David Powlison was charged with the task of trying to tie everything together. One of the things that we’ve examined throughout these days together is avoiding pitfalls. We must try to avoid the pitfalls and Powlison listed several: not getting lost in endless introspection, do not read another’s motives, don’t think that analysis equates to solution, don’t mistake pietism for the faith that works through love, don’t substitute cognitive rehearsal for the relationship of faith and don’t become formulaic.

The greater part of theology rests in understanding the relationship between different truths. Seeing how they work together is different from understanding separate truths. The greater part of wisdom in ministry is holding in balance, complimentary truths. Error is usually the exaggeration of one truth disconnected from all of the other truths that help that one truth make sense.

We must strive to understand people, having an accurate description of human life: 1) what does a person love (issues of the heart), 2) how does a person live, and 3) what a person faces (their life circumstances). All of these things work together to form a person. But there is also another “package” of truths, not about man but about God who speaks to our self-understanding. All of this is meant to be put into action. There is always a response being called for.

For many people, true biblical counseling will be the first time in years, maybe even ever, that someone really dealt with them as a whole person. We must never underestimate the power of biblical love. The simple act of truly listening to people is often quite powerful. It’s interesting that we must often listen before we can truly speak.

True biblical counseling stands in stark contrast to the methods and understandings of the world. Quite often, the world would have us believe that we are simply passive; we are victims of our genes, our history or other things. Biblical counseling, however, reminds us that we are responsible, culpable creatures. Yes, things might be done to us, but we are nonetheless responsible for our reaction to those things. Hebrews 4 reminds us that the Word of God judges the intentions of the thoughts of our hearts. Curbing or changing external behavior is never enough.

But the question of how we do this practically and powerfully often remains fraught with pitfalls. Martin Luther spoke of a drunken peasant who couldn’t make it home because he kept leading his horse off of one side of the road or another. This is a helpful reminder as so much of what passes for “biblical” counseling is sometimes either nothing more than merely changing behavior or legalism, or both. It’s common that many people are often felt judged by those who claim to trying to help them. We must beware of a false piety. We must not believe the myth that there are no more Pharisees. They might no longer wear robes, but the Pharisaical spirit is still alive and well.

Pietism is certainly a danger. It is living as though the only thing that matters is spiritual life. How often have you met someone who makes you feel as though you are not “spiritual” enough. Chances are, that person is clothed in the robe of false piety rather than true biblical maturity. When we come in contact with those who are truly biblical maturity, we may recognize that we are not where they are in the Christian walk, but we are spurred on to more growth. When we deal with the falsely pious, we feel condemned.

False piety is often accompanied by a formula of actions. At heart, this is nothing more than legalism. We must not only be able to recognize this in others but in ourselves, especially in counseling situations. The bible never falls into mere rote actions. We must instead strive to understand the words, not just repeat them. People live their lives concretely. There are few people who are actually helped by hearing the word “Gospel,” they need the content and the Person. They need Christ and Christ meets many different people in many different ways.

In keeping in line with avoiding pitfalls, we need to realize that not every desire is wrong. This is Buddhism, not Christianity. We all have natural affections. This is not necessarily wrong. What’s wrong is when our natural desires become monsters, they become inordinate affections, cravings and lusts. In asking why we fight and quarrel, James says that it is our desires! We must strive for redeemed affections. These might be the same: we like to eat food, this is not in and of itself bad, but we must be aware of our desires taking over and losing perspective.

In so much of the Christian life, not to mention counseling, we are striving for balance. There’s a reason so many of the competitive reality shows feature feats of balance; it’s because we’re so bad at it. We naturally tend to extremes but Christ will not allow this. For example, while it is certainly wrong to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy seeking to please people other than God, it is also wrong to not care at all aobut other people. We must find the biblical balance.

Through all of this, we must strive to find the way of wisdom that nourishes healthy Christian living: we must foster an accurate self-knowledge, minister God’s timely self-revelation and help people move into both transaction and action. Underneath all of this is the truth that we are whole and holistic creatures. We cannot segment or separate our lives, beliefs or actions.

At the end of the day, we must remember that much of biblical counseling is nothing more than calling others and ourselves to a proper biblical balance. Not just an understanding, but a practice. The Gospel is not just precious truth, it is a call to action. Christ calls us to obedience both in hands and heart; our counseling should do no less.

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