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A Disposition of Suffering
A PASTOR FULFILLS A VITAL ROLE IN THE BIBLICAL COUNSELING MINISTRY OF A LOCAL CHURCH.
THE CONGREGATION LOOKS TO A PASTOR
For teaching and training in righteousness, an example in following Christ, and counsel when they suffer. As Dale Johnson notes, “The church is made up of broken people who need to grow in maturity, and God provides them with shepherds to minister his Word to make them complete in Christ.” 1
What kind of pastoral deportment might establish a platform for effective biblical counseling in the local church? A pastor would have to be a man who knows about suffering and the power of the Spirit.
A DISPOSITION SHAPED BY SUFFERING
SUFFERING BECAUSE OF SIN
Sometimes those in need of biblical counsel from a pastor are suffering because of their own sin. They have worshipped and served the creature rather than the
1 T. Dale Johnson, The Church as a Culture of Care: Finding Hope in Biblical Community (New Growth Press: Greensboro, 2021), 108. Creator (Rom 1:25). Like David, repenting of his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah in Psalm 51, they feel dirty and guilty. Their choices have resulted in a season of spiritual and emotional instability. Their family, friends, and financial state may have also suffered loss because of their sin.
Who is qualified to counsel someone who is broken and suffering due to sin? A pastor is well aware of his sin, just as Paul urges the Corinthians to remember what they were when they were called (1 Cor 1:26). Some were sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers (1 Cor 6:9-10). When Paul shares his testimony in Rom 7:7-12; Gal 1:11-24; Phil 3:3-9; and 1 Tim 1:12-17, he discloses his sinful behavior before Christ. Paul never forgot that he and others (e.g., Stephen in Acts 8:1) suffered because of his sinful choices. As J. Oswald Sanders notes, “Paul spoke of his failures and successes with an openness few of us are prepared to copy.” 2
A pastor who is mindful of his own sin and the suffering he has caused is positioned to help those seeking counsel
2 J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2007), 63.
in a season of suffering for sin. The degree to which a pastor can empathize with a counselee will influence the degree to which he can help the suffering one be made whole. A pastor can create a culture of empathy for suffering sinners by sharing his testimony occasionally while preaching and teaching.3 Prudent authenticity from the pulpit can encourage those needing counsel to come clean and seek help from their pastor and God’s word.
SUFFERING FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Peter admonishes his readers that they have spent enough time sinning and suffering the consequences of idolatry (1 Pet 4:3, 15). But not all suffering is of the same stock. Ridicule for the name of Christ is laudable, bringing glory to God (1 Pet 4:14, 16). Sometimes believers suffer because of righteousness. Their testimony ruffles the feathers of their family and friends. Their refusal to compromise standards of righteousness to fit in with their coworkers leads to snickers, jeers, and schemes for their removal. Daniel and his friends were not the last to endure the cunning plans of the wicked. All of that hurts. Believers who have suffered for righteousness can have bouts of depression even though the Spirit ministers to them along the way.
So, they seek counsel from a pastor. Any pastor who is faithful to the Word will at some point suffer for righteousness. Sooner or later in pastoral ministry, the Lord will lead a pastor to step out in faith and reform some aspect of the church. Though a pastor can cite chapter and verse as to why he is leading the church in a different or new direction, some saints may resist his leadership. Others may openly rebel against him. Suffering for righteousness that pastor will know. A pastor can suffer because of opposition
