In a lot of churches, the word counseling kind of trips people up.
It’s got history, sure. Back in the 70s and 80s, Jay Adams was saying, hey, let’s bring this stuff back under Scripture. Let’s stop handing off care to psychology that doesn’t start with God. And so biblical counseling became a thing. A category. A movement. Especially in seminaries, training programs, that kind of space. And it made sense there. Still does.
But in the everyday life of a church? The word sometimes doesn’t land quite right.
Like, people hear counseling and think... what? Offices, appointments, specialists. Maybe clipboards. And it can start to feel like, “Oh, that’s for serious problems,” or, “I’m not in crisis, I just… I don’t know, need someone to sit with me.” Or maybe it feels like they’re being referred out. Like they asked for help and got scheduled instead.
Which isn’t what biblical counseling is about. At least not here. Not in the rhythms of church life.
Because here, it’s not clinical. It’s not distant. It’s just… people showing up for each other. Listening. Caring. Speaking truth with love. Not always polished. Definitely not always tidy. It’s grounded in Scripture, yeah. But also in compassion. In time. In being present.
And it’s not exactly discipleship, not in the broader sense, though sure, it overlaps. It’s more focused. More specific. Like when someone’s going through something and doesn’t know how to keep going, or where God is in it. And someone else comes alongside with grace and patience and walks with them. That’s counseling. That counts.
Think of the Christian life like a river. You get in and start following Jesus. Some stretches are smooth. Some are whitewater. Sometimes you hit a rock. Or drift sideways. Or your raft just kind of… gives out. And you’re there, stuck, and don’t know how to get back in the flow. That’s where this kind of care steps in. Not to diagnose you. Just to help. To patch things up and paddle together for a while.
Maybe words like soul care or heart care or even just one-anothering say it better. They sound more like what it actually is. Not formal. Not clinical. Just… real.
We still use counseling when we’re training folks. It fits the category. Has history. Keeps us anchored in Scripture. That matters. But when we’re caring for each other in the church—when someone’s hurting or stuck or just tired—we’re not handing them off. We’re pulling them in. Inviting them deeper into the body.
So yeah, maybe the language we use should sound more like that. More like people, less like programs. More like presence. Less like protocol. Just something that feels like, “Hey, I see you. Let’s walk this together.”