All posts tagged Theology

Book Announcement: Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling

by brad on February 21, 2013 in Book Review with No comments

Christ-Centered-Front-Cover-191x300I’m honored to serve as a contributor to Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling, a book published by Harvest House and produced by the Biblical Counseling Coalition, even if doing so does make me the “co-author of sin” (theological nerd humor… see chapter 9 to get it).

Release Date

You can order the book here.

Here is free sample chapter from John Piper and Jack Delk and a list of the endorsements for this book from an assortments of Christian leaders.

We’re grateful that Dr. David Powlison of CCEF has penned the Foreword. Here’s a brief excerpt of his words about Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling.

Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling … revolutionizes the meanings that our culture attaches to the word counseling… The discussion and case studies will give you a solid feel for how the Word of life speaks into the lives of troubled and troublesome people who face a world of troubles.

This book affirms that a good counselor is many things simultaneously: tender and firm, responsive yet purposeful, candid and tactful, patient yet urgent, attentive and instructive, profound yet practical, prayerful and hard-working, comforting yet challenging, empathetic and objective, flexible yet committed, faithful to Jesus Christ and relevant to any person facing any trouble… along with many other good and desirable qualities. While the ingredients of deft conversation are hard to capture on paper, the tone and content of what you read will give you a feel for how godly wisdom carries on a compassionate and constructive conversation.

Chapters and Authors

Foreword—David Powlison

Introduction: In Christ Alone—Bob Kellemen and Steve Viars

Part 1: A Practical Theology of Biblical Counseling 

Chapter 1: The Glory of God: The Goal of Biblical Counseling—John Piper and Jack Delk

Chapter 2: The Power of the Redeemer—Ernie Baker and Jonathan Holmes

Chapter 3: The Ministry of the Holy Spirit—Justin Holcomb and Mike Wilkerson

Chapter 4: The Unity of the Trinity—Kevin Carson and Jeff Forrey

Chapter 5: The Grand Narrative of the Bible—John Henderson

Chapter 6: The Sufficiency of Scripture—Steve Viars and Rob Green

Chapter 7: The Spiritual Anatomy of the Soul—Bob Kellemen and Sam Williams

Chapter 8: The Influences on the Human Heart—Jeff Forrey and Jim Newheiser

Chapter 9: The Problem of Sin—Robert Jones and Brad Hambrick

Chapter 10: The Centrality of the Gospel—Robert Cheong

Chapter 11: The Gospel in Balance—Stuart Scott

Chapter 12: The Pursuit of Holiness—Lee Lewis and Michael Snetzer

Chapter 13: The Weapons of Our Warfare—Bob Kellemen and Dwayne Bond

Chapter 14: The Hope of Eternity—Nicolas Ellen and Jeremy Lelek

Part 2: A Practical Methodology of Biblical Counseling

Chapter 15: The Biblical Counseling Ministry of the Local Church—Steve Viars and Rob Green

Chapter 16: The Health of the Church and Biblical Counseling—Deepak Reju and Mark Dever

Chapter 17: The Personal, Private, and Pulpit Ministry of the Word—Kevin Carson

Chapter 18: The Transformational Tie Between Small Group Ministry and Biblical Counseling—Brad Bigney and Ken Long

Chapter 19: The Goal and Focus of Spiritual Formation— Robert Cheong and Heath Lambert

Chapter 20: The Importance of Multiculturalism in Biblical Counseling—Rod Mays and Charles Ware

Chapter 21: The Nature of the Biblical Counseling Relationship—Jeremy Pierre and Mark Shaw

Chapter 22: The Key Elements of the Biblical Counseling Process—Randy Patten and Mark Dutton

Chapter 23: The Diagnosis and Treatment of Idols of the Heart—Howard Eyrich and Elyse Fitzpatrick

Chapter 24: The Power of Confession and Repentance—James MacDonald and Garrett Higbee

Chapter 25: The Power of Forgiveness—James MacDonald and Garrett Higbee

Chapter 26: The Ministry of Soul Care for People Who Suffer—Bob Kellemen and Greg Cook

Chapter 27: The Biblical Understanding and Treatment of Emotions—Jeff Forrey

Chapter 28: The Complex Mind/Body Connection—Laura Hendrickson

Conclusion: Unity in Truth and Love—Bob Kellemen and Steve Viars

Appendix A: The Mission, Vision, and Passion Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition

Appendix B: The Confessional Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition

Appendix C: The Doctrinal Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition

C.S. Lewis on Being Annoyed with God

by brad on January 7, 2013 in Counseling Reflection with 1 Comment

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“You must realize from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal… I think many of us, when Christ has enabled us to overcome one or two sins that were an obvious nuisance, are inclined to feel (though we do not put it into words) that we are now good enough. He has done all we wanted Him to do, and we should be obliged if He would now leave us alone (p. 203).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

The question Lewis forces me to ask in this quote is, “Do I really want God or do I merely want relief?” If all I want is relief, then I will be content to stop once I have it. God will have done all I signed up for and I would be pleased for Him to stop.

