The Litmus Test of Christian Counseling
The Litmus Test of Christian Counseling
By Michael Wells
February 2, 2006
If the counsel you receive can be followed without Jesus, How can it be Christian?
"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2:5
Many are confused with the counsel/discipleship that they receive. The approach is delivered, and we listen; there seems to be something amiss in our spirits, something missing in the approach. That thing most often missing is Jesus. In fact, much of "Christian" counseling and discipleship is not Christian at all. Many counselors are only baptizing the world's methods that they learned at a university and adding a vague (Biblical) passage here and there in an attempt to make it sound Christian.
Take the topic of denial; given its definition, Jesus would appear to be one of the worst people in the world for being in denial. In the same way, many discipleship methods are nothing more than Buddhism baptized, with one list after another that could be achieved and followed by anybody.
I could go on, but it wouldn't help answer the confusion that many have when hearing the latest advice on being set free. There is a simple way to judge the counseling and discipleship. Does the method include Jesus? Not in a peripheral way, but centrally, in its core. Can the advice given be accomplished without Jesus? If it depends on me, if it falls at my feet, if it falls at the feet of others, then it is not Christian.
So much of what I hear can be done by anyone. Not so in abiding. Apart from Him we can do nothing. There is no need talking about things that are done apart from Him, for we can't do them. We can't love, we can't change, we can't control our emotions, but we can choose Him and invite Him to be our love, our new life, and our peace.
Another thing that is interesting is that when Jesus is included in the method, that method is eternal. When He is left out, the methods are always changing. What was needed for understanding twenty years ago isn't needed today. There is always something presented as new when the old thing Jesus and understanding His work) has not been understood.
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This article is from Life Lines, Vol. 112. Michael Wells is Executive Director of Abiding Life Ministries, Box 620998 Littleton, CO. 80162 http://www.AbidingLife.com. He is author of Sidetracked in the Wilderness (available from http://www.CrossLifeBooks.com).
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