A GUIDE TO BIBLICAL COUNSELING Life Baptist Church Summer 2013 Notes: A GUIDE TO BIBLICAL COUNSELING Who will benefit from this training? There are two types of people who will find this class helpful and timely: 1. Those who desire to help friends and family members work through life’s challenges in a biblical way. This person feels like a magnet for hurting people. Like moths to a flame, people continually bring difficult situations to this person (asking for help and advice). In some areas, they feel “qualified” to speak, but in other areas, they hesitate because of lack of experience, understanding, or confidence. 2. Those who have considered serving as a biblical counselor in either a vocational or volunteer capacity. A person in this category has probably taken counseling, psychology, or behavioral analysis courses and might even be trained as a counselor. However, after questioning certain theories in conventional counseling, they are open to learning more. Regardless of prior training or strong desire, this person understands the spiritual component of health, and they are interested in helping others. Goals for this study: 1. To help Christians develop a biblical worldview that leads to healing in all areas of life. 2. To train Christians to look past the symptoms and find the source of problems. 3. To train Christians to be better listeners and careful communicators. 4. To train Christians to lovingly confront, challenge, and correct faulty beliefs and actions so that they can help guide a person to complete health. 5. To train Christians to locate relevant Scriptures and properly share these passages with others. 6. To train Christians to see the difference between character development and sin management. 7. To train Christians to establish boundaries in counseling and recognize potential problems before they occur. 8. To help Christians gain a godly confidence in helping people and a willingness to share what they have learned with others. 9. To train lay counselors who are prepared to effectively help hurting people. Session Format: (The format will change in arrangement, but the primary pieces will stay the same.) . Teaching and Discussion . Case Studies and Examples . Homework . Prayer Subjects Covered: . Introduction: Big Picture/Developing A Biblical Worldview . Session 1: Systematic Theology . Session 2: Locating Relevant Passages . Session 3: Basic Counseling Skills . Session 4: Finding the Source . Session 5: The Christ Life . Session 6: The Role of the Holy Spirit . Session 7: Spiritual Gifts/Fruit of the Spirit . Session 8: Counseling Marriage and Family . Session 9: Counseling Addictions, Fears, Anxiety, and Depression . Session 10: Counseling Crisis and Trauma Meeting Dates: . June 1, June 29, July 27, August 24, October 5, November 2 from 8:30 to noon. 1 Introduction: Notes: Our definition of biblical counseling: A strategic opportunity for discipleship where Scripture is the source, the Christ-life is the focus, and complete health is the goal. Big Picture of Problems: Write the common problems we encounter in daily life. Everything that you have written in this box is an affect of ____________. Everything that you have written in this box is addressed in ____________. The problems we face (as Christians) are the result of living according to the flesh (habits, traits, and tendencies) developed under the old ____________ in ____________, and not according to our new ____________ in ____________. Biblical counseling is not about learning a new technique; it’s about understanding and applying old truths. Developing a Biblical Worldview: Within the past few years, “worldview” has become a mainstream topic for evangelical Christians in the United States. The driving force is the growing concern about the rapidly changing post- Christian cultural scene (i.e. the removal of Ten Commandment from courthouses, decline of attendance in churches, acceptance of sinful choices, shift in the definition of marriage, etc.). The shift has caused many people to go in search of the basics. World*view (noun): 1. Describes the overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group. A person’s worldview (whether Christian, scientific, humanist or spiritual) is a personal way of trying to find meaning and define reality. It’s how a person interprets the world. The summation of what we believe provides the framework for daily events. An individual’s worldview will be shaped by far more than the surrounding physical world. Religion, philosophy, ethics, morality, science, politics, experience, environment, and relationships will play a role in shaping their worldview. 2 Notes: An individual’s worldview is his or her basis for answering such questions as: . Who am I? . Where did I come from? . Where am I going? . What should I value? . What is right or wrong? . Is there universal truth or is all true relative? . How should I conduct my life? . Who do I answer to (self, society, God, no-one)? . Does God exist? If so what is my response to Him? For a person to develop a biblical worldview, it involves relationship with God through Jesus Christ and regular time in God’s Word. A person needs to spend time in Scripture, studying Scripture, understanding Scripture, believing Scripture, and living Scripture. Over time, we begin to see Scripture as our ultimate source of authority. A biblical worldview is strengthened by 3 critical choices… 1. Choosing to believe ____________ before others. 