Life Together: The Church and Biblical Counseling

When I think about the discipline of theology I often remember my first semester of formal theological study in college. I was a freshmen and taking my first course in New Testament with a professor, Dr. Bill Barcley, whom I dearly loved and was one of the most important early influences in my life. He was a careful theologian and sought to instill that same care in his students.

One night, I was studying in the library the night before the mid-term, surrounded by many other desperate students. As I reviewed my notes I heard another student express criticism about the material we were studying. “I hate this class,” she complained. “I don’t want to know all of this doctrine. I just want to know Jesus and figure out how to please him.” The irony of this statement was not lost on me then, but only appears more thick to me now.

That student’s statement was based upon a dangerously wrong assumption. The assumption implies there’s a distinction to be made between the study of Christian doctrine and a relationship with Jesus that leads to practical life change. But this assumption is corrected by every page of Scripture. Here’s just one example, in 1 Timothy 1:9-10:

The law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.

In this passage, Paul connects categories of practical living with things that are at odds with sound doctrine. The point is that tangible acts like lying, homosexuality, and rebellion flow from unsound doctrine. The corollary point is that wonderful realities like truth-telling, chastity, and submission to authority flow from a commitment to sound doctrine.

In other words, the life we live is founded on the truths we confess. The theology you believe has everything to do with the life you live. No ultimate separation exists between the two.

It’s this conviction that’s guided the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors for the last 40 years. Our commitment to biblical counseling flows from our conviction that life and theology are ultimately inseparable. This conviction is also the reason why we decided our annual conference celebrating our 40^th Anniversary should be about theology. Our desire is to demonstrate how a commitment to the classical disciplines of Christian theology leads to the practical kinds of life change we’re concerned about in biblical counseling.

This commitment to the relevance of theology for living life is also why we’re eager to partner with 9Marks for a pre-conference on living life together in the context of the local church. Our two ministries agree that the context for both Christian community and changed lives happens most fully in the local church, so we’re eager to show our brothers and sisters in Christ how the local church is God’s living and organic community, that it should be primary location our mutual pursuit of Christ-likeness.

To that end, I invite you to our event. May we all grow in our understanding of how the truths of God’s Word lead to change, and that we’ll see how change happens most effectively in the local church.

—Dr. Heath Lambert