Why Were Job’s Friends Rebuked?

Don’t be like Job’s friends.

I’ve said that quite a few times when encouraging people not to be miserable counselors to suffering people. In the face of a hurting and destitute Job—who at times was even suicidal—all these friends did was spout theological truths and tell Job that if he would repent then things would get better for him.

Finally in Job 42:7 we hear what we have been longing for throughout the entire book; namely, the rebuke of Job’s friends. The LORD said to Eliphaz, “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”

What did they say that was untrue?

The core of their theology was that God does not punish the righteous. Suffering comes because of discipline from the Almighty. “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.”

All suffering is a punishment for sin. All prosperity is a reward for righteousness. God is just and He does not punish the righteous. Therefore, Job must be sinning or else he would not be suffering. If he repents the Lord is gracious and He will heal and restore Job.

Before we dismiss their theology we should consider a key verse in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 28 the Lord outlines what will happen if the Israelites faithfully obey the Lord. “All these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God”. Prosperity is the reward for righteousness.

“But if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” Suffering is the punishment for sin.

Job’s friends passed their Old Testament class in seminary. Sort of. They got the multiple choice questions correct but they blew it on the essay where they were to apply their theology.  The problem is that they take something that is true and offer it as the only explanation for Job’s suffering. This is where I get an axiom that I teach my students: good theology that is wrongly applied, stinks.

Proverbs 22:6

It is a general principle that if you “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it”. Except sometimes they do. And the parents did everything they could to train up their child. They were good and godly parents just like Job was a righteous man. But for some reason their child departed from the faith.

Those that follow in the stead of Job’s friends will assume that a rebellious child must equal ungodly parents. It might. But it does not have to; assuming that it does will cause one to speak things that are untrue of God.

There are some things that are always true no matter the context; i.e. Jesus Christ is the only way to God. But there are some things that are generally true but shouldn’t be applied as if they are always true. The wise counselor won’t flatten truth the way Job’s friends do. Instead the wise counselor will hold the hand of suffering people as they, as Job, grope to find the One that is Truth and in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

My Thoughts on James MacDonald’s “Resignation”

Last week James MacDonald resigned. Not as pastor or anything like that. He resigned his post as “fixer”:

No more setting people straight, helping others see the light. No more putting people on a program or convincing them to look in the mirror and see what they refuse to believe. Helping? Yes. Praying? For sure! Preaching? Always and with increased power, I pray. But fixing people individually? I’m done!

I first read MacDonald’s article after reading the response from Dan Phillips. Others on Twitter expressed concern over MacDonald’s words. Personally, I think this could serve to spur us on towards a helpful conversation.

The first time that I read through the article I was put off by what MacDonald was saying. I wondered if he was completely resigning from doing the messy stuff of pastoral ministry. It seemed to me that he was essentially saying, “I’m not going to be in the business of trying to help people anymore, nobody appreciates me anyways”. It sounded like an angry tirade.

Then I read it again and realized that MacDonald’s central point is that he is no longer going to try to fix people that don’t ask for it. Some of the anger that I had picked up was directed towards his old way of doing things. So now he is resolved to not offer counsel unless asked. As MacDonald says,

“Where the fixer is uninvited and the receiving heart is unreceptive, it’s far better to pull up and kneel down—interceding for a better reception, a more timely time, or a more worthy messenger.”

What I take from MacDonald is that he is going to stop initiating “fix you” conversations. He’s going to be more concerned about the things that he is called to do and less concerned about other people—unless they ask him for assistance.

Where I Agree

As I read through MacDonald’s post I think he actually has a solid point. We are prone to worry about taking the speck of dust out of our brothers eyes without looking at the log in our own. There is a certain type of person that goes about trying to fix everyone as if he/she is helping along the Holy Spirit. I believe MacDonald is saying that he no longer wants to be this guy.

This is good. We shouldn’t be that guy. If this is all MacDonald says, then I’m in agreement with him. I wish he would have been a little more careful with his words and tried making the point in a little less shocking way—but that’s forgivable. I know there have been times when I’ve let art get in the way of clarity.

Where I Might Disagree…

While I find some agreement with Macdonald, his post still causes me to be unsettled. There is some truth in saying “if people don’t want to change there is no use trying to help”. But it’s also an incomplete truth because God’s Word is more powerful than our foolish resistance. The powerful word of God is the means that God uses to “fix” people.  

As ministers of the Word of God occasionally we are called to bang our head against a wall that probably shouldn’t budge. We do so because we know that there is power in the Word of God. Worldly wisdom says that the heart of kings isn’t supposed to turn, yet Nathan boldly proclaimed truth to a King that didn’t want to face his sin. In the same way it’s a solid axiom that you cannot help people that do not want to help themselves. But isn’t the Word more powerful than this axiom?

We must proclaim God’s Word humbly and lovingly. Yes, as we attempt to restore those that are “caught in transgression” we must do it with a “spirit of gentleness” while also “keeping watch on ourselves”. But simply being prone to hypocrisy and having a tendency to botch “pulling specks out of our brothers eyes” doesn’t necessitate the pendulum needs to swing to silence.

