Biblical counselling training is worth the effort
Back in October 1987 the Lord privileged me to become the pastor of Wheelersburg Baptist Church, in Appalachian southern Ohio, where I presently serve. At the time, the church was 109 years old, established in 1878. I was 26 years old, and had just finished four years of Bible college and another four years of seminary. I believed the Bible was the inerrant, infallible, trustworthy Word of God and was committed to preaching it, making disciples by it, and equipping this precious congregation to live by it.
Then it started. Soon after arriving, people began opening up to me, saying things like, “Pastor, we’re having marriage problems.” And, “Pastor, I’ve been told I’m bi-polar.” And “Pastor, they say our child has ADHD, and we’re overwhelmed.” Then came the question, “Pastor, can you help us?”
I responded by listening, praying with them, expressing my concern and support, reading a Scripture or two, but that was about it. I sensed they needed more, but I didn’t know how to provide it.
Consequently, I saw a couple of things happen. First, some of the strugglers went outside the church for help. Unfortunately, though well-meaning I’m sure, this “professional” help typically didn’t increase the hurting person’s confidence in Christ, His Word, and His church, but in fact at times undermined this confidence. A second outcome I observed was that some hurting people continued to limp along in isolation, receiving little or no help, convinced that no help was available.
After seven years of pastoring this way, I knew something needed to change. I needed to change. The Lord had called me to shepherd His flock and I wasn’t doing it. Frankly, I didn’t know how to do it.
But it was more personal than that. I didn’t know how to deal with problems in my own life. My standard answer when I walked through the door into my home in the evening, when asked by my wife, “How was your day?”, was, “Fine, dear. It was fine.” It didn’t matter if I’d been putting out church fires all day. Everything was always fine. I thought that’s what the good Christian response was. Just be positive. Don’t get angry. Things will work out. But they didn’t.
Please don’t misunderstand. New people were coming. The giving was good. The church was growing. We had programs and activities for all ages, with lots of people serving. But something seemed amiss. In reality a storm was brewing.
Twelve long Mondays, but worth it
About year seven, in God’s incredible kindness, I heard about and signed up for a twelve week biblical counselling training course near Dayton, Ohio. It was there I learned from three pastors what the Bible had to say about the real problems my people were experiencing, that I was experiencing. That was a tough stretch, leaving the house at 6 am, listening to lectures in the morning, doing case studies in the afternoon, observing biblical counsellors in action in the evening, and then driving home, pulling in the driveway somewhere between 9 and 11 pm. It was tough… and life-changing.
A pastor friend of mine recently said, “I wouldn’t be in the ministry today if it hadn’t been for biblical counselling training.” I agree. That practical course opened my eyes to the reality that God’s Word is not only inerrant and authoritative, but sufficient to deal with the complex challenges hurting people are facing.
The training produced a series of changes, starting with me and my family. I learned from God’s Word how I could, instead of clamming up, deal with problems God’s way. I learned there is no such thing as a problem free life, or family, or church, and that God’s kind of life, family, and church is one that deals with its problems His way. He shows us what His way is in the Book.
Next it began to change the church. I began a Sunday evening series, “Biblical Answers for the Problems of Life,” and we learned together what the Bible says about marriage, parenting, fear, worry, depression, and much more. I also began to do biblical counselling with people in the church and community, and went through the rigorous yet valuable process to become certified with what is now the Association of Certified Biblical Counsellors.
Good things were happening, but not everyone was pleased. In 1998 our church went through a firestorm and by the time the flames subsided, we had lost one-third of our members. There were many contributing factors (differences over doctrine, music, methodology, etc), but at the root it had to do with a vital clarifying question.
Are we going to be a truly biblical church, or not?
In other words, do we believe that the Bible is sufficient, or not? Will we deal with our problems by heeding this Book God has given us, or not? When we have conflict, will we lay aside our Baptist-subcultural-expectations and affirm that this Book is the key to life and godliness, or not?
It was so painful, and frankly in a very real sense, still is. We looked like a severely pruned tree after the departures finally stopped. But as is the case with a pruned tree, we were now ready for a remarkable season of fruit-bearing that not one of us could have anticipated.
In 2000 we as a church realized that God had given us something that we could not keep to ourselves. So, we began our first year of biblical counselling training. There were about 50 people from nine area churches in that first class. The next year we offered a second track. The follow year we began offering an advanced track as well as continuing our fundamentals track. Eventually others in our church family began counselling and teaching. We started going on the road to do CDTs in other places, even overseas.
I don’t even know the numbers for sure, for they don’t really matter, a lesson the Lord has been teaching me for three decades. Many hundreds of people from 50 or so from mostly small churches in the southern Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia region have participated in our courses.
Ministry is all about His glory, and His glory is manifest when He works through weak vessels like us to accomplish His eternally significant plan to transform hurting sinners into His Son’s likeness. Our counselling team has been offering free counselling to our Tri-State region for twenty years now. Dozens of people every year are finding hope from the Scriptures. Marriages are being restored. People struggling with depression, fears, and anxieties are learning to experience the joy of Christlikeness in their struggles. And for this we say, to God be the glory!
We need to have 20:20 ministries in 2024 and beyond.
If you are a church leader, I commend to you the value of a 20:20 ministry. Resolve to have the kind of Word-centred ministry the apostle Paul described in Acts 20:20, when he said, “I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.” According to Paul, there is a need for the ministry of the Word on two fronts. There’s the public ministry of the Word (preaching). But there’s also the private, house to house ministry of the Word, which is what biblical counselling is all about. When we preach, we take the Word to people. When we counsel, we take people to the Word.
Biblical counselling training is worth the effort. If you have never received such training, I urge you to consider it. Check out the details on this website to find out more about ACBC training. Take a course, and pursue certification. Encourage others in the congregation to do the same. You won’t regret it.