Pastor's Christian Psychology

What is the source that you turn to for help? Who is your counselor?

It can be costly to go to a counselor. And even if you have the money, it is not easy to find a competent counselor. There are counselors whose orientation is secular without any god or soul in the picture. There are counselors whose orientation is Christian Psychology where they integrate the research of secular psychologies with the Bible. There are counselors whose orientation is Biblical Counseling who focus just on the Scriptures and will not take from secular psychologies and Christian Psychology findings. Then there is the back-fence counselor whose orientation is home grown folklore.

In the midst of the flourishing different approaches to psychology there is another way out. You can counsel yourself with the aid of God Himself. The Bible is clear that our first and primary teacher is the triune God. God has promised to come to us and counsel us. However, He requires something from us. He requires that we read His textbook on counseling … the Bible.

The Bible is critical for God counseling us. It is God’s word. The Bible’s way of doing psychology is to allow God to place us in a particular situation and then let God address us about Himself, ourselves, the relationship of the two, and the situation we are in. I call it Hebrew Psychology for it was the Hebrew’s way of doing psychology. It is written out in narrative form and illustrated in the lives of those recorded. As the story of the biblical character unfolds, the theology and psychology of God, yourself, and your situation is interspersed into the story.

The Bible is critical for you counseling yourself and allowing God to counsel you. It describes God ways and judgments. It reveals the design of how God created you and how that design was intended to function. It reveals the physical model of your being based upon that creation. The tabernacle given at Mt. Sinai is that model. We know that the tabernacle is a physical model of psychological, physical, and spiritual truths, because the New Testament writers used tabernacle imagery to convey spiritual truths about God, the Christian, and the relationship of the two.

Basic to you counseling yourself, you need an understanding of the tabernacle and its spiritual applications. We begin by looking at the tabernacle in Exodus 25. The tabernacle is patterned after something that is in heaven. The message in Hebrews builds upon this spiritual pattern. An offering was required for the construction of the tabernacle. The offering was specified by God Himself. Which offering to give was the individual’s choice, but it had to be given with a willing heart.

In the spiritual applications of the tabernacle we find that God has specific structural and functional patterns, which the individual must move in. The writer of Hebrews identifies the Christian as God’s house. It is a reference to the tabernacle. The Christian is God’s dwelling place. He lives within us. He wants to be our Teacher and Counselor.

The question remains, “What is the source that you turn to for counseling?“ In the next blog we will look at the steps in ministering in your tabernacle as it is revealed in the tabernacle in the Old Testament.