The Old Testament is filled with fascinating accounts—both good and bad—of God’s people. One recurring theme is when the kings of Israel would stray from God and—in direct disobedience to His commands—cozy up to pagan kings.
One such account is found in 2 Chronicles 12. Here, King Rehoboam had strayed from God and Shishak the King of Egypt invaded with an overwhelming army. The invading Egyptians stole all of the wealth of the Israelites, including the solid gold shields carried by the palace guards.
The embarrassed King Rehoboam tried to cover his sin by having replacements made of brass and issued them to the guards, hoping that no one would notice. Perhaps the highly polished brass fooled some of the people. But the guards could surely tell the difference and the king’s cover up soon failed.
A Book About Relationships
Some things never change and a similar pattern continues today. Starting in the 1970’s, some Christians decided that the Bible was no longer adequate to address the “more complex issues” of the day.
The crucial point they missed is that the Bible is a book about relationships—specifically man’s relationship with God and with others. What is required to establish and maintain a right relationship with God today is no different than when King David became a man after God’s own heart, or the Apostle Paul gave us the Romans road.
Loving our neighbor as ourself today is no different than it was when Jesus taught His disciples. Technology changes, cultures change, but relationships with God and man do not change! Love is still love, righteousness is still righteousness and sin is still sin.
The Importance of Biblical Truth
These well meaning people thought it would be a good idea to venture into the world of secular psychology, picking and choosing thought and methodologies from the pagan world that would supplement Biblical truth and better equip the Christians of the day to cope with modern life.
This process came to be known as “integration” because they were integrating secular psychology with Biblical truth. The problem is once the truth of God’s Word was compromised a Pandora’s box was opened and doctrines were presented that were at best unnecessary, misguided or wishful thinking.
Like Rehoboam’s brass shields, if polished enough may have looked good. But they still weren’t the real thing. Perhaps that’s why God closed His Word with the stern warnings of Revelation 22:19 “If anyone adds to these words, God will add to him the disasters described in this book; if anyone takes away from the words of prophecy in this book, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city which are described in this book.”
The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors
If you were to buy a piece of fine jewelry there are a couple of things you would want to look for. First, you would probably shop from a reputable company that you know and trust. Second, you would look for a stamp on the item of 14k, assuring that it is genuine, solid gold.
When seeking counseling similar principles should apply, and we should know what we are getting.
The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (formerly the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors) was created in 1974 to establish and maintain the highest level of integrity, training and certification for Biblical counseling.
Members of ACBC are required to sign a covenant each year that their counseling methodology will be based solely on the Truth of God’s Word with absolutely nothing added and nothing taken away. They will minister from an open Bible giving chapter and verse as the basis for their counsel.
How To Get Help
People seeking truly Biblical counseling from anywhere in the world can go to the ACBC website for a directory of these counselors.
Biblical counselors are human and may miss the mark; but even if they do, they are still sharing the truth of God’s Word which never returns void. Nor will it ever tarnish, turn your finger green, or worse.