Pastoral counseling - Essay Example

Pastoral Counseling and Reflection Paper Table of contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….3 Experience with Pastoral Counseling……………………………….……….…………3 Current Needs and Expectations…………………………………….………………….4 Approach to Pastoral Counseling……………………………………………………….5 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………..………….6 Introduction Many a time, people have thought mistakenly that being a pastor only entails the issuance of homilies and exhorting Christian congregants to observe Christ’s teachings. However, a critical look and direct involvement in pastoring not only corrected my view, but also underscores the comprehensive nature of duties which fall under pastoring. I came to this realization when a parishioner left the congregation, following the failure of the parish to access proper counseling services, leaving him unsatisfied and unstuck. That counseling is an integral part of pastoring is underscored by a close and keener consideration of the Biblical Scriptures and a walk with Christ in everyday life and ministry, as shall be seen in the discussion which ensues forthwith. Experience with Pastoral Counseling As far as the first year of pastoring and ministry is concerned, several challenges beset my aspiration to be the pastor I had intended. I had difficulty in successfully and effectively reaching out to members of the church, especially when they needed counseling services. Part of this difficulty had its underpinnings in the fact that I was still a novice in the work of the ministry. Being a novice in the work of the ministry also bombarded my psychology with timidity, and thereby hindering me from ministering well to more mature audience. Conversely, there are some among the congregation who felt that I was too young to effectively minister to them. Secondly, I had not obtained formal training for the work of the ministry. Instead, I was only armed with the conviction that the Bible as God’s word is an essential resource in counseling. To me, every problem that the parishioner had could be solved through scriptural application. Nevertheless, that there were problems in my approach and nascent stage of development in the ministry is a matter that was underscored by silent protest by the parishioners. Of much note was a parishioner who needed referrals to people-helper, in order to access counseling services. Due to my limitations, I doubted if I knew what to do exactly and continued to offer counseling services with little help. The culmination of this development was the parishioner leaving the church because of dissatisfaction and psychological detachment from the church. It is then that I realized that God’s commands are far much more than what can be attained by man, however sincere and devoted he may be, since those commands are spiritual. Again, when the parishioner left, I reckoned with the degree to which counseling is important in the running of the church. I came to appreciate the reason why Christ Himself is referred to as Wonderful Counselor. Current Needs and Expectations Even in the church, it is expected that the man of God is equipped to do all that pertains to God’s work, and to align God’s people to God’s will. The spirit of love, power and sound mind is what God wills that His children have, yet competent counseling is a powerful tool by which love, power and sound can be acquired. Because of this, it is expected that the Church and the ministers are equipped to discharge duties and responsibilities that are geared towards ameliorating the condition of the faithful. Again, with the advent of the 20th century, the Church is expected to shift from classical views on counseling and personality and psychological soundness as being a culmination of spiritual warfare, or the ravaging effects of the chasm between the ruling class and the bourgeoisie as is envisioned by Marxists. Since modernism replaced classical thought in the 20th century, pastoral care is expected to carry with itself, the understanding that not all mental and personality illnesses such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder are a manifestation of demon possession. In a closely related wavelength, the 21st century has brought with it, postmodernist approaches to psychological problems and personality disorders. Interestingly, these approaches seem to readily and vehemently deny and lampoon the idea that psychological instabilities and personality disorders such as dissociative personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder may be caused by supernatural forces and activities such as demons and demon possession. It is against the backdrop of the development above that there is credence in observing that with the dawning of the 21st century, church ministers like me are faced with greater pressure to be knowledgeable and learned, while remaining spiritually conscious, because of the dynamics and complexities that characterize the 21st century world. This calls for a greater need for those engaged in pastoral work to be learned and spiritual conscious, so as to be able to: strike the delicate balance between the spiritual and non-spiritual; and to work from a point of knowledge. It is only by this observation that a pastor or a church minister will be able to: provide accurate counseling services; avoid the danger of spiritualizing man’s problems; avoid the folly of approaching spiritual problems with a secular view or standpoint; help meet the needs of the church, and thereby equipping it for the work of ministry. Approach to Pastoral Counseling Granted with the gift of hindsight, I have come to appreciate key truths that underpin pastoral counseling. One of these truths that I learned as being important is the place of my confidence, in respect to my age and the years of my involvement in the ministry. Particularly, I learned from Timothy, who had the same problem ministering to older members of the congregation who in turn felt that Timothy was too young to minister to them. Learning from Timothy (in I Timothy 4:12) underscored to me, the fact that God appoints and anoints people for His work, irrespective of age. Immediately I came to the realization that it was God’s will minister to others, I grew in resolve and confidence (Johnson, 2000). Secondly, I came to appreciate the dynamism of the power of the Holy Spirit in impacting ministry and counseling services with power and help. More specifically, I came to appreciate the fact that so important is the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian ministry, that there can be no ministry that can run effectively without the presence, power and inspiration of the Spirit. This realization is in turn emphasized by the fact that when giving the Great Commission, Jesus predicated the actualization of this Commission, upon the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1: 18 Jesus speaks first of the receiving of the outpouring of the Spirit, then He proceeds to mention the actualization of the Great Commission. I thus learned that as part of the Great Commission, pastoral counseling also needed to derive its vibrancy and power from the presence and enablement of the Holy Spirit (Johnson, 2000). Conclusion The foregoing clearly shows the extent to which pastoral counseling gives hand in hand with pastoral duties and the Great Commission. Likewise, the need to revitalize pastoral counseling activities and services is underscored by the challenges that accost the 21st century church and modern society. Likewise, the Church is expected to provide its congregation with help needed by the same, to remain the light of the world. As the light of the world, congregants or parishioners need not exit the Church to seek counsel from the world. Instead, Church or Christian ministers ought to be equipped with professional and scriptural knowledge to help inculcate Christ’s counsel. References Johnson, B. W. (2000). The Pastors’ Guide to Psychological Disorders and Treatments. New York: Routledge. Read More