Reading an interesting book for "Introduction to Psychology". Written by a New Yorkian Jewish Psychoanalyst who became a Christian at a L'abri outreach in Austria. Thought this chapter he wrote was especially good:
"The Healing Power in the Church"
For five years I had the privilege of working with Dr. Jay Adams at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF). Dr. Adam's goal was to train pastors to take congregational care out of the hands of the professional psychological community and put it back into the hands of the church. First, he had to convince church leaders they could do it. His book Competent to Counsel launched a revolution in Christian circles. While not everyone agreed with Dr. Adams, at least the church began to rethink the passive, submissive role it had assumed in these vital areas.
In my counseling ministry at the CCEF, I typically saw a counselee for one hour a week and only in a counseling setting. I did not see him at church or at home or work. Often these people attended unbiblical churches that effectively minimized, if not outright negated, the help they received. Although I worked diligently to extricate people from liberal churches, the pressures of time and unfamiliarity with their affiliations made this aspect very difficult.
I began to see the way I could best help people would be to counsel from within a church. I knew that the regular expository preaching of God's Word is the most therapeutic confrontation the people of God receive. But the thought of pastoral ministry terrified me, and I fought it! I would have preferred to do anything else, but God had other plans. It was only a matter of time before He had me serving in a pastoral capacity.
In 1980 I accepted a call to plant a church in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital city of Canada. During the course of that work my view of the pastorate began to change. Previously, I had seen it as the position from which healing and restoration was to come. But I began to understand that as Jesus Christ blesses His Church, the body (not a solitary pastor) is the source of blessing to countless hurting individuals.
This understanding came when the Holy Spirit impressed upon me some verses from Ephesians: "He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping fo the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (Eph: 4:11-12). In short, these verses teach that the job of the pastor is not to do the work of the ministry, but to equip the flock to do this work. Christ assigns His ministry to the Church, not to one person in a church, no matter how gifted that individual may be. This understanding is not something new or radical. The work of the ministry is, and always has been, the work of the Church. Pastors are guides or trainers to help people identify and implement their gifts for the Lord.
When we fully understand this principle, however, the entire life and direction of a church changes. Members are not simply individuals drawn into the church to receive something, but are a body drawn together to strengthen one another and the church. Through this process lives are restored, and the Kingdom of God is advanced.
Everyone who comes to Christ and into the Church has real needs, concerns, fears, hurts, scars, and sins which must be faced. Counseling is part of this process. It involves dealing with the batterings of a former life and bringing the healing balm of the new life in Christ. But counseling is not the whole picture. The work of healing and restoration requires a more inclusive view of the local church.
Building up an entire congregation is a challenge, especially for someone like me who has always thrived on my own resourcefulness. The difficulty is not in backing off to let others work, but in setting up procedures necessary to adequately disciple, not just a few individuals, but a whole congregation. I have to build a team, not a group of super heroes. We see in Ephesians that the way to accomplish this goal is through church officers. As the leaders are equipped, they are able to equip others; lives are restored and the kingdom advanced. This is one of the cardinal principles of nouthetic counseling. "Nouthetic activity is the work in which all of God's people may participate." (Jay E. Adams, Competent to Counsel (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1970), p. 4-5)
Most pastors view their work as the doing of the ministry. Yet Paul says in Ephesians that the primary work of the pastor (within the context of consistent Biblical preaching) is for the equipping of the saints, that they may do the work of ministry. Generally, Christians expect the pastor to do pastoral things to them. The pastor, for his part, agrees. He then wonders why he cannot get help, especially for the things he is unable to do. The reason - often he has failed to communicate to his congregation that they have, not only the ability, but also the responsibility to minister to one another.
Matthew Henry, the great Puritan preacher and commentator, wrote, "[The pastor] is to bring into an orderly spiritual state and frame, those who had been as it were dislocated and disjointed by sin, and then to strengthen, confirm, and advance them therein so each in his proper place and function contributes to the good of the whole." (Matthew Henry, Commentary on Ephesians, Vol. 6 (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming Revell, n.d.), pp. 704, 974)
In other words, the church is the place where broken people are put back together again, to the good of the church.
Let me illustrate. One time my wife took our youngest child to the physician's office, for a simple immunization shot. We had spent much time reading about immunization. When she arrived, she asked the doctor several questions. He responded tersely, "I'll do the doctoring around here."
My wife did not return to that doctor. You see, she believed she had a responsibility at least to know what was going on in the care of our children. Christians have even more responsibility for the living of their Christian lives. No one, not even the best pastor, is responsible for your behavior and work. Unfortunately, many pastors act like that pediatrician. They convey the attitude: "I'll do the ministry around here." Instead they need to prepare, expect, and encourage the saints to be responsible for the work of ministry.
Many people view the church as they would view the secular service industry. You pay your money and get your service. They do not realize that for the church to function well, each member must function to the limits of his/her capabilities. The church can not accomplish the ministry entrusted to it if only pastors do the work. We must rid ourselves of our inherent and radical individualism.
In addition to pastoring a church, I own a sheep farm. Watching the behavior of sheep has taught me some lessons that apply to people as well. Sheep are rather defenseless. When they are attacked by wolves, there is only one way they can protect themselves. They draw together into a gigantic white mound during an attack. The wolf won't attack this white mound, but will go after other prey - often the sheep on its own outside the flock. For my sheep to be safe they must stay together as one and work together as one. Similarly, in the church safety and strength come when the congregation works together as one body. Such unity does not come naturally to any of us. Perhaps that is why Paul repeats his concern for oneness seven times in the fourth chapter in Ephesians. The saints can't be equipped for works of service if they are bickering among themselves.
The pastor equips the church, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:12, "For the work of service." THis is further defined as the "Building up of the body of Christ." The phrase "Building up" comes from a term that means "house" or "household." From its earliest usage it had a heavenly sense to it. The apostle says that the one who came from Heaven (Christ) wants the church equipped so that it can make it to Heaven (verse 12). In 2 Corinthians 10:8, Paul speaks of his apostolic authority which he received for "building you up." The same word is used in both Ephesians and 2 Corinthians. Paul wants the church to be the heavenly house of God. He wants the church established so that it makes it to Heaven. It must be willing to receive from the apostle, or it will never possess the obedient nature necessary to fulfill its heavenly mandate.
The church in Corinth battled authoritative apostolic teaching. We see this in several places in 2 Corinthians. Notice 2 Corinthians 13:10: "For this reason I am writing these things while absent, in order that when present I may not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me, for building up and not for tearing down." Today we continue to fight against authority. When we resist, we miss being established, strengthened, and built up. Congregations that submit to God's instruction will "be of one mind" and will "live in peace" (2 Cor. 13:11). What wonderful blessedness results from being "built up."
Everyone who is called into union with Christ is also called to minister to the body so that strongholds of sin are torn down and the body of Christ is strengthened. The Church may be strong even when there are weak members in it, but the principal Biblical teaching is to "strengthen the hands that are weak" (Hebrews 12:12). "
~Richard Ganz, PsychoBabble, the failure of modern psychology and the Biblical alternative. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993) pp 83-89.~