When we think this way we treat God like a spouse or co-worker. We ask our question and once we’ve gotten the answer we needed, if they continue to talk we want to say, “Enough.” It is our agenda that defines the duration of the interaction.

Within our mental picture of the situation, we are inviting God in to “our world.” We know what it ought to look like and what ought to be done. We believe we are being generous and hospitable when we allow God to make some alterations to “our life” (when we agree the changes are needed). But in this conception we are the owner, and God is the guest.

But in these interactions we are much more like the friend everyone calls “Mooch.” We are living in “God’s world” and spending the life God gave us. We are pilfering through God’s refrigerator telling Him what he should have gotten at the grocery and asking for a few dollars to go to the movie that night.

Then God begins to tell us what a mature life looks like, and we get annoyed or defensive. We were just looking for a little help – some Cheetos and movie money. Now God is talking about choosing a career, applying ourselves to hard work, and what it looks like to pay our own bills.

We didn’t want all that. We begin to think God is overstepping His bounds. God begins to feel judgmental or like he is making us have a bad day. We were just asking for help, not somebody to run our life. Geesh!!!

Can you hear yourself in that inner dialogue? Think about the last few areas of sin and struggle that you brought to God in prayer. Did you come asking for a favor or a Savior?

Did you realize that your request was tied to a larger problem (the fallen human nature we all have), humbly inviting God to address the symptoms and the cause?

Did you receive the relief as proof that the larger work that God wanted to do to restore your life was worth it; that each act of grace in your life was only a foretaste of rest He wanted to give?

Unless we approach God this way, then we get annoyed when God wants to supplant our agenda with His. If we will allow God to give us ears to hear, we will quickly realize how much we sound like a college buddy name “Mooch” in our relationship with God.

C.S. Lewis on God-Fatigue

by brad on November 5, 2012 in Counseling Reflection with No comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“What we mean by ‘being good’ is giving ourselves to those claims [which interfere with our desires]. Some of the things our ordinary self wanted to do turn out to be what we call ‘wrong’: well, we must give them up. Other things, which the self did not want to do, turn out to be what we call ‘right’: well, we shall have to do them. But we are hoping all the time that when all the demands have been met, the poor natural self will still have some chance, to get on with his own life and do what it likes. In fact, we are very like an honest man paying his taxes. He pays them all right, but he does hope that there will be enough left over for him to live on. But we are still taking our natural self as the starting point… In the end, you will either give up trying to be good, or else become one of those people who, as they say, ‘live for others’ but always in a discontented, grumbling way  (p. 195-196).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

I think we’ve felt awkward as we heard ourselves talk about “being good” as if our actions were a minor form of martyrdom. Even as we tell the story, we feel torn. Part of us knows that “being bad” will not pay off and doesn’t even want to desire it. Another part genuinely feels cheated.

The fact that we are telling a story about “being good” reveals that we made the right choice. But the duty-bound sense of regret reveals that we are viewing God’s way as being sub-optimal. We chose good to avoid punishment, not because we found it more desirable than bad.

This doesn’t mean we should have made a different choice or that we should feel guilty, but it does mean that we either need to assess our view of God or our values. Unless we do, we are setting ourselves up to experience God-fatigue – the experience of growing weary of God’s standard more than being strengthened by God’s presence.

Question One: Do we view God as good? Or, do we view God as the cosmic government who has the right to do as He pleases and we must comply or be cast into jail-Hell? If we are honest, it is hard for us to view anyone with absolute authority as good. In our earthy experience, the more power any one individual has, the worse the outcome becomes.

Once again, it is vital that we do not make God in our own image. But if we do, it is equally vital that we realize our error and allow our false beliefs to be melted by God’s goodness (Rom. 2:4). When we begin to feel coerced by God, we need pause and look into the face of Jesus again. Chances are the loving, drawing eyes of our Savior will be more tender than the authoritarian stare we expected to find.

