There is a growing desire here in the valley for Christians to find biblical counselors to help them navigate the difficulties of life. As people look for advice on different issues they will need to know the right questions to ask as they look for a counselor. Here is a list of distinctive to consider in a biblical counselor. This list has been adapted from pastor Paul Tautges’ article “Ten Distinctives of Biblical Counseling.” 

  1. The Sufficiency of Scripture. This is the foundation of good biblical counsel. You will need a counselor who firmly believes, “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correcting, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
  2. The Depravity of Man. It is important to understand the counselor’s philosophy of human nature. If he or she thinks you can “live your best life now” without addressing the reality of sin and the need for salvation and sanctification then you are wasting your time. 
  3. The Need to be like Christ. Biblical counselors need to set their sights on being like Christ. This is true of the counselor and of the person being counseled. “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28) 
  4. The Work of the Holy Spirit. Trying to work spiritual change without the work of the Holy Spirit is a fool’s errand. He is the one who does the work of conviction and helps bring lasting change through the power of God’s word (John 16:8).
  5. The Need for Heart Work. God is ultimately responsible for a Christian’s salvation and sanctification, but each person needs to be obedient to God’s word and that means you want a counselor who will expect you to work hard to make changes where needed (Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13)
  6. Motivated by God’s love. Finding a counselor who is connected with a loving local church will help you understand the context that they are working in. You will be able to see that their desire to counsel comes from God’s everlasting love that was manifested perfectly in Jesus Christ (John 3:16). 
  7. The Body and Soul. It is important to find a counselor who understands the connection between the body and soul. There are physical realities that affect us spiritually and vice versa. The counselor must listen carefully to each situation and seek to apply God’s word carefully and appropriately (Hebrews 4:12.
  8. The Local Church. You will want to make sure that the counselor is a member of a local church. This provides accountability to the counselor and it lets you know he or she is counseling in a biblical context (Hebrews 10:24-25, Ephesians 4:11-13).  

There are several excellent resources available online that can help you in the search for biblical counselors. The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) has a counselor finder on their website (biblicalcounseling.com). The Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship has some excellent resources for helping to bring biblical counseling to your church (ibdc.org). The Biblical Counseling Coalition is another helpful organization to check out (biblicalcounselingcoalition.org).