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WHY BIBLICAL COUNSELING?

Writer's picture: Samuel BoppuriSamuel Boppuri

Updated: Dec 20, 2024


3 people praying over a bible at sunset

Is “biblical counseling” a Western concept? Is the church taking its cues from the secular world? Is there a place for counseling in local churches? Should pastors add it to their already jam-packed schedules? Should believers be equipped to counsel others? In its original context, One must wrestle with these questions about the biblical counseling movement. I want to discuss why counseling is crucial in the Body of Christ in this article. I


A Cursed World

If Adam had never sinned, there would have been no need for counseling. However, the first few pages in the first book of the Bible confront us with the reality of sin, death, curse, shame, guilt, thistles, thorns, sweat, and blood. Before we realize, “Why did God do this or that?”, the pangs of sin have already set in. Adam and Eve witness the wicked cruelty of Cain’s anger when he murders his own brother, Abel. Flip a few pages, there is Lamech, who comes across as a serial killer. Genesis 6:5 records that the hearts of the human race have become a cesspool of continuous evil. As we progress through the following chapters and books, we cannot but see the wickedness of human sin spreading and engulfing the earth like a mighty sea! The world in which we live is a messy one.


Christ Builds His Church

It is in this sin-infested world that Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” It is against the utter brutality of sin and the devil that the Prince of Peace wages war and secures victory for the Church, His Bride. Interestingly, Christ promises victory to the Church not by removing it from the battlefield, but by taking it right through it. Christ builds His church mainly through the proclamation of the gospel, preaching, prayer (public and private), baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. A lot can be said here. But for the sake of brevity, let us stick with the basic things.


Counseling in Local Churches

To understand the role of counseling in the church, we need to understand the broader picture of what the elders are called to do. God gives elders to the church, and their main task is to equip the church to grow and mature in the knowledge of Christ and reflect Him in its life (Eph 4:11-16). The elders’ ministry in the local church can be divided into: 1) preaching; 2) shepherding. In the context of shepherding and discipleship, “biblical counseling” comes into play. The difference between discipleship and counseling is that discipleship broadly aims toward the maturity and growth of the believers, while counseling tackles a particular problem. In other words, counseling is all about helping people get unstuck. Lambert defines counseling as “ ..a conversation where one party with questions, problems, and trouble seeks assistance from someone they believe has answers, solutions, and help.”1


Though counseling is not synonymous with shepherding, the ministry of shepherding includes counseling. If preaching, teaching, and overseeing the church are the primary responsibilities of the elders (1 Tim 5:17), counseling church members is also a crucial part of their shepherding (1 Pet 5:2, John 21:16). While outsourcing the counseling needs of the congregation to para-church organizations is possible, the Bible does not exempt shepherds from shepherding responsibilities (1 Tim 4:2, John 21:15-17, 1 Thess 4:6-8, John 10:11-13). Though large swaths of time are allocated for the preaching and teaching ministries, counseling must also be an integral part of an elder’s life. Because one elder cannot bear the entire burden of the congregation (Ex 19-18:21), the Bible warrants a multiplicity of elders (Acts 11:25-26, Acts 14:23). Furthermore, because multiple elders cannot bear the weight of the entire congregation, the overarching ministry of the elders moves towards equipping the congregation to share one another’s burdens (1 Thess 5:14, Col 3:16, 1 Cor 12:15-26). It is in the context of such mutual burden-bearing that counseling among church members becomes vital (Col 3:12-14, Gal 6:2, Rom 12:15, Phil 2:1-5). Counseling should and does happen as we share each other’s burdens.


To give counsel, one does not have to be a professional counselor or an elder, but one must be a Christ-loving disciple. To offer counsel is to encourage the struggler, to give hope to the broken-hearted, and to show the gospel way to the wayward. This is not a Western concept; it is a biblical concept. Church leaders are to equip their congregants and create a church culture such that the mature in the church can counsel (advise, encourage, exhort) those who are struggling  – for the edification of the church and the glory of God.


1. Heath Lambert, A Theology of Biblical Counseling: The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 12.

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