Pastors and Counselors in Tandem
I recently sat down with two others who have thought long and hard about the impact of our therapeutic age. Simply put, much of our culture is infused with the notion that each “I” should feel good and make life work for oneself. Our discussion centered around this thought: How does this cultural moment shape relationships between pastors and counselors? I anecdotally hear how pastors are frustrated that counselors might urge clients to trust themselves over the church or see a situation without the needed context. On the other hand, I hear from counselors who wish the church didn’t appear so critical or preoccupied with clients changing before being accepted. Across the US, these relationships have become contentious, or at least strained on a regular basis.
Despite obvious schisms between the telos of post-modernism (self-fulfillment) and the church (glorifying God and living out the kingdom), pastors and Christian counselors are working toward the same end. Surely, they should be able to work in tandem to usher people toward God, his designs, his life, which will result in changed hearts and experiences. Some thoughts have started to percolate for me on these issues as I work as a Professor of Counseling at Covenant Theological Seminary, meet with clients, and talk to a good number of people in ministry. I want to offer some strategic thoughts that might encourage the tandem labor of pastors and Christian counselors.
Pastors and counselors can unite around a common act even if they state their goals differently. The act is to help congregants or clients frame and experience their lives in the great narrative of Scripture. We want to help people make sense of their lives because this helps them with the issues of meaning, purpose, and ultimately, worship. To do this we must exegete the current culture in the pulpit and in the counseling hour and do so against the backdrop of this redemptive historical moment. For example, in our moment and culture we can ask: What are we being ushered toward, taught about, and led to believe about ourselves? How does this impact our self-beliefs, relationships, choices, and values? People sit in counselors’ offices more often when they can’t make sense of life. Pastors and counselors are both on the front lines of this challenge. Pastors can do this corporately and counselors can do this individually, and we can coordinate these back together—perhaps in active dialogue, sometimes not.
Pastors and counselors can uphold the holistic person by respecting the expertise of the other. Pastors have so many different points of contact that vary in scope and degree of intimacy as they engage people. They might be shaping the congregation through liturgy one moment, then supporting relational development in the church through specific ministries the next. Counselors mostly focus on one-to-one intensive depth. These differences of role allow different skill sets to come to bare on people’s lives. Pastors are under-shepherds (to Christ), leading the flock and discerning the flock’s direction in the kingdom. Counselors are under the under-shepherds, acting as mature co-sheep. They support the sheep in understanding how they are walking and functioning in the flock. This odd analogy shows the common space we occupy. Counselors do well to honor the flock and the direction we are all walking for maturity. Pastors do well to honor each sheep’s (perhaps annoying and slow) struggle to walk and function. Setting up a shared paradigm for ministry will greatly assist pastors and counselors.
Pastors and Counselors can recognize different but coherent vantage points and timelines. I came across a quote attributed to Peter Schoomaker: “Eating soup with a fork: slow and messy.” That is exactly what working for change with people is like. Especially in this cultural moment when the idea of “me” is primary and “community” is secondary. Counselors work slowly with people to help them from the cultural moment of “me,” to nurture them and then invite them to a more beautiful view of “community.” Pastors call people to beautiful “community” from day one. as they should. They attend to the “me” but within the “community.” It is wise for pastors to remember that invitations to more don’t always sound good to the impoverished—"it’s too rich of a food.” Let us recognize our shared vantage points and their accordant messages.
Given these ideas, I wanted to close with a couple of invitations—some to clinicians from pastors, some to pastors from clinicians. I encourage you to chew on them and see how they impact your role in working with others in the kingdom.
Invitations to clinicians: Be mindful of the model of counseling you employ and how it urges others toward redemptive history or current culture. Steward your authority with people well so that it urges them toward maturity in community and appropriate knowledge of the limited self. Speak plainly about pain, happiness, well-being, and purpose so that clients are not enamored by something false that they think can be found outside the church. Be confident in helping people delineate harm from persons and situations, and how this isn’t Christ’s vision of his church.
Invitations to pastors: Emphasize the interconnected reality of the holistic human body in its contexts so that you do not accidentally split the person apart. This leads to confusion that ends up in the counseling office. Learn about human development and changes processes to enrich ministry and make your invitations to “community” seem plausible. Overtly explain why and how the formative practices of church life form people toward health and wellness. Worry less about changing sinful choices and continue the loving invitation to more.
Above all, let us consider ourselves united in the great call of the kingdom. Let us talk together, encourage one another, and pray for our tandem efforts.
