Neil T. Anderson's approach to Christian discipleship counseling and theology

¶ … Discipleship Counseling, Dr. Neil T. Anderson seeks to integrate Christianity with counseling, and demonstrate to the reader how a Christian focus can make someone a more effective counselor. He disagrees with the approach taken by secular psychology and suggests that only Christian counseling can help people overcome the fact that they are born spiritually dead and can only achieve spiritual life through Christ. Anderson suggests that secular psychology can actually damage a Christian because it ignores the central relationship in a Christian's life: the relationship with Christ. Finally, Anderson discusses the idea of spiritual oppression and that those seeking the light will face opposition. Looking at these themes, this paper discusses the applicability of Anderson's teachings to the discipleship counselor and whether they can be useful to someone using a secular approach to counseling.

Understanding Discipleship Counseling by Neil T. Anderson

One of the more prevalent ideas in Christianity is that having a Christian faith can help someone in this life not just in the next one, but many Christian practitioners fail to explain the practicalities of such an approach. Embracing Christianity is seen as a positive that needs no further explanation. However, Dr. Neil T. Anderson takes a slightly different approach to the issue of Christianity and how it can be used in Christian counseling. Rather than taking the position that a Christian world view can help supplement traditional secular counseling, which is the position taken by many Christian counselors, Anderson is openly skeptical about secular psychology and its utility in helping change lives. Instead, he suggests that people are born spiritually dead, so that their bodies and souls and not united, and that only embracing Christianity can remedy this defect. Furthermore, Anderson discusses what it means to counsel in God. Though he does not reject the idea that secular psychology can provide insight into the human condition, he does reject the idea that a counselor needs anything more than a good knowledge of the Bible and its lessons in order to help individuals. He also suggests that secular psychology can be very damaging to the Christian seeking help, because it ignores the relationship between the Christian and Christ, which is the most important relationship to any Christian. Finally, Anderson discusses the idea of spiritual oppression, and how Satan can continue to work through people by spiritually oppressing him. He discusses the fact that churches that seek the truth and the light will face opposition, and not just from those in the church who seem to be troubled or in need of assistance. Therefore, he seems to suggest that a discipleship leader needs to have the faith that what he is doing is right. He reminds people that Jesus also faced significant opposition to His message, and that disciples trying to live in his image must expect that same opposition.

The Relationship between Psychology and Theology

Some critics might suggest that Anderson is against psychology. That is not an accurate representation of Anderson's position. Anderson is not a proponent of secular psychology; he believes that psychology is the study of the soul and that "the Bible has the only authoritative explanation of the soul, and it is imperative that we understand how the body, soul and spirit function together and how God intended us to relate to him" (Anderson, 2003). Anderson uses the example of Adam and Eve to explain the concept of being alive, which is to have a connection between the soul and the body. This was the state that existed prior to the fall, and the state to which people continue to aspire. However, Anderson points out that the fall had immediate consequences for mental health. The first post-fall emotion expressed by Adam is fear, and Anderson suggests that it is no coincidence that anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health disorders (Anderson, 2003). Anderson points to Cain and his depression, and the disastrous results of that depression to indicate that the fall had other mental-health impacts as well (Anderson, 2003). Therefore, this separation from God is what invited mental health problems into the life of man.

However, it is not merely the separation from God that resulted from the fall that contributes to mental health issues. Instead, it is important to realize that, like Adam, modern people continue to try to hide from God. When Adam sought to hide from God, he lost some of his knowledge and some of his ability to understand; he became a natural man (Anderson, 2003). Likewise, Adam's descendants are natural men, similarly unable to have this understanding relationship with God. Being born in sin, man can only find this redemption, this life, through Christ. "The unregenerate mind cannot function properly without the life of Christ" (Anderson, 2003). Therefore, any attempts to help people that are not focused on Christ are not going to be successful, because they are not dealing with a united body and soul.