Question Two: Do our actual values match our stated allegiance to God? It is better to be honest about this question than “theologically accurate.” There is more grace for a humble, repentant heretic than proud, self-deceived hypocrite. Countless times over the course of our lives the answer will be “No.”

When the answer is “No,” we realize there is a deeper problem than our situational temptation. Like the child who resents the good instruction of a parent, our obedience is not enough (although it is the best starting place). We may also need to learn wisdom, perspective, maturity, sharing, sacrifice for the family, or the significance of some unknown danger.

These moments of internal resistance are moments ripe for growth if we are willing to learn by honestly asking these two basic questions. The next time we begin to experience God-fatigue, let us pray for the humility to ask these questions rather than merely trusting our grumbling.

To see the first 100 posts in this series click here.

C.S. Lewis on God Listening to Prayer

by brad on July 30, 2012 in Counseling Reflection with No comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“Suppose I am writing a novel. I write ‘Mary laid down her work; next moment came a knock at the door!” For Mary who has to live in the imaginary time of my story there is not an interval between putting down the work and hearing the door. But I, who am Mary’s maker, do not live in that imaginary time at all. Between writing the first half of that sentence and the second, I might sit down for three hours and think steadily about Mary. I could think about Mary as if she were the only character in the book and for as long as I pleased, and the hours I spent in doing so would not appear in Mary’s time (the time inside the story) at all… God is not hurried along in the Time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the time of his own novel. He has infinite attention to spare for each one of us (p. 167-168).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

The question that drove Lewis to this illustration was, “How can God hear, much less answer, the prayers of the whole world?” To put it in modern vernacular, “How does God ever get to the end of His inbox when everyone has His p-mail address?” (The “p” is for prayer.) That led to Lewis’ reflections on God and time.

What strikes me about this reflection is how innately and comprehensively I think of God as a larger and more powerful version of “me.” Often I am more prone to consider how the special powers of a marvel comic book hero would make their life different from mine than I am God’s uniqueness.

Think of the parallel this way. I am made in God’s image. A photograph or statue is made in my image. Even still, there are things I can do that a photo or statue cannot because they only reflect (and do not possess) certain of my attributes. Yes, they bear my image. No, they don’t have the same experience or perspective I have. Similarly, there are things about God that are beyond the scope of my experience because I am a finite creature bound by space, time, and fatigue.

This should spark awe, creativity, and humility. Awe is the speechless wonder that comes with knowing that whatever knowledge we have of God right now is only what our language and concepts will allow us to grasp. There is more about God in the Bible than we are capable of mining. The Bible is clear that it only scratches the surface (John 21:25). We have what is sufficient to know to bring us to where we can know God fully – heaven.

Creativity is the intersection of truth and confusion. Lewis knew that God promised to hear and answer every prayer. That truth overwhelmed him, because His view of God was incomplete. This led him to think, read Scripture, read theology, and imagine (a part of meditation on Scripture). Lewis wanted to be able to put God into words, as best he could, not to control God, but to give Him more informed worship and remove intellectual barriers for skeptics.

Humility is the response to greatness and protection of creativity. A brilliant mind like that of C.S. Lewis could easily become pridefully infatuated with the worlds it could create and the riddles it could solve. But that is unless the object of its creativity was so great that each mystery solved led to a more intimate relationship with a God so great that new, more intoxicating mysteries emerged.

These would be the “take away” from this quote. First, do not limit God to a larger version of your experience. Second, live in awe (not shame or futility) about the greatness of God. Third, allow for sanctified creativity (meditation) as you read Scripture and good Christian books. Fourth, savor humility as the virtue that allows each new facet of God to take you deeper into the next.

C.S. Lewis on How God Knows the Future

by brad on July 23, 2012 in Counseling Reflection with No comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“Everyone who believes in God at all believes that He knows what you and I are going to do tomorrow. But if He knows I am going to do so-and-so, how can I be free to do otherwise? Well, here once again, the difficulty comes from thinking that God is progressing along the Time-line like us: the only difference being that He can see ahead and we cannot… But supposed God is outside and above the Time-line. In that case, what we call ‘tomorrow’ is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call ‘today.’ All the days are “Now’ for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday; He simply sees you doing them, because though you have lost yesterday, He has not. He does not ‘foresee’ you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him. You never supposed that your actions at this moment were any less free because God knows what you are doing… In a sense, He does not know your action till you have done it: but then the moment at which you have done it is already ‘Now’ for Him (p. 170).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Lewis captures this truth in a conversation between Lucie and Aslan in Prince Caspian of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Aslan was about to leave and Lucie wanted to know when she would see him again. Aslan replied, “Soon.” Lucie wanted him to be more specific and asked when soon would be. Aslan replied, “I call all times soon.”

