Paul's Passing Thoughts

Sigh. I’m going to have to pause here and get something off my chest. While researching for the history section of The Truth About New Calvinism, I stumbled onto an internet promotion regarding a forthcoming book written by a very suburban-looking Heath Lambert. The title of the book is, “The Biblical Counseling Movement after Jay Adams.”

Lambert is right about one thing, the biblical counseling movement has left Jay Adams behind (“….after Jay Adams”), and according to what we hear these days, that’s good because Jay was “first generation” and now we are in the “second generation” of this “biblical” movement. Lambert looks really young. I will give him thirty-five, maybe. So, that would make him approximately ten years old when God used a disciple of Jay Adams to save my life with first generation counseling. However, I must be careful here, the last time I said that to someone closely associated with CCEF, they mocked me. That’s funny you know, that anybody would think that first generation counseling saved anybody.

Furthermore, while listening to an mp3 one day, I heard a NANC Fellow say that the first generation counseling didn’t do much more than create a bunch of Pharisees. What did he mean by that? We get a clue from a seminar taught at John Piper’s church by David Powlison while Piper was on a sabbatical to eliminate several “species of heart idols.” I guess the idols were the eight-month type and the hunting went well because Piper was able to return to ministry in January of 2011. Anyway, according to Powlison, first generation counseling was “behavioral.”

So, like the Pharisees, first generation counseling only cleaned (past tense?) the outside of the cup—it was behavioristic. And I guess it still is since many churches still do first generation counseling, and Adams is still alive and….uh, wait a minute here—is Lambert saying first generation doesn’t count as being in the movement anymore? Hmmm, this brings up another question: do the first generation counselors who reject second generation counseling consider themselves in the movement? Or are there now two movements? Maybe Lambert clarifies that in his book.

Let me suggest another question: since first generation counseling (Hereafter FG) advocated biblical thinking, doesn’t that count for cleaning the inside of the cup? After all, Christ said the Pharisees were inside lawbreakers (Matt. 23:28). Nope. Paul David Tripp took care of that in How People Change on page 27. Apparently, aligning our thinking with the mind of Christ “omits the person and work of Christ as Savior.” Wow. So taking every thought captive and bringing it into obedience to Christ isn’t what the apostle Paul was really talking about. In fact, to do that is to deny the saving work of Christ! These second generation guys must be really, really advanced.

For any of you CCEF guys who may be reading this—that’s sarcasm. The real difference between FG and SG was plainly stated by Powlison during his shameful, despicable trouncing of Adams at Piper’s church:

Adams had a tendency to make the cross be for conversion.  And the Holy Spirit was for sanctification.  And actually even came out and attacked my mentor, Jack Miller, my pastor that I’ve been speaking of through the day, for saying that Christians should preach the gospel to themselves.  I think Jay was wrong on that.

This doesn’t need much explaining. In that statement, Powlison clearly states the differences between the two generations. Sanctification by justification or not. Also, his “mentor,” who he spoke of “through the day” is the father of Sonship theology which had sanctification by justification as its premise. Not only that, probably about the time Lambert was also ten years old, the Sonship nomenclature was dropped for “gospel-this,” “gospel-that,” and “gospel you fill in the blank because conservative Presbyterian elders were banning Sonship theology from their churches—calling it “dangerous” and eerily similar to “antinomianism.” Oh, and by the way, the “attack” Powlison was talking about: Adams wrote a book in contention against Sonship theology in 1999. By “attack,” Powlison meant “book,” I think, anyway, maybe the book part slipped his mind. Oh well, I’m sure he gave Lambert a copy for his research since it is a part of the biblical counseling movement’s history.

That’s the difference between the two generations, a false gospel. But wait, I’m not speaking of the SG false gospel; I’m speaking to the fact that they say FG counselors teach a false gospel. Why do you think they resent FG so much? The SG camp makes it clear that if you start with the gospel and “move on to something else, you lose BOTH.” Both what? Justification and sanctification ( Michael Horton: Christless Chrsitianity p.62; also see John Piper’s Gospel in 6 Minutes). Last time I checked, no justification means no salvation. Come now, words mean things. Tripp stated that to even make an effort to change our thinking omits what? The works of Christ as what? “Savior.” What happens when you omit the works of Christ as savior?

I think Lambert’s book is about 200 pages. About what? Second generation biblical counselors think gospel contemplationism is the way to help people and first generation disagrees. Seems pretty simple to me.

paul