Can the Bible really be applied to every aspect of our life today? That is the question many are asking. To what extent can Scripture inform the aspects of our lives?
Culture tells pastors that it is not our job and seminary often has done little to prepare us for this challenge. Thankfully my guest today is uniquely qualified to help us navigate this topic.
Dr. Sam Stephens is the Director of Membership and Certification for ACBC and serves as the Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Sam is also the author of several books that speak into the topic of the qualities of Biblical Counseling, psychological labels, and finding our purpose in Jesus Christ.
In this episode, Sam helps us consider the challenges facing churches that respond to the call to Biblical Counseling, the danger of defaulting to other forms of care outside the church, and more.
Listen in!
Resources:
- Liberty Baptist Church
- (BOOK) A Call to Counsel and Care: The Distinguishing Qualities of Biblical Counseling
- (BOOK) The Deception of Psychological Labels: Finding Identity, Responsibility and Purpose in Jesus Christ
- ACBC Biblical Solutions Booklet Series
- Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™
- Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org
Key Takeaways
- Take the Word out of the pulpit and into the lives of the people. It is our job as pastors to take the Word of God and apply it to every aspect of life today. This is done both in the pulpit and through Biblical Counseling. Previously pastors were taught to “defer and refer” people outside the church, but SoulCare is the responsibility of every believer.
- Beware of combining or defaulting to other methods of counseling. It can be dangerous to combine other forms of counseling with biblical SoulCare. One of the signs to watch out for is whether we can discern the difference between biblical language and secular language in their advice. If the answer is no, then that is a yellow flag that you should be on your guard.
- We are held responsible for our advice and actions. As Christians and pastors, we have a biblical responsibility for every word we give to others. As such, we need to wrestle with the issue of sufficiency in our own hearts and minds to be able to give biblical advice with confidence.
Meet Sam
Dr. Sam Stephens is the Director of Membership and Certification for ACBC and serves as the Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Biblical Counseling and an M.A. in Christian Education. Over the last 10 years, Sam has ministered to churches and parachurch ministries through counseling, education, and discipleship ministries. Sam and his wife, Hannah, have three children and attend Liberty Baptist Church in Missouri where he serves as a Lay Pastor.