Yes, there might be a time to “shake the dust off our feet” but that should not be our default position. And this is what still has me unsettled about MacDonald’s “resignation”. It seems as if his default position goes against the Scriptural admonitions to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching”. That charge doesn’t seem to be something reserved for a Sunday morning sermon. And if you keep reading in that passage in 2 Timothy he is charged to do those things in the context of those that “will not endure sound teaching”.

Now if MacDonald is simply saying that he will continue to exhort, reprove, and rebuke but not try to play the role of the Holy Spirit, I agree. And it’s a good point—that I believe he made somewhat poorly. But my concern is that in embracing something good (not thinking you are deity) MacDonald is adopting something that is not good (being silent when we ought to speak).

What are your thoughts? At one point do we “resign”? Can we?

Is It Enough to Just Speak the Truth?

On the day of his first public service at St. Mary Woolnoth, John Newton explained to his hearers the truths that would inform his gospel ministry. They are evangelical and gospel-centered as to be expected with on like Newton. One thing, however, that I believe sets Newton apart as an exemplary example for us to follow. He believed that just speaking truth was not the whole of his duty:

But the cause of truth itself may be discredited by improper management; and, therefore, the Scripture which furnishes us with subject-matter for our ministry, and teaches us what we are to say, is equally explicit as to temper and spirit in which we are to speak. Though I had the knowledge of all mysteries, and the tongue of an angel to declare them, I could hope for little acceptance or usefulness, unless I was to speak “in love”.

I believe Newton is correct. Just speaking truthfully—even eloquently--about the great mysteries of our faith is not sufficient. Certainly the Lord is powerful and convert sinners using even the weakest means. But the apostolic method of preaching/pastoring/leading/living is to speak the truth in love. Both are necessary.

“Loving” people without speaking truth is a sham. At the same time, speaking truth without loving people is a mockery of Christ our example.

Singing to the Deaf

Yesterday I looked at the Mystery of “God Moves in Mysterious Ways”. In my research for this I read through John Piper’s biography of William Cowper again. There was a statement that Piper used that came alive to me. One of his section headings reads: Never Cease to Sing the Gospel to the Deaf.

Piper writes,

Let us rehearse the mercies of Jesus often in the presence of discouraged people. Let us point them again and again to the blood of Jesus…Don’t make your mercy to the downcast contingent on quick results. You cannot persuade a person that he is not reprobate if he is utterly persuaded that he is. He will tell you he is deaf. No matter. Keep soaking him in the “benevolence, mercy, goodness, and sympathy” of Jesus and “the sufficiency of the atonement” and “the fullness and completeness of [Christ’s] justification”…Pray that in God’s time these truths may yet be given the power to awaken hope and beget a spirit of adoption. (Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 117-19)

This is what John Newton did in the life of William Cowper. Newton was very discouraged and perplexed at Cowper’s ailment. Yet he remained by his side, even at times foregoing vacation so as not to leave his dear friend alone. Newton never ceased to sing the gospel to the deaf. It took a toll in Newton too.

On one occasion Newton wrote to John Thornton of the toll it was taking on him:

Mr. Cowper’s long stay at the vicarage in his present uncomfortable state, has been upon many account inconvenient and trying. His choice of being here was quite unexpected; and his continuance is unavoidable, unless he was to be removed by force…I make myself easy by reflecting that the Lord’s hand is concerned; and I am hoping weekly for his deliverance…The Lord evidently sent him to Olney, where he has been a blessing to many, a great blessing to myself. The Lord has numbered the days in which I am appointed to wait upon him in this dark valley, and He has given us such a love to him both as a believer and as a friend, that I am not weary; but to be sure, his deliverance would be to me one of the greatest blessings my thoughts can conceive.

Why it was so taxing on Newton?

Sometimes when I read through tattered pages from days long ago I slip into a type of fairy tale thinking. People stop becoming real. John Newton becomes a hero without warts. I rejoice in the fruit of his ministry but I do not accurately reckon the toil that such fruit entails. I say things like—and will say again in a moment—that we need more pastors like John Newton. But I forget the travail that Newton must have experienced as he bled with William Cowper.

Consider this letter from Cowper and how it must have pained Newton. Keep in mind this is written in 1784. That is eleven years after Cowper’s second bout with madness (first under the watch of Newton). Now it is happening again after a brief respite. Listen as if you had received this letter from a dear friend that you had been counseling and bleeding with for years:

Loaded as my life is with despair, I have no such comfort as would result from a supposed probability of better things to come, were it once ended ... You will tell me that this cold gloom will be succeeded by a cheerful spring, and endeavour to encourage me to hope for a spiritual change resembling it—but it will be lost labour. Nature revives again; but a soul once slain lives no more ... My friends, I now expect that I shall see yet again. They think it necessary to the existence of divine truth, that he who once had possession of it should never finally lose it. I admit the solidity of this reasoning in every case but my own. And why not in my own? ... I forestall the answer:—God's ways are mysterious, and He giveth no account of His matters:—an answer that would serve my purpose as well as theirs that use it. There is a mystery in my destruction, and in time it shall be explained.

Do you hear what has happened in the mind of Cowper? His mind has become so set upon destroying him that his precious hymn written in 1773 is now darkened. “There is a mystery in my destruction, and in time it shall be explained”. He has somehow believed that the mystery of God’s ways is that he will be damned even though he is one of the elect. He theologically agrees with everything that Newton is saying but he is, as on biographer said, “utterly deaf” to “every consolatory suggest” because he had “concluded that God had rejected him”.

