Why is it that we often to try to find a heightened awareness in troubled times by looking at our surroundings? According to C. Wright Mills, “What we experience in various and specific milieux, I have noted, is often caused by structural changes. Accordingly, to understand the changes of many personal milieux we are required to look beyond them”(Mills 10). To clarify, Mills is explaining that a sociologist cannot examine sociological issues within society without taking into account the variable of individuals and their troubles. Additionally, Mills is referencing the importance for us to look outside of the box when encountering change to find answers to perceived troubles which enter our own environments. Interestingly enough, as Christians, we are instructed in the Holy Bible to seek the Lord in all things. Proverbs 3:4-6 (the King James Version) states, “So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”(Holy Bible ). It is this writer’s contention that, God is indeed the Master Counselor because He created all things, and commands us to obey Him. With this in mind, a submission can be put forth that, counseling can be defined as the action of searching and receiving guidance from a source outside of our own environments. How amazing is God from that perspective? Amen!
To open, looking at the account of creation in the Book of Genesis establishes that God created us outside of His environment. Genesis 1:1 (the King James Version) states, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”(Holy Bible ). The first four words tell us that God was there before everything. 1 John 1:1-3 ( of the King James Version) confirms this by stating, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made”(Holy Bible ). If we look back at Genesis 1, we can see that God creates everything by speaking first. It is with His Word that brings everything to fruition. Today, it is His Word that guides us, and His Word that counsels us with the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Amen! Taking this wonderful Biblical truth and applying it to lay counseling and clinical counseling reveals a plethora of similarities. In the New Testament, we learn that Jesus was setting up the foundation for His church which is also referenced as the body of Christ. In order for Jesus to begin establishing a foundation for His church, Jesus needed to do the work of His Father, the Master Counselor. A solid argument can be made that when Jesus was gathering His disciples that they were lay counselors from the beginning which grew into clinical counselors to do the Lord will. Jesus doing the will of His Father is reflected in Matthew 3:16-17. The Apostles of Jesus doing His will is best reflected in Acts 2 at the day of Pentecost.
In view of this, the comparisons between lay counseling and clinical counseling are effectively tied to John 15:5. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing”(Holy Bible ). Generally speaking, lay counselors and clinical counselors whom walk faithfully with the Lord are branches from the vine of Christ. Both are God’s creation doing His will by helping others whom God created. We are instructed to build up members of the body of Christ, and spread the message of God’s church to those who do not believe. I Corinthians 12:27-28 (the King James Version) states, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues”(Holy Bible ). God has placed us where HE wants us in life whether it is to be a lay counselor or a clinical counselor. At some point in our lives as Christians, we will be called to use the gifts given to us from the Holy Spirit to counsel our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the biggest common denominator linking lay counseling and clinical counseling together. In contrast between the two, is the level of training we have. According to Tan, “Lay counseling can be broadly defined as caregiving by nonprofessional or paraprofessional helpers who have limited or no training in counseling skills”(Tan 424). God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. He knows that we are not perfect, and we all will be at different places in our lives while walking with Him. He never gives us anything we cannot handle. I Corinthians 10:13 (the King James Version) states, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”(Holy Bible ). According to Competent Christian Counseling, “Professional clinicians comprise mainly psychologists, psychiatrists, and other clinical professionals who are trained in and identifying primarily with their mental health discipline”(Clinton and Ohlschalger 86). Generally speaking from the Christian perspective lens, clinicians and lay helpers are called by God to help others in this world. Ultimately, when our identities with Christ are growing branches from His vine we prosper according to His will and purpose. Be blessed.
Works Cited
Clinton, Dr. Timothy and Dr. George Ohlschalger. “The New Christian Counselors.” Clinton, Dr. Timothy and Dr. George Ohlschalger. Competent Christian Counseling . Colorado Springs,CO: WaterBrook Press, 2002. 68-90.
Holy Bible . Thomas Nelson Publishers , 1997.
Mills, C. Wright. “The Promise .” The Sociological Imagination . New York,NY: Oxford University Press , 2013. 3-24.
Tan, Siang-Yang. “Lay Helping-The Whole Church in Soul Care Ministry .” Clinton, Dr. Timothy and Dr. George Ohlschlager. Competent Christian Counseling. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press, 2002. 424-436.
