e are not trying to be offensive, but it appears to us that the evangelical church in America has turned into a vast army of dedicated whiners -- so dedicated we are willing to pay another vast army to listen to us.
As with all movements that are not grounded on Scripture, the modern counseling revolution has been, and will continue to be, truly destructive. There are many objectionable things about it; in what follows I want to identify some of the more basic problems.
The first problem is that counseling has become a profession rather than a ministry. Now it is perfectly acceptable for a dentist, architect, doctor, or lawyer to charge for his time. But when someone has a spiritual problem, the solution is always efficacious grace. And the ministers of this grace must proclaim it to the needy without money and without price. To charge the spiritually hurting for listening to a message of grace is an abomination. (And if the message given is not the biblical message of grace, then that is a worse problem.)
Jesus was blunt about this sort of thing -- he who is a hireling and not the shepherd . . . does not care about the sheep (John 10: 12-13). It is of course true that ministers have to eat, and, if the ministry is a true one, the Bible is clear that the church should support them. But the church does this to enable ministers of grace to give themselves away, and the church should only support the kind of men who are willing to give themselves away.
There is a correlative problem associated with this sort of pastoral prostitution. When someone goes into business -- say, that of selling shoes -- one of his first tasks is to convince the buying public of their need for his product. In some cases, as with grocers, this is not a hard sell. But when the product is not an essential one, a shrewd businessman will seek to create a demand for his product. Given this quite natural tendency, it is no great mystery why the wellness-mongers have found that America has somehow sunk into a veritable swamp of codependency -- reliable figures place our current number of codependents at around 3 kabillion. And if we buy their book, or check into their treatment facility, they will help us to start draining the swamp (for a fee).
Another problem of pandemic proportions is the important matter of verifying the truth. The Bible teaches that every matter is to be established through two or three witnesses. A very high standard is set for those who would accuse anyone.
But in the world of counseling, no one has to prove anything. Suppose a woman comes in and tells her counselor that she was abused as a child. The first question in a pastor's mind should be, "Is this true?" In other words, he must make a decision about whether he is teaching a true victim of real abuse (the kind a policeman could tell you about), or whether he is talking to a liar, or perhaps someone who has spent too much time in the wrong section of a Christian bookstore.
I have done enough marriage counseling to know that the picture I get from one partner is not at all the entire picture -- even
if that one is trying to be honest. The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him (Prov. 18:17)
As with many counseling situations, it is extremely difficult to reconstruct an objective account of what happened thirty years ago. So instead of attempting this, many modern counselors simply accept at face value whatever story comes through their door. Instead of pastoral ministry, which seeks evenhandedness for all concerned (whether they are present or absent) and reconciliation between them when possible, we are seeing more and more professional service, which places the counselor in the position of an attorney. The difference is between a counselor who takes money from a client, and who then finds it very easy to represent the interests of that client, and a pastor, who is supported by the church in order that he may represent the interests of God, as represented in His Word.
As a result, how many counselors have tolerated, without a challenge of any kind, slander of individuals they have never met?
This mentality can even lead the counselor to tempt his client into such slander. The counselor seeks to break down the "denial" of "abuse" he knows must be there, and then when some horror story comes gushing out, he simply assumes it to be true. This foolish assumption is seen in counseling sessions all over the country. It is seen because the counselor is simply hearing what he already believed and assumed to be true.
This is not a denial that true abuse exists. But we should call it by its biblical names (which are sin and rebellion), and seek to establish the facts of the case through diligent application of biblical guidelines. And if the fact of such sin is established, then it should be followed by godly confrontation, which in turn will be followed either by repentance or church discipline. It should not be followed by everyone concerned and their cousin's dog getting into a support group (Wife-beaters Anonymous, Adult Grandchildren of Wife-beaters On Their Mother's Side Anonymous, etc.). I once saw in a major city (and I am not making this one up) a store front that was called something like the Center for the Empowerment of Deaf Alcoholics. A lot of this foolishness is simply abundant evidence that Americans have too much money and time on their hands.
The last point to make in this regard is that the counseling industry, as a spiritual lie, has been successful for no other reason than that the church has not been proclaiming the spiritual truth. If the cross of Jesus Christ does not save drunkards, liars, thieves, cheats, and philanderers, then the ministers of the gospel should go out and get a useful job down at Wendy's.
But some may object that the modern church does talk about Jesus and His love. Yes, but the church at large long ago gave up talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, His efficacious death, His conquering cross, and His glorious triumph over death, grave, and sin, as well as over our miserable and filthy little rag-tag band of self-justifying isms -- alcoholism, sexaholism, rageaholism, and can't-be-nice-to-my-wife-a-hol-ism.
Those who have seen their sin for what it is through the wonderful life-giving and effectual call of the Holy Spirit are truly
justified. They have begun the life-long task of
restraining and subduing forgiven sin. But for those who insist upon thinking of sin as a disease --
he who is filthy, let him be filthy still.
