Biblical Counselors are not separate from church pastors. Biblical counseling is not different from pastoring. Biblical counseling is part of what a pastor does. In fact, every Christian to some extent functions as a biblical counselor.

The goal of biblical counseling is to help a Christian become more like Christ. Christlikeness happens when God the Holy Spirit transforms the thoughts, motivations and desires of a Christian so that he thinks and behaves according to biblical truth. Ultimately, the only instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to transform the inner thought life of a Christian is the Bible. The Holy Spirit can use any Christian who rightly presents the Bible to make a change in another Christian (“iron sharpens iron” Proverbs 27:17).

Pastors counsel biblically, and so should every member of the congregation. Currently, there are more excellent and affordable Christian counseling books, CD’s, videos and training materials to help a Christian become competent to counsel than ever before.

You can start here to familiarize yourself with effective biblical counseling materials from such excellent authors as Jay Adams, Ted and Paul David Tripp, Wayne Mack, Stuart Scott, Martha Peace and others.