Personally, I find Lewis’ reference to the past particularly helpful. God does not remember the past (at least not in the sense that we “remember” things); He sees it (very similarly to how we experience the present), because God exists outside of time. This gives me a frame of reference for how differently God experiences time without arousing my fear of being controlled.

God is not a time traveler. He doesn’t need a “flux capacitor” in order to go “back to the future.” God exists outside of time. In that sense, God experiences time like we experience distance at a football game. The athletes on the field are immersed in the game and surprised when someone hits from their blind side. We, the fans, see the play unfold and wince before the hit happens.

This addresses God’s foreknowledge of our freedom (which is Lewis’s subject), not God’s sovereignty or predestination (which is a related but different subject; moves from awareness to influence). But when we realize that God does not experience our past like we do, then we can gain a sense for how God experiences our future differently than we do.

God is omnipresent geographically and chronologically. God is no more bound by time than He is by space. If you can conceive that God is simultaneously present with you and with a Christian on the other side of the globe, then the same principle should be applied to God being fully present in (aware of) your past and your future.

The biggest implication for this truth would be “what if” thinking. “What if” thinking presumes a level of uncertainty based upon the notion that no one has been where we’re going. It is like driving to a place you’ve never been before and being plagued by the question, “What if we missed the turn?” Having a passenger in the car who had taken this journey before changes the experience significantly. Now you can enjoy (peace) the ride (life) and conversation (prayer) as long as you drive responsibly (obedience) knowing that there is no doubt you will certainly reach the desired destination.

C.S. Lewis on a Community Vision for God

by brad on July 16, 2012 in Uncategorized with No comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“God can show Himself as He really is only to real men. And that means not simply to men who are individually good, but to men who are united together in a body, loving one another, helping one another, showing Him to one another. For that is what God meant humanity to be like; like players in one band, or organs in one body. Consequently, the one really adequate instrument for learning about God is the whole Christian community, waiting for Him together (p. 165).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

The idea of knowing someone best in community (rather than one-on-one) was an idea that Lewis did not apply only to God. It was actually a concept that he learned by accident and was surprised to discover.

Lewis was a part of a group of three friends for a long time when one of them passed away. Initially he tried to console himself by telling himself he would get to know his remaining friend better, because he would no longer have to share him.

But what Lewis found was that there was a side of his living friend that was only brought out by his deceased friend. Even the increase of time and attention allowed by heightened exclusivity of their friendship could not generate the same type of knowing.

I believe this is comparable to what Lewis is saying about our knowledge of God in the absence of participating in authentic, vulnerable Christian community. There are aspects of God’s grace, power, wisdom, and holiness that I will never draw out in my limited life span and experience.

But when I immerse myself in the lives of others whose life’s story reflect distinct aspects of God’s grace, power, wisdom, and holiness I come to know more of God. God does not change, but I know more of Him than I could have comprehended in isolation.

I believe this a key element of humanity’s collective mission to reflect the image of God in two ways. First, we can only reflect God’s image in community. God exists in community (Trinity), so when we live isolated lives we do not fulfill the first aspect of our creation mandate.

Second, we know more of the God whose image we reflect as we live in community. The question is, “For whose benefit do we reflect God’s image?” We reflect God’s image for His glory and our benefit. As we know / reflect more of His image through community, we come to know more of who we were created to be.

This extends Lewis’ insight after the loss of his friend. We not only know more of others in community; we come to know more of ourselves. We come to know our need for grace and our capacity to love when we live with other people.  We come to know our unique gifts / passions and how they can be used to serve God when we live in community.

This both combats and compliments the relative notion that each person has their own truth. The reality is that each Christian has their own experience of the Truth (John 14:6) and is called by God to share that with their community to bring to life the timeless truths of Scripture. Each experience, measured by Scripture, balances the errors and adds depth to the others.

Podcast: Radio Interview for God’s Attributes Booklet

by brad on June 7, 2012 in Church Resource with No comments

This Tuesday June 5, 2012 I had the privilege of being on the Knowing the Truth radio program with pastor Kevin Boling. During the course of our conversation we had the opportunity to discuss two subjects:

  1. The Gospel for Real Life booklet series for which I serve as editor through the Association of Biblical Counselors
  2. My latest booklet God’s Attributes: Finding Rest for Life Struggles

It was a great conversation where we had the opportunity to discuss the core convictions of the GRL booklet series, the events that motivated me to write this booklet, how we are all practical theologians (whether we give ourselves that much credit or not), sample several sections of the booklet, and work in an embarrassing story from my childhood baseball days.

