Counsel From the Cross
This book was amazing. I underlined more stuff in it than any of the books we’ve read yet. I scratched the surface of what I could have shared from the book in this paper. It was so refreshingly gospel centered, which was a pleasant surprise in a counseling book. The thesis of this book is that looking to the gospel and the word of God to solve our problems is the answer; not looking to the wisdom of the world or within ourselves. [Philippians 4:6] This book “invites you to discover the power to defeat sin and sadness, conflict and bitterness, and self-pity and self-contempt, by moving more deeply into the gospel.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 14) The book also takes the truth of “our acceptance before God by Christ’s righteousness alone and makes it practical as you live your everyday life.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 19) I loved how it pointed to the gospel as an answer for even the immediate problems we face day in and day out. How the gospel should intersect with everything throughout our day. “We naively press the gospel out to the margins of our faith because we have never really been taught how it’s meant to connect with our daily lives.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 29) The gospel is not just for salvation but also sanctification. This is not what those seeking counseling expect and may not be what most counselors point them toward, but it should be. A list of steps to take, or a moralistic encouragement to white knuckle it and get better, will not fix the problems people have. The gospel will. The book also lays out a definition for biblical counseling which is “an anthropology taken from the Bible, and a trust of God’s evaluation of us and of our condition as our only source of help and our ultimate goal. It is an embrace of the Bible as being “‘breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.’” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 191) [2 Tim. 3:16-17] They share that when they say Biblical counselors they mean they “try to consistently allow the Bible to define us–who we are, where our problems come from, and how we can be helped...the truths of Scripture, when rightly understood and applied, are the answer to every difficulty, trial, and doubt that Christians face.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 186)
One huge takeaway from the book for me was how we can wrongly filter out parts of the scriptures when we read them and miss the gospel and are merely left with moralism. I loved the example one of the authors gave of living near a freeway and becoming so used to the white noise of it that they no longer noticed the cacophony. The book taught that in this same way we can “be quick to strip out the familiar and boil down Scripture to a tidy little take-away list of do’s and don'ts.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 25). I loved how the book started the first chapter asking you to read Ephesians 5:1 and then asked you questions about it and broke down how many skip right over some of the most important parts. They gave this danger gravitas by stating “when that happens, it changes the message of the verse, and ultimately, of the entire Bible.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 24) That grabbed my attention. I have always had a desire to encourage others to read their bibles more, and to read the whole bible in a purposeful order rather than randomly opening it to a page and trying to get a little something out of it for that day. This book helps me to learn to go even deeper and make sure I’m not skipping over the familiar in the scriptures and missing important parts because of my reading pace. It was another great voice into my life along with other influences over the last year that have helped me find the incredible value in reading the scriptures carefully. I still love reading through the entire bible at a good pace, but now I also cherish the slow careful reading of one passage multiple times. It started in Will Barkley’s first bible study class at ITC. We took weeks to slowly go through small sections of Philippians over and over again and just kept getting more out of the same text. It was incredible and exciting and eye opening. Preparing a sermon has also given me the gift of reading one passage of scripture over and over again to know it was well as possible. I am so thankful for all the time I have been able to spend doing this in my bible. I look forward to using those times of study to not only inform my sermons but also help others looking for counsel. A desire has grown in me to know my bible well in this deeper way beyond the overall story of the bible, which is also very beneficial. This book “Counsel from the Cross” wisely points us to reading the Bible with a careful slow eye to make sure we’re not skipping over what may have become white noise. I really appreciated the emphasis that this puts us in danger of not getting the whole counsel of God to help us as believers and those we are counseling. [2 Tim 2:15] “When we lose those truths, what takes center stage in our awareness? We do, of course. When we lose the centrality of the cross, Christianity morphs into a religion of self-improvement and becomes about us, about our accomplishments, and about getting our act together.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 25) This book pointed out that the gospel is the answer for our troubles. People want a quick fix to a list of things to do but instead we all need to truly know the reality of what God did for us in Jesus Christ and who we are because of that reality. It was refreshing to read a book on counseling that was just drenched in a gospel centered approach to helping people live out their lives and solve their relational problems.
