How Counseling Fulfills the Great Commission

For many years, Jesus’ last words in Matthew 28 were far from my everyday reality as a believer. I believed that the Great Commission was only fulfilled by going to the nations and preaching the gospel. But since one of the things Jesus calls us to in this passage is to make disciples and to teach them to observe all that he has commanded us… I now know that biblical counseling is a key part to play in fulfilling the Great Commission. 

It’s My Responsibility… and Yours

We can see biblical counseling as a personal ministry of the Word in which we help others, under the authority of Scripture and the centrality of the gospel, to understand how their hearts are responding to a particular situation and to walk according to the truths of the Word.

Biblical counseling, then, relates to the Great Commission, as it is a kind of intensive discipleship where we walk alongside another believer in need, teaching them to observe what Jesus has taught.

Now, seeing biblical counseling as part of obedience to the Great Commission might also be viewed as something exclusive to those trained in this work. But the reality is that this is a calling for every believer. Just look with me at these passages:

“I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.” (Romans 15:14)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”
(Galatians 6:1)

According to these verses, who is being called to instruct, teach, admonish, and restore? All of us. In a sense, we are all counselors; we are all called to teach others to walk as Jesus walked, and in doing so, we advance the fulfillment of the Great Commission by making disciples who live according to Christ.

How do we do it?

The way we do discipleship through biblical counseling should be grounded, at the very least, in these three pillars:

1. The authority of the Word

Jesus called us to teach everything he has commanded us, and there is no way we can do this apart from Scripture. Obeying the Great Commission through biblical counseling rests on the authority of the Word because it is there that Jesus has revealed himself to us.

2. The centrality of the gospel

In the very calling of the Great Commission, we see how Jesus is central. We baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and we teach his commandments. Christ is the message because only Jesus can save and heal broken hearts.

3. The focus on the heart

The conformity to the character of Christ that the Great Commission points to involves the transformation of the heart. In this sense, biblical counseling helps us see how the heart responds to its various circumstances and how we can help it respond to Christ appropriately.

Under His Authority

The first and last words of Jesus in the call of the Great Commission are the reason why we can respond to this call:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.… And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18, 20).

In our work of making disciples through biblical counseling, we do not seek results because we cannot produce them. Instead, we seek to be faithful to what the Lord has called us to, and we do this because Christ has all authority and he has promised to be with us every day until the end of the world.