To listen to the podcast of this interview click here (link to sermonaudio.com).

Comments on the Attributes Booklet

“A. W. Tozer famously said that what we think about God is the most important thing about us. Brad Hambrick has provided the church with a deeply theological, yet practically helpful tool for exploring the attributes of God, helping us see Him more clearly and living in proper response. The cycle of ‘rest’ to ‘emulation’ model he proposes is pure gold. This is a life-changing study.” –J. D. Greear, the Summit Church, Durham NC

“God’s Attributes: Rest for Life’s Struggles will lead you into a study of the character and attributes of our God that will deepen your knowledge of the God we love and worship. In the process, it will guide you toward cultivating these character traits in your own life and to walk in faith before the God in whose likeness you are being transformed.” –Daniel L. Akin

“The gospel isn’t just an ethereal idea. It’s not a philosophy and it’s not static. It moves and shapes and transforms the lives of those who by God’s grace alone put their faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. I am grateful for ABC’s work of letting the Gospel bear its weight on these real life sorrows and pains.” –Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor, The Village Church

80’s Fashion Comback, Old Theology, & Domestic Violence

by brad on May 28, 2012 in Counseling Reflection with 5 Comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“Consequently, if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties today are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected. To believe in the popular religion of modern England is retrogression—like believing the earth is flat (p. 155).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

There are very few new ideas; mainly just refurbished forgotten ideas. Theology seems to have more in common with fashion that one would think. Just like the bad fashion of the 1980’s are back (with vengeance and vibrancy), so are many equally bad theological ideas that have been discredited in generations past.

As I write this I am amused to ponder what current high school students would think if they flipped through my high school year book. Would they think we were cool before our time? Would those embarrassing pictures be considered “vintage”? Would they completely miss the resemblance out of the blinded belief that their fashion is cutting edge?

The same could be said about many popular “new” ideas in church life. What would they think if they flipped through a history of theology book? Would they side with those declared heretics and claim the church has been wrong for 2000 years? Would they try to say that their rendition of the old false doctrine is nuanced better? Would they even see the resemblance?

This quickly becomes more than humor. My “new” ideas are subject to the same assessment. Do I let myself “off the hook” because I consider myself “in the fold”? Heretics are not bad people. Most often they are passionate people who view real problems within the church or culture and speak from where they know they’re right without considering where they might be wrong.

I can relate to that sense of passion when I see something “wrong,” can’t you?

That moment when I’m seeing what most/most of those around me are “missing” is when I think I have something “new” to add to the conversation. If what I say helps, then I will quickly gain an audience and a growing confidence in my “new” thought.

So what is the danger? The danger is that my question and answer were framed by the current broken situation.  This means that many relevant questions have been overlooked. Those I am responding to as “wrong” responded the same way to a “wrong” they were passionate about. When this is the pattern the whole counsel of God does not get to frame problems as much as the current efforts of people. We quickly wind up like theological dogs chasing our tails.

This is not just true of theology. Another place I have seen it frequently is in abuse victims. Their abusive environments are “wrong.” They develop ways of thinking and patterns of life in reaction to the wrongness of their abusive environment. When this happens the wrongness of the situation that framed their thinking about “right” still implants many misguided thoughts about life, relationships, and emotions.

So what is the abuse victim to do? They are to be affirmed for being able to see what is really “wrong.” They are to be affirmed for taking actions to change. But then they should be encouraged to begin to ask “What is healthy?” outside the context of the abusive environment and with safe people.

What does this have to do with theology and heresy? We should be able to declare certain beliefs wrong. We should take actions to address bad doctrine and practice. But we should always be asking, “How does truth (the whole counsel of God’s Word) frame this discussion?” We should ask this question humbly with other honest seekers of truth (Christian community). This is the only way we’ll slow down our repetition of bad theological history.

C.S. Lewis on Theology as Experience and Map

by brad on May 21, 2012 in Counseling Reflection with 1 Comment

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“If a man once looked at the Atlantic from the beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real… The map is admittedly only colored paper, but there are two things you have to remember about it. In the first place, it is based upon what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic. In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single glimpse, the map fits all those different experiences together. In the second place, if you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map (p. 154).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Lewis is speaking to the person who looks down on theology because they find it to be less real than their personal relationship with God. What I appreciate about his approach is that he affirms what is right in the discomfort without embracing the error.

