Southwestern chapel panelists discuss biblical counseling as part of discipleship

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary faculty noted the importance of discipleship as a lifelong journey and the role of biblical counseling in addressing life challenges in a Jan. 30 panel discussion held during the seminary’s chapel service.

Panelists for the session, which focused on the intersection of biblical counseling and discipleship, were moderator Travis Trawick, assistant professor of theology and vice president for institutional effectiveness and strategy; Chris Shirley, dean of the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries, professor of educational ministries, and Jack D. and Barbara Terry Chair of Religious Education; Lilly Park, associate professor of biblical counseling and Hultgren Chair of Ministerial Counseling; and Jonathan Okinaga, assistant professor of biblical counseling and Hope for the Heart Chair of Biblical Counseling.

In his introduction, Trawick said, “We recognize that part of discipleship includes heartache many times. To pick up the cross and have a theology of crosses, Luther would say, comes with heartache and pain. And so we continue to come back to Christ, and as disciples, find renewal and strength in Christ.”

Trawick said it was important to begin with the meaning of the word “discipleship.” Shirley recalled that he conducted a survey around 10 years ago and asked 75 people the meaning of discipleship. He received 75 different answers, he said, adding, “part of that, I think, is because the word ‘discipleship’ does not occur Scripture. ‘Disciple’ does, ‘make disciples’ does, but the actual word ‘discipleship’ doesn’t. So we have a little bit of freedom to interpret that.”

As for his own definition, Shirley said, “I’ve got two of them, which shows you how conflicted I am.” His first definition of discipleship, he said, is “learning how to live in the Kingdom of God.” His second definition is “It’s my journey with Jesus and those He loves, because I realized that discipleship is not just about me and Jesus, but it’s about the entire church as well, because we are learning together how to navigate in this kingdom, how to follow Christ, and it’s a whole process of a lifetime, learning that we do.”

Park said students often ask her why they should take a biblical counseling class when they’re already taking a discipleship class.

“Biblical counseling addresses more of those specific areas of life that are just really hard sometimes,” she said. “You’re reading the Bible, you’re going to church, you’re praying, you’re doing everything that a good disciple should do. So why am I struggling with anxiety, with conflict, insecurity, etc.? And I think that’s where God can use biblical counseling with additional skills to support discipleship in the church.”

In response to Trawick’s question of what the Terry School is doing to foster those kinds of commitments and how that could impact the local churches, Shirley said the school has “a commitment that we’re going to be training men and women to teach disciple, counsel, and lead ministry excellently. And so all these things are incorporated. Discipleship is more of … a covering over everything we do there, whether it’s student ministry or children’s ministry, biblical counseling, discipleship, teaching that we offer there. All of this is for the intent of taking it into the local church, because we realize that once we get there, whether we’re a pastor or … whatever we’re doing, we are about making disciples, and so that’s what we do.”

Okinaga noted that, “One of the conundrums is, some say that discipleship should be taught in the church, but not all churches do discipleship well.” He said he invites his students who don’t have that discipleship relationship with their churches to his house for family dinners or parties “so that they can actually see what it looks like in practice. And what I really enjoy seeing now is some of the guys that I’ve invited over the years, they no longer come over. They’re like, ‘No, I’m actually doing this with my church now.’ I think for me, that’s the ultimate goal, that you don’t keep coming to my house, that you start to take what I teach, or we’re teaching in the Terry School, and you’re implementing it in your local church.”

Trawick also asked the panel to address the difference between biblical counseling and Christian counseling.

Okinaga said he previously counseled drug addicts and alcoholics in rehabilitation centers in California. He had a group of 16 men in a sober living home, and 14 of them stayed sober for a year. By the world’s standards, it was a success, he said, adding that he “puffed myself up on that” when he came to Southwestern, “and what I realized was my boys were putting their faith, hope, and trust in me, and they weren’t putting their faith, hope, and trust in Christ.” The longer he was away from California, he said, “they all started to drop off.”

Okinaga said he missed an opportunity to share the Gospel with the men, but instead defaulted to other methods just to change their behavior and not their hearts.

“And for me, I think that the biggest distinction is biblical counseling is not just changing the behavior, but it’s getting your heart to become more like our Father in heaven, that our heart becomes more like Christ, instead of just changing the behavior,” he said.

Shirley said that Southwestern previously had Christian counseling programs but does biblical counseling now. He said he believes biblical counseling is the perfect program for where the seminary is now because Southwestern is training people who are going out into the churches to be youth ministers, children’s ministers, women’s ministers, and more.

“This fits every one of those roles. Taking classes in biblical counseling, learning about how you can lead people and equip people, to share their burdens with one another, to get past the hurts, to keep them encouraged in Christ, is a skill and also a passion that every minister should have as they go out into their areas of ministry, and naturally, counseling is gonna be part of that ministry in some way, shape, or form,” he said, adding, “So I really think we’ve got a good thing going here.”

The chapel service began on a somber note as David S. Dockery, president of Southwestern Seminary, spoke of the collision of an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter the previous evening in Washington, D.C. Speaking of the “shock, grieving, and despair” many are feeling, Dockery also noted that the flu is rampant in Fort Worth, with hospitals overflowing and many in the community out sick with the flu. He led the audience in prayer for all who are suffering.

The panel’s entire discussion can be viewed here.

Chapel is held every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 11 a.m. (CT) in MacGorman Chapel on the campus of Southwestern Seminary and TBC. Chapel may be viewed live at swbts.live.