3 Johnson, The Church as a Culture of Care, 149, 154.
from inside the church and outside. If a pastor takes strong stands against cultural sins—even if he does so with a benevolent attitude—he can suffer the wrath of local media, the business community, and political leaders. Commenting on Peter’s statements regarding elders in 1 Peter, Sam Storms writes, “The suffering and persecution all believers face (4:12-19) puts a special strain on leaders. They need to understand what is required of them, especially when the sheep are being harassed.”4
If a pastor’s commitment to righteousness elicits the ire of the church or the world, the church and the world often come after those associated with him. This only compounds a pastor’s suffering. Is not a pastor called to love and protect those nearest him? So, in his suffering, a pastor’s grief is compounded. Paul knew this. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians is filled with emotional and personal language because the Thessalonians had suffered for believing the gospel Paul preached to them (1 Thess 2:14). Reflecting on Paul’s statement to the Thessalonians, Douglas J. Moo writes, “Paul cites the suffering they are enduring—suffering that marks God’s true people.”5 A pastor who has been at his task for very long will know the emotional hardships that result from a commitment to righteousness. A pastor can thus help believers who suffer because of their allegiance to Christ at home, work, and the community.
4 Sam Storms, “1 Peter,” in ESV Expository Commentary, vol. XII, Hebrews-Revelation, eds. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton, Jr., and Jay Sklar (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), 354. 5 Douglas J. Moo, A Theology of Paul and His Letters: The Gift of the New Realm in Christ, Biblical Theology of the New Testament, ed. Andreas J. Köstenberger (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2021), 92.
A DISPOSITION SUSTAINED BY THE SPIRIT
A couple of years ago, I had a bout of mild depression. A strained relationship ushered in darkness that would come and go—and when it did, I had to sit down. I talked with some leaders in my church, sought their help and prayer support, and turned to Romans 8. I memorized it. Not because I was planning to quote it in a public forum or for a class but because I wanted to have a defense for when those moments of darkness would appear unannounced. So, when I read Dale Johnson's comment, “All elders should feel inadequate for the tasks we have been called to perform as shepherds. In ourselves, we do not have what it takes to accomplish the work of the ministry. We are dependent upon the grace of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit,”6 I say Amen—from personal experience.
Congregants suffering the effects of their sin or their commitment to righteousness need the aid of the Spirit. A pastor who has suffered and experienced the help of the Spirit is a mighty tool in the Lord’s hands. In Romans 8, Paul views Christian suffering within the broader unfolding of God’s historical plan. In Paul’s view, Christians do not suffer alone. Even creation was subjected to futility when Adam and Eve sinned (Rom 8:20, 22). Even creation longs for the day when believers are revealed to be children of God—even though they suffer now as if God had cast them off (Rom 8:21, 36). J. Gary Millar writes that God uses suffering to shape and transform His people, commenting, “Whether this is construed as God’s ‘redeeming’ particularly difficult situations (and suffering for Christ in particular) or ‘disciplining’ his children through the rough and tumble of life in a broken world, the sovereign God uses all things for our good and his glory, as we are remade in Christlikeness.” 7
A pastor who knows the hope the Spirit provides in seasons of suffering knows where to point suffering believers who come to him for counsel. A pastor can share how the Spirit has enabled him to endure (Rom 8:23-25). He can share the confidence he has, knowing that the Spirit is interceding for suffering believers in the presence of the all-knowing God (Rom 8:26-28). A pastor who has viewed his suffering through a trinitarian theological grid can help suffering believers identify how the Lord allows us to see the good He works even in our suffering (Rom 8:28-30).
TODD R. CHIPMAN | Dean of Graduate Studies, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies
6 Johnson, The Church as a Culture of Care, 122-23. 7 J. Gary Millar, Changed into His Likeness: A Biblical Theology of Personal Transformation, NSBT 55, ed. D.A. Carson (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2021), 240.
Bringing the Whole Counsel to Bear in Biblical Counseling
Midwestern Seminary’s biblical counseling program offers undergraduate (B.A.), graduate (M.A.), and post-graduate (Ph.D. and D.Min.) biblical counseling degrees. These degrees are designed for significant training in the principles and methods of biblical counseling, preparing you for service in a local church, in a biblical counseling center, or in a wider ministry setting. Our goal is to equip ministers and laypersons to minister biblically within their local churches and communities, making the church the first place people go for help, rather than a last resort.
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