Yet Newton never abandoned his friend.

We Need More John Newton’s

Some would probably consider Newton’s soul care of Cowper a failure. After all he never really found healing. We like magic words that somehow fix everything. But Cowper wouldn’t be “fixed”; not on this side of Eden.

Newton couldn’t be Cowper’s savior. But he could be his friend. Though it’s a mystery and not something I would really want to write a theological dissertation on, it seems that at times the Lord calls people like John Newton to hold the hand of his friend while simultaneously holding the hand of Jesus. His dear friend was in such despair that he could no longer cry out for mercy. It seems that Newton interceded for Cowper when he was too weak to even plead for help.

Newton’s ministry to Cowper was a ministry where he continued to “sing the gospel to the deaf”. He did it as his friend not as his fixer. He loved William Cowper, madness and all. He was never a project but always a brother in Christ. To this end Newton never gave up on his friend. He pleaded for Cowper’s stake in Christ even when Cowper was confident that he had been forsaken.

Ministry success isn’t defined by the number of hands we heal but the hands we hold. Healing belongs to the Lord. Holding on is our sacred duty as fellow sojourners. We need more pastors like John Newton. Pastors that aren’t discouraged because their “projects” fail. But pastors that ache because their friends hurt. Pastors that stay and preach, and plod, and proclaim the excellencies of Christ even when it seems that we are only holding a symphony for the deaf.

Jesus is pleased with such faithful husbands, daddies, friends, and pastors. I pray that I am one.

Don’t Proxy Counsel

The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.  -Proverbs 18:17

I’m not an expert counselor.  But I hope I am growing.  Early on in my ministry I dealt almost exclusively with counseling teenagers.  As one in my early twenties and still  with plenty of youthful vigor (or perhaps rebellion) in my heart I listened intently as teenagers would tell me about how much they were victimized by their teenagers.

It is much to my chagrin that I confess that for the first year or two I really thought that these kids had horrible parents that simply did not understand their teenagers.  I spent a good amount of my counseling trying to help these teens cope with crappy parents. 

Things really came to a head when a particularly difficult and troubled teen came in tears and fearfully did not want to go home.  An elaborate story was told and charges were brought up.  I informed this person before hand that I would have to report this to the police as a mandatory reporter if she was going to continue on.  She remained undeterred.  So we went over to the police station and filed a report. 

Her parents grievous offense? 

They were making her do laundry.  Of course that is not what she told me.  It was a much different story.  But it was believable and I didn’t want to take the chance of it actually being true.  Something happened, though, after that encounter.  I began taking Proverbs 18:17 more seriously.

There is always two sides to every story. 

What I have noticed over the years is that a good number of people coming for counseling actually want you to do proxy counseling.  They don’t actually want counsel for themselves but frequently they want ammunition for another person that they want to counsel.  And it can be tempting in the beginning stages to dog on that other person to try to build report with the person in your office. 

The wise counselor realizes that he/she is not called by God to do proxy counseling.  God has placed the person sitting in your office, or across from you at the coffee house, into your life.  Knowing that there are always two sides to every story the person that you are talking with is never only a victim.  God has placed this person in your life to help him/her expose heart idols and find redemption in Christ. 

Yes, you may on occasion have to defuse or speak truth into a statement that a wounding spouse lobbed at the person in your office.  “Sally, it is not true that you are worthless.  Let me tell you what God says about you”.  But even while you do that you need to remember that you aren’t to engage in proxy counseling and give her advice about what to say to her potential loser of a husband. 

Our goal must be for the person we are counseling to be helped by the gospel and motivated by the gospel to make his/her soul aim to please the Lord regardless of the response of the offending husband, wife, parent, child, or friend. 

Making An Assumer of Yourself in Counseling

There are few things worse in counseling settings (read—”helping friends out”) than to assume that you really know what is going on.  After hearing a persons story and struggle it is quite easy to jump to conclusions from our own experience and our own theological assumptions. 

In his book, Instruments in the Redeemers Hands, Paul Tripp not only helps us see the problem of assumptions he also offers a few correctives that encourage us to ask the right questions. 

When you assume, you do not ask.  If you do not ask, you open yourself up to a world of invalid conclusions and misunderstandings.  You may try to be God’s instrument but miss the mark because you are putting two and two together and getting five—and you don’t even know it.  Thanks to your assumptions, the person you think you are helping may exist only in your mind. (168)

I think that danger may be especially prevalent with theology and book nerds like myself.  We can assume that just because we “know fundamental things about people in general” that we know the person we are counseling.  Yet we should not confuse this general theological knowledge with “knowing the particular individuals God has sent our way”.  Tripp is even more pointed when he says:

“…you cannot know me only by knowing what Scripture says about me.  You will know wonderfully helpful things about me as a human being, but you will not know how these truths are uniquely manifested in my life without asking.” (169)

In order to combat this temptation to assume too much we are advised to do three things:

1. Always ask people to define their terms.  (“Huge fight” to one lady might be “minor tiff” to another)

2. Always ask people to clarify what they mean with concrete, real life examples of the terms they have used.  (Give me a concrete example, step by step, of the “huge fight”)

3. Always ask people to explain why they responded as they did in the examples they have given you.  (Share your reasons, values, purposes, desires.  Ask the person to evaluate what is behind the behavior.  “Taking the camera off the scene and putting it on the person”).