His use of metaphor makes this possible. If he had merely said, “You are right in [blank], but wrong in [blank],” he would likely lose his audience. The feel of the conversation would be, “Your wrong is more wrong than your right is right.” Even if Lewis and his friend could agree on what was right and wrong, they would likely not walk away feeling chummy.

However, with the use of story Lewis is able to capture the essence of what his friend is fearful of losing in a way that a straightforward statement never could. They can “feel” a walk on the beach in a way that makes a map seem highly impersonal – “Yes! That’s what I’m talking about. You get me! You care enough to listen and represent me fairly. You’re a friend.”

With that trust Lewis flips the metaphor in a friendly fashion; never unsaying what he’s already established. The majesty of a walk on the beach is never minimized, but it is used to elevate the essence of the map. A map is the coalescence of many experiences both on the beach and at sea.

A map makes few people fall in love with the ocean, but it keeps many people from getting lost at sea. Yet the more you fall in love with the ocean the more likely you are to get lost unless you have a map. But too much time with the map away from the sea will give you a very tame view of the ocean void of the appropriate awe and reverence for its beauty and power.

Lewis’ metaphor does what no debate could accomplish. It brings two people with seemingly “opposing” views to see how much they need one another. This is not possible with all differences, but is much more possible than we often believe when conversations start as a debate.

In effect, Lewis is modeling what he is teaching. He is creating an experience while he is drawing a map. The metaphor takes you somewhere that you can “feel” the contrast. You sense wanting one (awe of the ocean) and needing the other (a map to navigate). You realize it is senseless to settle for one or the other.

In the midst of this experiential metaphor Lewis is drawing a map of the current disagreement. You can see “where” you are and where you “opponent” is. Points are made, but they are not dry points like reading a map far from the ocean mist. You learn to find yourself (map effect) but do so with the smell of salty breeze (ocean effect).

C.S. Lewis Rejecting What Not to Write

by brad on May 14, 2012 in Counseling Reflection with No comments

A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

“Everyone has warned me not to tell you what I am going to tell you in this last book. They all say ‘the ordinary reader does not want Theology; give him plain practical religion.’ I have rejected their advice. I do not think the ordinary reader is such a fool… You are not children: why should you be treated like children (p. 153)?” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

People don’t want practical platitudes any more than they want dry theology. This is why I believe Lewis was safe to cast aside the cautions of his contemporaries.

It strikes me that Lewis’ advisers might also be the type to say, “Don’t teach history. History is boring.” While many early experiences with history teachers may be boring (primarily because many are coaches who are more concerned with athletics than academics), that is not a reflection of the subject.

Just as history well taught can be very stimulating, theology well taught is (in my opinion) the pinnacle of subjects. The question becomes, why has theology gotten a bad name as a boring subject? We cannot blame football coaches for this.

I believe the answer is that those who are well versed at discussing eternal, timeless realities are not always the most engaged in a temporal, daily existence. Teaching is always a journey and the theologian can have a tendency to be so enthralled with the destination (the answer) that he forgets to take his listener with him (making the questions relatable).

This was never a problem for Lewis. Rarely can you read his books without feeling like he is reading your mind (at least that is my experience). He is starting where I am – question by question, point by point, illustration by illustration—and leading me to the great truths of theology.

So our first take away is this, subjects are not boring; teachers are boring. Just as pencils don’t have bad handwriting; people have bad handwriting.

Our second take away is that we (teachers of theology) must be as creative in framing our question as we are articulate in answering them. We must realize that our listener is a pilgrim taking a journey, not a banker collecting information.

Therefore, a primary objective of teachers is to learn where their students are starting from. No journey began at an ambiguous point.

This is my experience as a counselor-teacher; what I have to say it not profound. I want the arguing couple to be nice. I want the addict to stop lying and stop using. I want the anxious person to trust God. I want the sinfully angry person to stop judging. Nobody says “Wow!” to those points, even when we say they can only be achieved by the grace of God.

But when I have done an excellent job of entering their experience and put their world into words, when they feel like I really “get them,” then simple answers point them towards their hope in Christ and radically transform their lives.

That is what Lewis has done for me in so many of his writings (theology, apologetics, fiction, journals). As we learn from his writing, I think there is as much to be learned from his style as there is his content. Lewis was able to reach an audience that spanned from the Oxford elite to the bloke at the bar. If we want to reach the same audience, then we need to follow his example.

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