Ken Boa reviews the previous session’s discussion of mentoring, including tips on how to make mentoring effective. He then moves into discussion of counseling, another form of soul care, followed by a teaching at the end on servant leadership (another aspect of care within the body of Christ).

Regarding counseling (the bulk of this session’s topic), Ken takes a balanced approach, avoiding extremes of either uncritically accepting or wholesale rejecting (or even demonizing) professional counseling, which (if not done biblically) tends to reduce the soul and spirit to current psychological categories. An important distinction in counseling is “cure of sickness” versus “care of the soul.” A biblical approach to counseling doesn’t assume that healing is only a matter of technical training and clinical expertise, though biological and technical aspects may be in play, but also incorporates our human need for inner shalom (wholeness) with God, self, and others. Thus, counseling should utilize relational and spiritual resources in addition to (if appropriate) medical resources.

Note: This session is based on material in chapter 36 (starting on p. 437) in Ken’s book Conformed to His Image.

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