If you found this helpful and you spend any time with people you would be well advised to invest a little cash in Paul Tripp’s book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands.  Not only does Tripp have the wisdom and perseverance to grow an amazing mustache he also knows a fair bit about gospel-driven counseling and relationships as well. 

You can purchase the book here.

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Turning “Helps” Into Idolatry

Does God wound thy spirit, does he make it sick, and dost thou seek to unlawful means for help?  Dost thou go to thy company, to music, to good cheer, to relieve thee?  Oh this provokes God against thee!…those that in trouble of conscience seek for carnal helps, by their vain tampering only render their condition worse.  (Jeremiah Burroughs commenting on Hosea 5:14)

There is an assumption that Burroughs is making here that some of our readers may not be willing to agree with.  Namely, Burroughs assumes (as I do) that God is sovereign and everything that happens comes from His hand—whether it is directly or indirectly.  This would include “wounds to our spirit” and “trouble of conscience”. 

I have mentioned previously that I battle depression or perhaps the better term would be “fits of melancholy”.  In fact our nation seems to be very much plagued by this malady.  One particular study notes that, "An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year."   That means that when you go to the grocery store 1 of every 4 people that you see suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder.  That is huge.

I understand that any mental disorder is complex and there are usually not simple answers.  But is it possible that part of our restlessness (our depression, our mental anxieties) may stem from the effects of running to lesser gods?  Is it possible that when we have restlessness and anxiety we first seek unlawful means for help instead of going to the Lord?  Is it possible that this brokenness is meant to cause us “in our affliction to not fly from, but humble ourselves before him”? 

I do believe that the Lord by His grace has provided helps to our brokenness.  I believe that there are ripple effects to the accomplishment of Christ on the Cross.  I believe that there is common grace—such as antidepressants—that the Lord may use as a means to calm the effects of our brokenness and provide substantial healing.  But I also believe that these “helps” can subtly become functional saviors and when we principally turn to them not only does our condition worsen but the Lord’s displeasure is aroused. 

God may not fully heal the pain that I feel or the darkness that sometimes seems to overcome me; at least not this side of a Eden Restored.  Am I willing to have shards of brokenness in my life if it means that His glory shines brighter in my weakness?  Is it possible that I am muting God’s glory or defaming His name by going to “other helps” that may work for a season but won’t give ultimate rest? 

The Case in Hosea

Just so you know that all of this is coming from somewhere consider what took place in Hosea’s day.  The Israelite’s were stuck between two super powers: Assyria and Egypt.  They decided that they could go to both of these super powers for “help” and to gain wealth and security from these “lovers”.  They called it wisdom but God called it “playing the whore”. 

God had given Egypt wealth.  God had given Assyria power.  And it is quite possible (though we have no idea of knowing) that had Israel remained faithful to the Lord he would have employed either Egypt or Assyria as helpers—though not likely.  But when “Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king.  But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.” 

Here is the kicker, the “sickness of Ephraim” and the “wound of Judah” is one that is given by the Lord.  And while the Lord is administering discipline to his children they run to Assyria (and later Egypt) for protection from the Lord.  But he cannot cure them.  He cannot heal their wound.  Only God can.  That is why Hosea entreats them to “return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” 

The Flaw

Blanket statements are dangerous.  Do not apply this as a “when ___ happens then it means that God is ______”.  There is an assumption that is being made in connecting a “wounded spirit” to the days of Hosea.  They were being wounded because of their sin and their idolatry.  The Lord was ripping out of their hearts idolatry and residue from the fall.  This is what He lovingly does with His covenant children. 

This is true in those cases. Yet, we would be in great error to look out on the brokenness and depression of every person and say, “don’t try to find help” just endure the Lord’s discipline and stop bowing to idols.  That was the foolish council of Job’s friends.  Job wasn’t enduring his suffering because of his sin.  He was enduring suffering because he was going through suffering.  But what Job got right was that his only source of ultimate refuge and rescue was in the LORD. 

It takes wisdom to know whether I am turning “helps” into idolatry or if I’m legitimately using “helps” for the glory of God.  It takes even more wisdom and grace to sit in ashes and cling to the Lord of glory and say as Hosea did, “He has torn us, that he may heal us…let us press on to know the LORD…he will come to us as showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” 

It takes grace to trust a lion when Assyria and Egypt look so splendid…

Five +One Friday 2/10/12

Timmy Brister considers Structuring the Church for Maximum Edification.  Really good thoughts here and an article that I’m going to read and think through a little more today.

Another article to mull over is this one by Bobby Jamieson: Pastors, Don’t Let Your People Resign into Thin Air

The Journal of Biblical Counseling is Returning.  Woot, Woot!  I’m excited about this.  Watch the video below:

The return of The Journal of Biblical Counseling from CCEF on Vimeo.

Chuck Colson is calling Christians to civil disobedience in regards to President Obama’s recent HHS decision.  This could get rather interesting.  Personally, I don’t think we are quite at a spot yet where people will get thrown in prison.  But I’ve been wrong before. 

