Boosterseat_91
Puritan Board Freshman
I hope I don't throw this thread way off course, but I think this is a sub-question that needs to be asked. Where do we get the idea that there should be an exclusive "office," so to speak, of a counselor? I mean, counseling requires accountability and is a form of instructive or positive discipline. This type of instruction, as far as I know, is only proper for a head to teach those under his headship. So for like marital counseling one would go to a pastor who (1) has the authority to teach and (2) can hold one accountable because he has the authority to exercise church discipline in the case of unrepentance. Nouthetic counseling (which is the only biblical type of counseling) binds a person's conscience in teaching what is lawful and what is unlawful according to Scripture.
So wouldn't counseling be considered one function of a pastor rather than an exclusive office in an of itself that can be held by anyone?
So wouldn't counseling be considered one function of a pastor rather than an exclusive office in an of itself that can be held by anyone?