I also loved how this book argued that the only way we can truly change is by understanding how loved we are in Christ. “Love is the only motive that can impelled true heart transformation, and love will be present only when we see, demonstrated before our eyes, how we’ve been loved. Guilt over former sins never propels obedience; it only breeds doubt, fear, and bitterness.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 44) I can see how people who come for counseling would not have the gospel in mind as a solution for their problems. They are looking for a fix, maybe some helpful techniques to do better or fix their spouse, but I doubt heart transformation is on their mind. This book did not use Band-Aid techniques and moralism as ways to solve problems but instead kept pointing the reader back to the Gospel and the amazing grace and unsearchable riches that are found in being saved by God. This is getting to the root of the problem to solve it in the best way; a heart transformed by the gospel and the knowledge that you are chosen and loved in a greater way than anyone else ever could love you. “we can’t over emphasize the importance of knowing that all our sins are forgiven, once for all time, when we strive to become more like him.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 44)
To parallel the last paragraph this book also pointed out that “We sin against God because we don’t love him as we should.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 56) The Bible tells us to love God is to obey him. [1 John 5:3] He tells us to love him and love others. When we have problems that require counseling we tend to be focused on ourselves and why other people have wronged us and how they need to fix things. Our focus is not biblical here. If we truly delighted in God we would also delight in his law. [Psalm 1:2] “How can we love our neighbor, who has been created in the image of God when our love for God himself is so apathetic?” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 56) When we are pursuing self love rather than the love of God we do a poor job fulfilling the greatest commandments. Conflict happens when the thing someone values is being threatened and when our focus is on self we will always be in conflict. If however we are taking up our cross daily [Matthew 16:24] and delighting in God’s law by living as a servant of all [Mark 9:35] we will find ourselves bringing peace to relationships instead of enmity. “Love is the key to every sin problem in our lives both vertically, between ourselves and the Lord, and horizontally, between ourselves and others.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 56) If we can help people to get the focus off of themselves and the wrongs others are doing to them and onto how loved they are in Christ and how this should grow in them a love for God that overshadows everything else we will be getting to the heart of the matter and helping them solve their problems with lasting change that comes from a renewed heart and mind that only God can give. Instead of “fix my spouse” we will hopefully get them leaving with this prayer on their lips: “God fix my heart so that I would love you as you call me to and to love others as you have loved me.”
This book was another amazingly helpful resource pointing me back to Christ. I feel that of all the roles of a pastor I have the least amount of experience in is counseling. I want to grow in this. I think a lot of that is spending time counseling people just like I can get better at preaching by preaching. However, this book also encourages me that I can help those in need of counseling by pointing them back to the gospel. I can help people in need by knowing my bible well and using it to give them answers. Not the answers they’re going to find in the world but those only found in the word of God. It’s all about Jesus and what he’s done for us! How this book pointed that out again and again as being important to our daily lives and not just our salvation was incredibly helpful. I want to point people back to Christ when I preach, when I socialize, and when I counsel. Broken relationships all stem from a broken relationship with God our father. In the paraphrased words of Paul Tripp, “Marriage is war... not with your spouse but with God.” When we fail to see how God and the gospel provide us with everything we need for joy to the full then we will look to our spouse to fulfill us. When we look to not just our spouse but the relationship of our marriage to bring us all of our joy and fulfillment it will fail us every time, and we will fail our spouse every time! I will use the lessons I learned in this book to drive people to the cross and who they are because of what Jesus has done for them. I will also use this book as a helpful reference on my shelf. I think Appendix II in the book with scripture passages by topic for use in counseling will prove to be a wonderful resource. I also loved a discussion the interns had with Bob about how many people who come in with problems haven’t been regularly attending church and are not often a part of the body of Christ. I love how Bob shared that pointing them back to being a part of the body is one of the best things you can do for people who tend to isolate themselves in times of trouble. The church should also be a great resource for those in need of counseling. I will take that lesson with me as I move into pastoral ministry someday. It reminds me of the lesson that a pastor is not a professional but a Sheppard and that a pastor can use the body to help hurting people. It doesn’t only have to be intense sessions between the counseled and a pastor but the body can also come alongside people and help them seek Christ in all things. The body can help hold their troubled brothers and sisters accountable and lovingly guide them toward the truth of the gospel and a response to it of sanctification in their lives. To pull from the book on this subject as well: “the Bible also mentions another conduit through which the Father pours his mercy and power into the hearts of his children: deep, meaningful fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the church ... Fellowship includes accountability, encouragement, and counsel.” (Fitzpatrick and Johnson 47)
Scriptures References
Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Ephesians 5:1
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Psalm 1:2
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Mark 9:35
“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
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