Ed Stetzer exposes The Baptist Bogeyman.  Interesting piece with much to commend it. 

One reason I’m excited about baseball in 2012 and beyond: The ROYALS have a stacked youth movement.  Sometime I’m going to have to make a trip back to Missouri, pick up my buddy Brian and head to KC to catch a game. 

Monday’s Ministry Musing: Don’t Pull a Roscoe

This happened about a year ago and I laughed then.  I saw it again the other day and found myself laughing all over again.  Roscoe Smith—and it’s fitting that someone with the name Roscoe would do this—is the culprit.  He later explained his reasoning for his 80 foot heave:

"When I saw the clock, I thought there were two or three seconds left," Smith told the Hartford Courant. "My team -- man, they got on me in the locker room. I glanced at [the clock] and threw it up there. I just saw the clock going real fast."

As I am laughing through this video I’m struck by something that is not so laughable—the reality that I’ve thrown up 80 foot prayers with 11 seconds left in counseling sessions.  Unlike Roscoe, I’ve done this more than once.  Some troubled soul has came to my office and poured out their heart, and rather than remaining calm and really listening (taking the time to dribble up the court) I chuck up a full-court prayer.  

It’s understandable to do this.  After all the clock is moving really fast.  It seems that this persons pain needs to be resolved this very second.  We don’t have time to get into our offense or get the ball across half-court and call time-out.  Time is running out.  That clock is ticking.  I better lob some sort of advice or wisdom that gets this person’s level of pain down and comfort up. 

The problem is that what was needed in this situation was not an 80 foot toss into the stands.  There may be time for those full court throws—like when there really is 1 second left instead of 11 seconds.  But most of the time what feels like 1 second is really closer to eleven and what is needed is a patient walk up the court (digging for the real issue) and then working for a high percentage shot. 

Most of our counseling will be of the 11 second-enough time to run it up the court-variety.  Very seldom is it 1 second.  The wise counselor will realize this and not treat 11 second counseling like 1 second left full court tosses.  To do so puts you in danger of pulling a Roscoe.  So, counselors trust the sovereignty of God, learn from his patience, and don’t pull a Roscoe.  

From the Pen of Newton: The Oak Tree of Grace

John Newton explains the work of grace in the believers soul as more like a mighty oak tree than Jonah’s gourd which sprang up overnight.  By “work of grace” Newton does not mean only initial conversion but the entire process of redemption:

   The work of grace is not like Jonah's gourd, which sprang up and flourished in a night--and as quickly withered; but rather like the oak, which, from a little acorn and a tender plant, advances with an almost imperceptible growth from year to year, until it becomes a broad-spreading and deep-rooted tree, and then it stands for ages. The Christian oak shall grow and flourish forever.

   When I see any, soon after they appear to be awakened, making a speedy profession of great joy, before they have a due acquaintance with their own hearts--I am in pain for them. I am not sorry to hear them afterwards complain that their joys are gone, and they are almost at their wit's end; for, without some such check, to make them feel their weakness and dependence, I seldom find them to turn out well; either their fervor insensibly abates, until they become quite cold, and sink into the world again--of which I have seen many instances. Or, if they do not give up all--their walk is uneven, and their spirit has not that savor of brokenness and true humility which is a chief ornament of our holy profession. If they do not feel the plague of their hearts at first--they find it out afterwards, and too often manifest it to others.

   Therefore, though I know the Spirit of the Lord is free, and will not be confined to our rules, and there may be excepted cases; yet, in general, I believe the old proverb, "Soft and fair goes far," will hold good in Christian experience. Let us be thankful for the beginnings of grace, and wait upon our Savior patiently for the increase. And as we have chosen him for our physician--let us commit ourselves to his management, and not prescribe to him what he shall prescribe for us. He knows us and he loves us better than we do ourselves, and will do all things well.  (Works of Newton, Volume 1, 642-43)

There is, in my opinion, much to learn from Newton here.  I firmly believe that what Newton describes here became an epidemic in the late 1800’s with the rise of the Pelagian practices of Charles Finney.  Even in our day many church leaders, I believe wholly out of love, desire to quickly alleviate feelings of weakness, dependency, guilt, brokenness, etc.  Out of this good desire gone astray we end up as Newton said, “prescribing to him what he shall prescribe for us”. 

What then should you do?  Should a pastor pick up the practice of the Puritans and allow people to “smart awhile” or should they quickly apply the remedy of grace? 

I’ll attempt an answer to that question tomorrow…

Two Heaps, Neither Named Todd

Some 300 years ago Cotton Mather gave this advise to new ministers, and it is worth heeding today:

Simply put: there are some things in life and ministry that you are simply not going to understand.  File those away under unintelligble.  Some things you will not be able to fix.  File those away under incurables. 

Mather’s advice to consider some some un-persuadable people as incurables is a little hard for me to swallow.  I do not like to think that any person is “incurable”.  Such a statement seems to be negating the power of God. 

However, I think if we are careful not to press Mather’s advice too far it is sound.  There are certain times when it becomes apparent that I have done everything that I know to do as far as counseling some person.  When I have done all that I can, then certainly I must continue to pray, and perhaps pray that the Lord will open up a door for some other person to come into their life. 

