Counseling and Confidentiality

Picture this. You've just ridden your bike for about 12 miles. It's 94 degrees outside. You're sweaty and thirsty. You're completely out of water. You pop over a hill and see a small roadside, old-time mercantile. It appears closed, but right in front of it is a coke machine. You walk up to the drink dispenser. Just before you toss in your money, however, you reach down and unplug the machine. You then put in your money and nothing happens. No sprite comes out. No refreshment is dispensed. You're still thirsty. And you wonder why.

Brothers and sisters, this is what we do when we promise confidentiality in counseling. We take Jesus's prescription for the church in handling sinning brothers and sisters, found in Matthew 18, to refresh us, and we unplug it. That process set in place by our Lord no longer works. We promise people up front that we will not obey our Lord, moving to the next phases of church discipline (taking two or three others, telling it to the church, etc.) if necessary. I learned this from an excellent book by Jay Adams, entitled Handbook of Church Discipline: A Right and Privilege of Every Church Member.

Yesterday the blogosphere was full of discussion about a case in Dallas, where a church followed Matthew 18 and told the church about a man's adulterous behavior. Now he is trying to sue. And the case will likely lead to much discussion, perhaps judicial precedent, about what the church can and can't do. He claims that the pastor promised confidentiality.

I once sat in the office with a pastor who said, regarding church discipline, that "if we did that today, we'd get sued." I about vomited. Here's what I say. The early church did stuff that got them thrown in jail and made them lose their possessions. I say, "Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever."

This why any elder Grace Church ordains will have to pass the guts (edited version ) test from Titus 1:9. He's got to have the guts to hold the plug-in into the outlet while he's getting shot at.

Christians and Plastic Surgery

Dr. Mohler gives some truths about plastic surgery here. It's sad that we even have to address this, but such is the state of our culture and the American church.

Drops of Grace: 5.25.06

Da Vinci: Dr. Mohler quotes an article that compares The Da Vinci Code with Left Behind.

Burn-Out: Mark Driscoll gives some helpful thoughts about ministry and burn-out in "Death by Ministry."

Good Read: Our church has been trying to get Stop Dating the Church by Josh Harris into as many hands as possible. This is a much needed remedy to the religious consumerism of our age. Don't let the fact that you didn't "kiss dating goodbye" stop you from reading and sharing this book.

Drops of Grace

I dig the movies by M. Night Shyamalan. A new one is coming out. Check out the new trailer here.

Also, if you haven't followed Dr. Mohler's posts on motherhood, you need to read them.

Also, you should check out Don Whitney's questions to ask about The Da Vinci Code.