Counseling in the Church: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

There’s a saying that underscores what the Scriptures declare continually: The Bible is not a book that men could write if they would…or would write if they could. Regarding the first part of the saying, finite man obviously lacks the omniscience of our infinite God, so he cannot know the hearts and minds of his fellow man.
As to the latter part, fallen prideful man would hardly be inclined to expose his wickedness, as is presented in Matthew 15:18-20 and numerous other places: “…[t]hose things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man….”