| What is "Nouthetic" Counseling? |
|
Nouthetic counseling is not new.
From Biblical times onward, God’s people have counseled
nouthetically. The word itself is Biblical. It comes from the
Greek noun nouthesia. The word, used in the New Testament,
is translated “admonish, correct or instruct.” This
term, which probably best describes Biblical counseling, occurs
in such passages as Romans 15:14: “I myself am convinced
about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness,
filled with all knowledge, and competent to counsel one another.” In
that passage, the apostle was encouraging members of the Roman
church to do informal, mutual counseling. Other than the informal
counseling that every Christian is called to do, leaders of
a congregation are to counsel nouthetically in a formal manner
as part of their ministry: “Now we ask you, brothers,
to recognize those who labor among you, and mange you in the
Lord, and counsel you.”
Nouthetic counseling embraces three ideas.
The three ideas found in the word nouthesia are confrontation,
concern, and change. Simply put,
nouthetic counseling consists of lovingly confronting people
out of deep concern in order to help them make those changes that
God requires.
By confrontation we mean that one Christian
personally gives counsel to another from the Scriptures. The
counselor does not confront with his own ideas or the ideas
of others. He limits his counsel strictly to that which may
be found in the Bible, believing that “All Scripture
is breathed out by God and useful for teaching, for conviction,
for correction and for disciplined training in righteousness
in order to fit and fully equip the man from God for every
good task (II Timothy 3:16,17).” The nouthetic counselor
believes that all that is needed to help another person love
God and his neighbor as he should, may be found in the Bible.
By concern we man that counseling is always
done for the benefit of the counselee. His welfare is always
in view in Biblical counseling. “I am not writing these
things to shame you, but to counsel you as my dear children
(I Corinthians 4:14).” There is always a warm, family
note to Biblical counseling, which is done among the saints
of God who seek to help one another become more like Christ.
Counseling is considered as part of the sanctification process
whereby one Christian helps another get through some difficulty
that is hindering him from moving forward in his spiritual
growth.
By change we mean that counseling is done
because there is something in another Christian’s life
that fails to meet the biblical requirements and that, therefore,
keeps him from honoring God. All counseling—Biblical
or otherwise—attempts change. Only Biblical counselors
know what a counselee should become as the result of counseling: he
should look more like Christ. Jesus is the standard. Biblical
counseling is done by Christians who are convinced that God
is able to make the changes that are necessary as His Word
is ministered in the power of the Spirit.
(Taken from “What is Nouthetic Counseling”, Dr.
Jay E. Adams)