What do you think of Mather’s advice? 

“Quick to Pastor, Slow to Speak”

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger…

…unless you are a pastor. 

I wonder how many dear souls have been wounded by a pastor that is slow to hear and therefore also quick to speak and usually quick to anger.  More personally, I wonder how many dear souls that I have wounded by quick counsel. 

Quick counsel is easy to do.  Most people have the same types of problems and therefore it is tempting to offer simple cookie-cutter solutions.  I know that at times I have been guilty of throwing a few Bible verses at the heart of a weary saint (or perhaps some Christian platitudes). 

Thankfully (for myself and others) I am growing.  I have gotten better at following James’ admonishment to engage in active listening before I assume that I know how to speak.  Here are 4 things that I have tried to do to slow myself down and make sure that I am quick to listen and slow to speak:

1. Try to rephrase and repeat what I believe they are saying.  “Is this what you are saying”?  This helps me know that I do truly understand (in as much as I can) what the other person is going through and what they are communicating.
2. Try to defend their position.  This is especially helpful in a lively debate or discussion.  If I am able to accurately defend a persons position, or define it in such a way that they could say, “yes, this is absolutely what I am saying”, then I know that I am in a position to understand and hopefully speak truth.
3. Maybe I am the idiot.  If I am think that something has a really simple solution it could be possible that I am the simpleton and not the person struggling.
4. Don’t assume my assessment and counsel is helpful or communicating effectively.  “Is this helpful?  Does this apply to what you are saying”? etc.  I can spend 15 minute rambling about something that doesn’t actually apply in this situation.  It’d be like a doctor spending an hour before emergency surgery prepping a machine that he does not need to use. 
5. Try to look through the words to the heart.  The heart is the battlefield.  Sometimes the way people phrase things exposes a misunderstanding in the gospel, character of God, view of themselves, etc.  Rather than trying to correct the “way” that somebody says something I try to listen for the heart’s speech. 

When I am counseling someone I try to apply these things.  It may make the counseling session a tad longer—but hopefully more fruitful.  For the busy pastor it is probably beneficial to spend an hour once or twice than it is to spend 15 minutes 40 times. 

Consider these words from Mike Emlet as well:

Dr. Mike Emlet - On mistakes we can make using Scripture in advice giving. from CCEF on Vimeo.  (HT: Dane Ortlund)

Not Being Eliphaz

I hope I am getting better at pastoral counseling.  When I first began doing ministry I figured that the key to effective counseling was knowing answers and giving those answers to hurting people.  I’m not so sure of that anymore. 

I take my cues from the book of Job.  Consider this little snippet from Eliphaz’s counsel to his hurting friend Job:

“8 As for me I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause…17 Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.  18 For he wounds, but he binds up;  he shatters, but his hands heal.  19 He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.” 

That is good solid counsel is it not?  Calamity has come upon Job.  Depressing, “my life will never be the same”, type of calamity.  Is it not good advice to tell a hurting man to entrust Himself to the Lord’s care?  Eliphaz is reminding Job that this is a period of discipline but trust in the Lord and eventually he will heal you.  Eliphaz essentially tells Job to “turn that frown upside down” God will bless you again eventually. 

Every one of those verses can find other Old Testament Scripture to back it up.  Whether it be from the Torah, the Psalms, or the Prophets what Eliphaz is saying is biblical. 

Then why this:

“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”  (Job 42:7, emphasis mine)

So what is the problem; is Eliphaz’s problem a theology problem? 

As I read Job I am becoming increasingly convinced that the problem with Eliphaz and his two friends is not that they have horrible theology.  These men aren’t the Dr. Phil and Oprah of the camel riding days.  They have pretty solid theology (especially given their historical place in God’s unfolding revelation).  Theology is not really their problem.  Their problem is that they are wrongly applying pretty solid theology.  And because of this they are not speaking accurately of the LORD. 

Notice in 5:17 that Eliphaz encourages Job not to despise the discipline of the LORD.  That is true.  But it does not apply to Job because this is not happening to Job because of the Lord’s discipline.  So everything that Eliphaz says—no matter how true theologically—is off the mark.  It is crappy counsel. 

Those of us that are pastors need to be extra sensitive in seeing ourselves in Eliphaz.  We spend a good amount of our time studying Scripture, rubbing shoulders with people, and learning the ways of the LORD.  We typically know the right answers.  But we are prone to being like Eliphaz where we try to make our theological answers fit every situation.  Sometimes we need to just listen and humbly say, "maybe I don’t have the answers to this one”.

Are You a Fool?

Paul Tripp using the Proverbs as his guide offers twelve characteristics of a foolish person.  A fool is a person who:

1. Is convinced that he is right (12:15)
2. Quickly shows his annoyance (12:16)
3. Is hotheaded and reckless (14:16)
4. Spurns discipline and correction (15:5)
5. Wastes money (17:16)
6. Delights in airing his own opinions (18:2)
7. Is quick to quarrel (20:3)
8. Scorns wisdom (23:9)
9. Is wise in his own eyes (26:5)
10. Trusts in himself (28:26)
11. Rages and scoffs, and there is no peace around him (29:9)
12. Gives full vent to his anger (29:11)

(Quoted from Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemers Hands, page 291)

You are in this list.  So am I.  So is your teenager, your toddler, and your grandma. 