2. Choosing to believe and consult the ____________ in all areas of life. 3. Choosing to see the world and events of life through the lens of God’s __________________ story throughout history. How does a biblical worldview differ from a humanistic worldview? 1. A biblical worldview sees God as the Creator of everything, the Sustainer of life, and the central figure in history. A humanistic worldview sees humanity as a random development of evolution that is carving out an existence through personal decisions, chance, and animalistic impulses. 2. A biblical worldview sees humanity as born into sin and in need of redemption; a humanistic worldview sees humanity as born with a clean slate and shaped solely by choices and environment. 3. The biblical worldview suggests looking inside a person and addressing the source of sin; a humanistic worldview suggests looking outside a person and addressing the environmental causes. 4. A biblical worldview believes that absolute truth is found in the Bible; a humanistic worldview believes that truth is relative and found in each person. These are just a handful of examples that show the difference between a biblical worldview and a humanistic worldview. The reason it is important to show some differences is because the vast majority of secular counseling is based on a humanistic worldview. 3 Notes: These are fundamentally different approaches to counseling. While it does not mean that everything shared in biblical counseling is right and everything taught in secular counseling is wrong, it needs to be noted that fundamental differences in belief will lead to fundamental differences in practice. Likewise, both lead to fundamental differences in outcome. Discussion Questions: How is the biblical worldview challenged? Apart from food, shelter, and clothing—what do you consider to be the basic needs of humanity? What do you suspect will be some of the challenges of biblical counseling? What are specific issues that take the edge off your counseling sword? 4 Session 1: Systematic Theology Notes: The first step in providing biblical counsel is knowing Scripture. Our beliefs about Scripture influence our counsel (either good or bad). It is not uncommon to find drastically different approaches within the Christian counseling community. Much of this is attributed to essential beliefs. If one counselor sees a person’s problems as environmental, they will seek to change the environment. If another counselor sees the person’s problems as sinful, they will seek to change the heart. (DO NOT BE SURPRISED BY DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT APPROACHES WITHIN CHRISTIAN COUNSELING.) There is no way to adequately explore the depths of theology in several hours. This topic is studied over a lifetime. Our goal today is to give an overview, provide essential definitions, establish key beliefs, and offer a safe environment for questions. What is theology? Theology is the study of ____________. There are 7 major categories of Christian theology: 1. Systematic Theology: is the orderly discussion of Christian doctrine that uses truths from all parts of the Bible. 2. Biblical Theology: looks at the historical circumstances and development of doctrines. 3. Historical Theology: involves the study of the historical development of doctrines in church history. It looks at how the doctrines of the Christian faith have been understood throughout the centuries since New Testament times. 4. Dogmatic Theology: is the study of how certain Christian groups have understood theology. Examples of dogmatic theology include: (1) Arminian theology: a theology that stresses the freedom of man in salvation; (2) Covenant theology: a theology that stresses the importance of two or three overarching covenants that bring unity to God’s dealings with His creation; and (3) Dispensational theology: a theology that stresses the distinction between Israel and the church. 5. Contemporary Theology: involves the study of the doctrines of Christian groups as they have developed since the twentieth century. Examples include Liberal theology, Neo-orthodox theology, Feminist theology, Charismatic theology, and Vatican II Catholic theology. 6. Philosophical Theology: involves the basic philosophical assumptions involved with theology such as the existence of God, the nature of reality, and the possibility of knowing anything about God. Philosophical theology usually involves: (a) metaphysics (the study of reality); (b) epistemology (the study of knowing); (c) ethics (the study of right and wrong); and (d) philosophy of religion (the study of religion from a philosophical perspective).