When a person has heard a word and gained new understanding, however trivial, that person is no longer exactly the same as before . . . The word has power to clarify, by which understanding arises; and the power to influence, by which change occurs.”

Biblical Sacraments

            The Holy Spirit designed baptism to adopt a believer of Christ into the family of God. Once you are in the Christian family you are entitled to all the fullness of Christ and all of His treasures (Colossians 2:2-3, 9-10). One of those treasures is the Lord’s Table (i.e., the Eucharist, Holy Communion, Breaking of Bread), which proclaims the Lord’s death on the cross until He comes in power and glory (1 Corinthians11:23-26). Even so, until His Second Coming this holy banquet hosted by the Son of God reminds us to taste and see that the Lord is good—strengthening us to handle every struggle upon this earth.

Empowered Service for God’s glory

            Dr. Jay Adams, based on James 1:25, makes this bold and correct claim, “The blessing comes in the doing, not before. That means that a counselee may not be allowed to plead, ‘I’ll do what God requires when He sends me the wisdom or strength.’ Instead, he must do as the Scriptures say and trust God to provide what is needed whenever He wishes.” This truth has been demonstrated many times within my counseling experience. If the counselee adopts a passive attitude toward their discipleship then the results will be anemic but when they implement the principles of Scripture then the power of God is realized in their lives. 

Reformed Protestant Theology

The sufficiency of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to heal today, as expounded by the Reformed Protestant Theology, is as amazing today as it was in the New Testament. The Spirit of Christ through the Word of God still transfigures sinful minds into the image of the Creator. In Matthew 4:23-24 we read:

                        Jesus went throughoutGalilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching

                        the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness

                        among the people. News about him spread all overSyria, and people

                        brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering

                        severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the

                        paralyzed, and he healed them.

 

The Puritan Matthew Henry exposited these words with this heavenly observation of the all-sufficiency of Jesus our Lord:

Wherever Christ went, he confirmed his Divine mission by miracles, which were emblems of the healing power of his doctrine, and the influences of the Spirit which accompanied it. We do not now find the Savior’s miraculous healing power in our bodies; but if we are cured by medicine, the praise is equally his. Three general words are here used. He healed every sickness or disease; none was too bad; none too hard, for Christ to heal with a word. Three diseases are named; the palsy, which is the greatest weakness of the body; lunacy, which is the greatest malady of the mind; and possession of the devil, which is the greatest misery and calamity of both; yet Christ healed all, and by thus curing bodily diseases, showed that his great errand into the world was to cure spiritual maladies. Sin is the sickness, disease, and torment of the soul: Christ came to take away sin, and so to heal the soul (emphasis mine).

 

Perhaps, the most impressive feature of Reformed Protestant theology in healing people with the Christ-sufficient salve is John Calvin’s presentation of the threefold office of Christ (Prophet, Priest and King). As Kim Riddlebarger in his essay on The Triple Cure: Jesus Christ— Our Prophet, Priest and King explains . . .             

Later Reformed theologians, such as Francis Turretin, introduce the threefold office of our Lord as the divinely revealed solution to the threefold disease of ignorance, guilt, and pollution described above. It is Christ, as prophet, priest, and king, who offers the threefold cure to our fatal disease. Turretin sets out the threefold office as the remedy for human sin as follows . . . The threefold misery of men introduced by sin-ignorance, guilt, and tyranny and bondage by sin-required this conjunction of a threefold office. Ignorance is healed by the prophetic; guilt by the priestly; the tyranny and corruption of sin by the kingly office. Prophetic light scatters the darkness of error; the merit of the Priest takes away guilt and procures reconciliation for us; the Power of the King removes the bondage of sin and death. The Prophet shows God to us; the Priest leads us to God; and the King joins us together and glorifies us with God. The Prophet enlightens the mind by the Spirit of illumination; the Priest by the Spirit of consolation tranquilizes the heart and conscience; the King by the Spirit of sanctification subdues rebellious affections. (emphasis mine)

 

Riddlebarger points out that Turretin’s conception “effectively captures the thrust of the biblical data concerning Christ’s person and work to rescue us from the horrible consequences of sin.” Indeed, it also captures the hope in the heart of those with self-defeating sinful behaviors who find their Savior in Jesus Christ our Lord. Riddlebarger expressed well the essence of Reformed theology with “As Calvin noted, the threefold office of Christ is certainly one of the best ways to explain our Lord’s redemptive work, which by design overcame our ignorance, our guilt, and our corruption, and which even now provides us with illumination, redemption, and hope in the present.” (emphasis mine) Therefore, the Christian church operating from the perspective of Reformed theology is equipped from God’s infallible Word to step up to Christ-centered biblical counseling services for those in their congregation and community. Jesus the almighty prophet can speak to all seeking a Divine Physician to help them in their distress (Hebrews 4:14-16). The loving kindness of Christ the High Priest can resolve knotted-up guilt issues in anyone no matter what their DSM-IV-TR diagnosis. Nothing that oppresses us here on earth—even mental problems—is beyond the power of the glorious King Jesus to conquer now and forever. Reformed theology teaches that everything is under the almighty sway and control of the Lord of heaven and earth. Knowing this and living with this truth in our hearts is the manifest key for victory that the Holy Scriptures give us. Nothing and no one is beyond the reach of the Almighty God’s all-encompassing plan. The healing power of God’s sovereignty is amazing; touching even those frail of mind—like us (Romans 8:5-11).  Soli Deo Gloria