Christian Counseling as Spiritual Formation - Part 1
By Laura Taggart, MFTI

Christians experience suffering and pain. C.S. Lewis referred to pain as “God’s megaphone.” Philip Yancey called it “the gift nobody wants.” A.W. Tozer said this about God’s “night ministry”:

“ Slowly you will discover God’s love in your suffering. Your heart will begin to approve the whole thing. You will learn … what all the schools in the world could not teach you – the healing action of faith without supporting pleasure. You will feel and understand the ministry of the night; its power to purify, to detach, to humble, to destroy the fear of death… You will learn that pain can sometimes do what even joy cannot, such as exposing the vanity of earth’s trifles and filling your heart with longing for the peace of heaven.” Pain exposes us and all the vain things we have tried to make life work on our own.

The goal, then, of Christian counseling is not overcoming pain as is true of most secular counseling. Nor is it merely to resolve problems or become healthy. The goal of Christian counseling is to encounter Christ in the midst of one’s suffering. It is in this encounter that true healing and free living become possible.

In this sense, Christian counseling is about spiritual formation – it is the gift of being able to come alongside another in the process of transformation that God is working out in their life; it is about coming alongside another who is broken or in pain for the purpose of giving them a safe place to expose pain and seek and receive the healing and hope Christ offers.