While Anderson's position that only Christian counseling and a Christian approach can unite body and soul will be controversial to many non-Christians, it is a theme that one sees repeated by other scholars. Traditional therapy talks about the ideas of growth and healing and how counseling can help a person achieve that type of growth. However, there is little effort to define why growth, healing, or change are necessary. When this growth is placed within the context of man's relationship with God, those ambiguities disappear. "Instead of defining change as an intra-psychic, psychosocial, or biological process of 'healing' or 'growth,' we define change as turning to a Person whom we trust, fear, obey, and seek to please. Instead of letting the goal of 'health' cue our system to a medical metaphor, we set the goal of being transformed into the likeness of this Person with whom we live in relationship" (Powlison, p.2003). Living in Christ's image is the closest thing that people can do to living in the image of Adam before the fall, with a united body and soul, as man was intended by God to live. Therefore, unless a person embraces Christianity and a Christian approach, efforts at help are not going to provide the same type of success as a Christian approach.

Spiritual Oppression

One of the things that Anderson makes clear is that even Christians can experience a profound level of spiritual oppression. "Any ministry that turns on the light has to expect opposition and not just from troubled people" (Anderson, 2003). This has been a constant in Christianity's evolution over the years; the church has tried to shed light and has been opposed by various forces. Anderson says that it is a problem that he has personally experienced several times while doing his work. In fact, Anderson relates several stories of people discussing the urge to hurt him or kill him, which has been sent to them by Satan (Anderson, 2003). This is an important consideration. The tendency in modern society is to suggest that people who do evil things are evil people. Anderson does not dismiss the presence of evil in this world, but seeks to remind his audience that evil is something done through and by people, but it is not something that defines people. He places the responsibility for evil at Satan's feet.

This type of open discussion of Satan continuing to act in the world is one that can have some potentially very negative implications in the secular world. If a person begins to talk to a secular psychologist about the impact that Satan is having on their lives, and reveals that, because of Satan he or she is having violent impulses towards others, that person is most likely going to be diagnosed with a mental illness, perhaps committed to a mental institution, and given medication. Anderson suggests that such an approach is at best, inadequate, to deal with people who are spiritually oppressed. Moreover, such an approach can actually increase the vulnerability of the person in question.

However, Anderson also understands how easy it can be for someone to believe that they are doing the right thing in Christ's name, but to actually be caught up in the trap of legalism or false beliefs. He does not suggest engaging in debate with those who question his approach to counseling or his religious beliefs. Instead, he believes that making himself accountable to those types of people would put him in bondage to them, and betray his belief in Christ. That said, it is critical to understand that Anderson in no way feels that a discipleship counselor should escape accountability. Instead, he believes that "we need to voluntarily be accountable to wise, godly people for both our message and our ministry" (Anderson, 2003).

The trick, of course, is to understand what types of people are wise and godly. Anderson helps establish some criteria for determining whether people are wise and godly. According to him, "every legitimate Christian ministry will establish people alive and free in Christ and enable them to be the people God created them to be" (Anderson, 2003). Moreover, as people working within a ministry, Anderson suggests that every individual makes the choice whether to be part of the building crew or the wrecking crew in the establishment of these people.

What Anderson does not directly address is why people would choose to be discipleship counselors. First, when one looks at the life of Christ, it is clear that any true disciple of Christ must be willing to be called upon to be a counselor at some point in his or her life. Christ's ministry was largely about counseling to those who found themselves in spiritual need. However, there are certainly people who are drawn specifically to discipleship counseling as a vocation. Sherman and Hendricks believe that God is responsible for giving people their spiritual and vocational callings, and that there are five major reasons that God calls people to labor (1987). People serve others through work, meet their own needs through work, meet their family's needs through work, earn money through work, and love God through work (Hendricks & Sherman, 1987). When a person sees that discipleship counseling will fulfill all of those areas, then he needs to be a discipleship counselor. According to Anderson, "we are called by God to do His will and are assured of His presence for the purpose of discerning it" (Anderson, 2003).

Conclusion

Anderson's approach to discipleship counseling is one that many people would view as controversial. The secular psychological community is openly skeptical about using Christ in counseling. In fact, some of the issues that Anderson would treat with a spiritual approach, such as a client's belief that he was being influenced by Satan, would be enough to trigger involuntary commitments or medication by the secular psychological community. Therefore, his book is not really one that can be used by the secular practitioner who wishes to integrate some elements of Christianity into secular counseling. At the heart of Anderson's book is the message that secular counseling has not been and cannot be sufficient to treat people, because people are born spiritually dead and only through Christ can their bodies and souls be united. This is a very damning conclusion for those who believe that other forms of counseling can lead to meaningful growth and transformation for the client.