Comments on: American Optimism v Scottish Skepticism

By: Alicia

Alicia — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:22:36 +0000

Seems like this teaching is of the utmost importance because as you have noted, all Christians informally counsel anyway if they are at all involved in the lives of anyone else. How amazing would it be if, especially for those weak unengaged in the rich gospel centered life of the church, Christians who likely are more comfortable and spend the bulk of their time associating with unbelievers, to have some training about what the gospel has to say about suffering. Not for them to feel like they had a couple classes and now are counselors, but to less say the wrong things, to be able to point people to the cross, to know when they are out of their depth in a complicated situation and know where to direct people for more expert help. Perhaps this book is encouraging a deeper sort of counseling(I just heard of BK and this website today through a video on christianity.com)but everyone has people in thier lives going through difficult situations who at the least desire proper comfort and at the most desire input on what they should do. Shouldn’t that comfort and counsel be as Godly as possible?

By: musicmomie

musicmomie — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:27:11 +0000

I can understand being skeptical but a mature congregation that is immersed in the word of God is “able to teach, fully equipped for every good work” according to 1 Tim 3:16-17. I think that the context speaks to church members who live in the midst of a perverse and deceitful generation such as ours. Also, throughout the Bible God promises that His word is a double edged sword that won’t return void. If God’s people are seeking to know him and applying his words to the counsel that they are offering their brothers in Christ – how can that fail to effect change? Of course sinful people will sometimes do things in their own strength and in doing so hurt one another but our sinful condition does not disqualify us from counseling each other the way God has commanded us to.

By: Foppe VanderZwaag

Foppe VanderZwaag — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:03:50 +0000

I agree with your concerns. They are real and true. However, it should remain our ideal to engage the whole congregation in the counseling process. I like to see the church as a family where the members help each other, realizing that at times we need and seek outside help. In the first place there’s the weekly general counseling of the congregation, the preached word, which can be more specifically applied in follow-up personal counseling. Not only by the pastor but also by every member involved, in sermon discussions and in weekly Bible studies, etc. Secondly, what I have in mind in engaging the entire congregation is not so much corrective but preventative counseling.

By: Bob Kellemen

Bob Kellemen — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:37:08 +0000

Thanks for the launch of the blog mini-series on Equipping Counselors for Your Church. I’m excited to read your follow-up posts. I appreciate your six areas of concern. They would make for a great week-long series of interactive posts on the BCC’s Grace & Truth blog site some day.