Has Therapy Become Our Source of Sanctification?: Understanding What Our Churches Might Be Missing

In an effort to avoid misunderstanding, let me begin by expressly stating what a strong proponent I am of counseling. In fact, I am a counselor, who cares for those the Lord brings to my practice under the umbrella of incontestable biblical presuppositions. 

I love counseling. I love those I counsel. It is a privilege to see the Lord work through the face-to-face ministry that takes place in the counseling relationship, sanctifying both counselor and counselee.

That being said, I am a counselor who believes that not everyone needs formal counseling, a conviction that has surprised some in my personal circle. 

Wouldn’t everyone benefit from therapy? Statistically, our culture seems to think so. We are an increasingly therapized people, both inside and outside of the church, swimming in the high octane assertions of psychopathology. Abigail Shrier’s recent book, “Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up,” captures this story for our children but points to a broader trend in our culture. We have let the soft science of modern psychology define our problem, goal, and method for change. In the case of secular psychological practice, these three pillars are held together by a worldview that often assumes God does not exist, that people are our best hope and personal happiness the highest goal.

I am seeing the reality of this macro trend come alive in my local community. The spiritual director at a Christian school in town noted social status among students was marked by having one’s “therapist on speed dial.” At another Christian school, a dear friend’s daughter is begging for therapy as she seeks to fit in with the majority of her peers who all have therapists. Friends working through suffering and sin in all their variations are “doing the work” in counseling.

Therapy seems to have become many Christians’ approach to “growth,” or in biblical terms, “sanctification.” Are we leaning too heavily on therapy as we seek to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29)? Despite biblical warnings, are we captivated by the principles of modern psychology in our pursuit of change (Colossians 2:8)?

"Are we leaning too heavily on therapy as we seek to be conformed to the likeness of Christ?

In other words, has therapy become our source of sanctification, and if so, is there something our local churches are missing? 

In a 2016 interview with Dr. David Powlison, he touched on this very question, noting three broad ministry categories within the church. Let’s consider the first two:

1. The public ministry of the Church includes Holy Spirit-enabled preaching, teaching, sacraments, and other programming efforts that speak more generally of the truths of God’s story. Powlison argued that this was one of the church’s “unique strengths.” I agree.

   
   

2. The private ministry of the Church is about an individual’s growing, personal relationship with Jesus. It may involve private prayer, journaling, Bible study, meditation, solitude, or other personal disciplines.

In Powlison’s words, “we have a way to be by ourselves, and a way to be in the crowd. But the fruit of those, as to whether they’re worth the time or energy we put into them, is interpersonal ministry…It’s in interpersonal ministry that you actually find out whether or not you know how to love people, whether or not you’re wise.” Wisdom, he argues, is a “social gift.”

Interpersonal ministry is where theology comes to life in very practical ways as we engage in one another’s lives. In Powlison’s words, it is “putting the rivet between life lived and the living God.” It is the church’s execution on the Bible’s 100+ “one anothering” commands. We are called to  love one another (John 13:34), serve one another (Galatians 5:13), bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), be devoted to one another in love (Romans 12:10), and comfort one another (2 Corinthians 1). This happens through interpersonal interactions informally over coffee, during small group or a Bible study, through pastoral care, family gatherings, or formal discipleship. 

"Interpersonal ministry is where theology comes to life in very practical ways as we engage in one another's lives."

When our church memberships swell, creating local church communities in the many thousands, interpersonal ministry becomes nearly impossible. And yet, we were created to need it, and have clear biblical mandates to engage in the lives of fellow believers. 

We as creatures, made in the image of a relational God, absolutely need relationships in His church. In fact, these relationships are a gift from Him, and one of the ways He ordinarily works to conform us to the likeness of Christ. When we fail to see wisdom as a fruit of the public and private ministries of our local churches, we will certainly seek wisdom outside of the church and in the context of relationships. 

It is no wonder therapy is booming. It can meet a slice of our creational need for both wisdom and relationship, but as Christians, let’s reconsider how we might love one another wisely and seek to be loved wisely in our local Church contexts. 

Perhaps not everyone needs therapy, but everyone needs the local church.