Discipleship is the process whereby fools are transformed into the image of the Only Wise God.  Jesus helps us stop being idiots.  He also helps us to patiently (wisely) help fools be transformed by Wisdom Himself.

Just Stop IT!

There are actually some times when this may be good counseling.  Of course it would need to be firmly supported by a decent season of gospel teaching.  So that the encouragement to STOP IT! is something that stems from the gospel.  In other words Jesus redeemed you from sin now stop living in it! 

But there are also other times when this is horrible counseling.  And it has left a good number of people hurt in its wake.  I think especially of two hot button issues within the church today; homosexuality and depression.  Consider depression.  How do you tell someone whose mind is broken to “STOP IT”?  In order to have the power to STOP IT I need my brain to function normally.  That takes time and a ton of gospel work.  The same thing goes with homosexual desires.  (Consider Wesley Hill’s book as a resource for this). 

Lord, give me the grace to trust in the power of the gospel.  Without Your grace my sense of urgency (helping people, helping myself) will quickly turn into impatience.  Help me to see that often gospel work takes time to root out idols and replace them with Christ.  Forgive me for times when I have counseled people to STOP IT when all they really needed was a partner.  Forgive me also for times when I’ve been cowardly and refused to believe in the power of the gospel.  Forgive me for times when I should have said STOP IT, but instead I cowered.  Thank you that people’s health and the furtherance of your kingdom does not depend on me “getting it” and ministering perfectly.  Thanks for your grace.

Inside the Mind of Despair

So, how would you preach the gospel to the person that wrote this?

(From here).

Depression, Christians, and Medicine Part 6

After a two-week hiatus (having a baby has a tendency to do that) I will attempt to close out this series with this post and then one more tomorrow.  Today I want to offer my position and then tomorrow offer a few practical applications to my position. 

Should depressed Christians take medicine?

Presupposing that we are whole people, that have been wholly effected by the Fall, but will be totally redeemed, through the gospel (with it’s ripple effects)—which is absolutely sufficient, though God still uses means to make the gospel shine, my answer to this question is a jam-packed “maybe”. 
Allow me to fill that “maybe” out a little bit.  First of all, I do not think it is wise to ONLY take medicine.  So, if I were to counsel a believer to take medication I would also encourage them to seek godly counsel on top of it.  But that is nothing unusual.  Everyone needs sharpening by other believers in some way or another. 

Secondly, I do believe that many people are over-medicated and under-discipled.  I think the folks in the biblical counseling movement are partially right in saying that often our psychological troubles are not biological problems they are repentance problems.  But as noted previously that is not the ONLY problem. 

Help from Dr. Eric Johnson

Honestly, I think my professor Dr. Eric Johnson has answered this question in the most helpful way that I have seen.  He sees human beings as being spiritual, ethical, psychosocial, and biological with an “complex interdependence” (368) between them. 

 He draws it out this way:





And this is where I have found him extremely helpful.  From this he provides four simple rules for soul care:

• Rule #1:  Christian soul-care providers are free to work at all levels.
• Rule #2:  Christian soul-care providers should work at the highest levels possible. 
• Rule #3: Christian soul-care providers should work at the lowest level necessary.
• Rule #4: Christian soul-care providers need to transpose lower level activity into the spiritual order. 

Conclusion

In conclusion there are times when people do need to take medicine.  That decision is not one that should be entered into quickly.  Nor should it be seen as a “fix-all”.  We are complex human beings and we should really be ministered to on all levels. 

If you are taking medicine then rejoice in the fact that such advances in medicine were purchased on the Cross of Christ.  This is all part of redemption and there will be some day when we experience full redemption and you will not need to fulfill that prescription. 

Also, know that Christ can transform anything.  Your identity (if you are a believer) is found in Christ not in some sort of "disorder” that someone says that you have.  You are not a depressed Christian.  You are a Christian that happens to struggle with depression this side of total redemption. 

Should depressed Christians take medicine? 

Maybe, but never ONLY medicine. 

Now, bring on the discussion…

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Screen Clippings and quotes from Foundations for Soul Care by Eric L. Johnson.

Gavin DeGraw On Medicine

Okay I don’t think he would take the same stance as me, but as I was writing this series on depression I found it weird that this song came on.  Thought I’d post it for your viewing pleasure:

Depression, Christians, and Medicine Part 5

We have been discussing whether or not a depressed Christian should take medicine.  We have looked at my presuppositions as well as outlined two simplistic (in my opinion) views.  Today I just want to briefly point out what is at stake. 

It is important to understand that most everyone in this particular debate has the same goal.  If we are talking about Christians discussing this issue; I am assuming that they all love Jesus, they all want to see God glorified, and they all want to see God significantly heal people through the gospel.  Nobody wants to detract from God’s glory and nobody wants to harm another person.  But what unifies us is also the core of what is at stake. 

Each side runs the risk of harming another person.  If someone NEEDS medicine and for theological reasons they refuse it—they will be harmed.  If it is true that taking medicine merely masks the deeper problem then they will not be significantly healed.  So this is not something that we can casually approach.

Both sides also can detract from God’s glory and neuter the gospel.  It is possible that medicine could fill an idolatrous role that only God intends to fill.  If someone is distracted from the much greater reality of spiritual battle and this becomes a biological issue, it is possible that “science” can get glory that should belong to the Lord.  And it is also possible that God has redeemed science and medicine and that part of the ripple effects of the Cross is the use of medicine to provide significant healing.  To refuse to use something that Christ purchased is a numbing of the benefits of His redemption.  So in one sense the glory of God is also at stake in this discussion. 

This is the bottom line—helping people for the glory of God.  How best does God say that we do that?  That is THE question in this entire discussion. 

Depression, Christians, and Medicine Part 4

Yesterday we discussed the simplistic diabetes/depression argument.  Today we will look at the no psychotropic’s argument.  In other words—Christians shouldn’t take medicine. 

Two Types

This particular approach has two variants.  The first type of “no psychotropic's” rejects not only psychotropic’s but any form of medicine.  Their view is much more involved than I will present it, but for shortness sake, allow me to summarize.  Essentially the belief here is that taking medicine is distrusting God.  Rather than trusting in man (medicine) we should pray and believe that God will heal us.  If he chooses not to heal us then that is His will.  More extreme varieties of this belief will refuse all forms of medicine even to the point of death.  (You’ve maybe seen cases of this in the news).

The second type is really the one that I am concerned with.  This view denies that biology can be the cause of psychological stress.  According to one proponent of this view, “the mentally ill are really people with unsolved personal problems”.  Even things like Schizophrenia are really just camouflage for the underlying issues.  Typically it is unresolved sin. 

Most of my readers probably have ruffled feathers by now.  How can you possibly say that depression, anxiety, schizophrenia is MY fault?  Why would I WANT to be depressed?  Why would somebody WANT to have anxiety or schizophrenia? 

Listen, the guys that hold these views are not stupid.  They are also not mean people that want to destroy people.  They love the Lord, they love the Scriptures, they love people.  And they truly want to see these people healed and experience God’s awesomeness.  So why do they say such things? 

Their Argument

I will try to sum up the view as best as I can but if this really peaks your interest I would suggest reading material by Jay Adams and those influenced by him.  The driving force behind this belief is that God is central and the Bible is sufficient.  It is largely reactionary against the excesses of naturalistic psychology and Christian integrationist. 

Eric Johnson in his book on Soul-Care sums up their passion nicely when he states:

Because modern psychotherapy and counseling discourse make no substantial reference to God and sin, counseling by Christians largely based on that work will not rely on God and the power of Christ’s salvation in its soul-healing, and will unwittingly contribute to the substitution of the Christian religion with another, secular religion.  The very glory of God is at stake here, and the BCM [Biblical Counseling Movement] has seen itself as on a prophetic mission, challenging God’s people to choose God and his salvation for the cure of the soul rather than rely on secular (that is, merely human) counseling strategies.  (Johnson, Foundations of Soul-Care, p.107

If you want to understand this view then you must understand their passion for seeing sin as real and the significant problem with humanity.  You also need to know that they believe Christ and the Scriptures are the singularly sufficient for dealing with this fundamental problem. 

So how would someone from this school of thought answer our question?  Should a depressed Christian take medicine?  First of all they would say that your identity is in Christ not in depression.  You are a Christian that is experiencing symptoms of depression—but your fundamental identity is in Christ.  What will fix your depression is not medicine.  That will only mask the great issues that are going on.  What you need is biblical truth and perhaps repentance.  That is of course putting it coldly—such a thing would be done more warmly and lovingly in a counseling setting.  But at the end of the day this is the position. 

The Problem

William Cowper. 

Not just William Cowper but scores of people like him.  John Newton, who loved Christ and treasured the Scriptures, did not take a rebuke and repent type of method.  He understood that Cowper’s problem was not necessarily unconfessed sin or anything like that. 

Now I know that any strong proponent of this view would argue that the only for sure thing that we have to go by are the Scriptures, not John Newton.  Maybe Newton was wrong and Cowper was not counseled correctly.  Maybe.  But is there a difference between believing in the sufficiency of Scripture and believing that it is Scripture is sufficient in all areas? 

That question just opened an entire debate.  One that would take far too long to discuss here.  So, I’ll take you back to my presuppositions and you can do the research yourself.  I believe that Scripture is totally sufficient and adequate for that which it sets out to do.  But it’s not a sufficient guide for giving us the history of early American colonialism.  Nor is it necessarily a sufficient guide for fully understanding anatomy and physiology. 

You could have given Cowper a million bible verses.  He knew them all.  He understood grace.  He understood justification by faith alone.  He knew Jesus.  But occasionally something would snap in his mind and there would be a radical disconnect between worldview and his personal theology.  He believe the gospel was true for everyone in creation but himself.  Did he need more teaching?  Maybe you could argue that.  But is it possible that Cowper was experiencing something biological? 

At the end of the day I just find this view overly simplistic.  It sounds really good and convincing when it comes to exalting the Scriptures.  But it runs the risk of making the Bible fulfill promises that it never makes.  There are decent arguments from godly people that believe medicine is sometimes necessary. 

So what’s at stake in this discussion?  I’ll try to answer that tomorrow…