Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D. The Résumé of a Spiritual Friend: Equipped to Offer Wise Counsel in Complex Times

Being a Spiritual Friend Can Feel Like a Maze!

Need Some Directions?

Some Signs Are Spot On!

Some Signs Are Confusing!

Some Signs Are More Helpful Than Others

We Need a GPS

The Résumé of a Spiritual Friend Sharing As Spiritual Friends  Imagine that you’re forwarding your résumé to the Divine Counselor. What items would you highlight to demonstrate your qualifications to be a SF/LBC?  What qualities seem to be missing in the lives and ministries of SF/LBC? What could be done to remedy these missing qualities?

The Apostle Paul and the Ordinary, Average Christian in Rome Romans 15:14 “I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge, and competent to instruct one another.”

The Apostle Paul and the Ordinary, Average Christian in Rome  “Brothers”  “I Myself/You Yourselves”  “Convinced”

The Apostle Paul and the Ordinary, Average Christian in Rome  Character: “Full of Goodness”  Content: “Complete in Knowledge”  Competence: “Competent to Instruct”  Community: “Brothers”/“One Another”

Character: Loving Like Jesus Reflecting Christ: “Full of Goodness”  Goodness: Galatians 5:22-23  God’s Kindness to Those in Need: Suffering  God’s Grace Even to the Unjust: Sinning  Grace Relationships

Character: Loving Like Jesus Reflecting Christ: “Full of Goodness”  Christlikeness  The powerful spiritual friend reflects the Ultimate Spiritual Friend—Jesus.  “Full”: Overflowing  “The person who is good at relating to God will be good at relating to others!”  Competence without character is like one corpse practicing cosmetic surgery on another corpse.

Content/Conviction: Thinking Like Jesus Renewed in Christ: “Complete in Knowledge”  Love God with our Brain  Complete:  Claims our entire being  We are captured by God’s Truth!  Knowledge: Gnoseos  Information + Application = Transformation  Insight for relating God’s truth to human relationships

Content/Conviction: Thinking Like Jesus Renewed in Christ: “Complete in Knowledge” Philippians 1:9-11 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

Content/Conviction: Thinking Like Jesus Renewed in Christ: “Complete in Knowledge”  Philippians 1:9-11—Truth and Love Kiss  Biblibcal counselors are convinced that God’s Word is sufficient for wisdom about people, problems, and solutions.  Changing Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth

Truth and Love/Character and Content

Competence: Serving Like Jesus Reproducing Christ: “Competent to Instruct”  Competent: Dunamenoi  Power to Accomplish a Mission  Ability: Capability, Resources, Strength

Competence: Serving Like Jesus Reproducing Christ: “Competent to Instruct”  “Instruction” by Spiritual Direction: Noutheteo  To Care-Front Out of Concern for Change  Reconciling: “It’s Horrible to Sin, but Wonderful to Be Forgiven”  Guiding: “It’s Supernatural to Mature”

Competence: Serving Like Jesus Reproducing Christ: “Competent to Disciple”  “Instruction” by Soul Care: Parakaleo 2 Corinthians 1  To Come Along Side to Comfort and Encourage  Sustaining: “It’s Normal to Hurt”  Healing: “It’s Possible to Hope”

Community: Connecting in Jesus Relating in Christ: “Brothers”/“One Another”  Connecting Communities  One Another Context:  Romans 12  Romans 13  Romans  Romans 16

Community: Connecting in Jesus Relating in Christ: “Brothers”/“One Another”  Spiritual Friendship Communities  Spiritual Friends Must Have Spiritual Friends

Conclusion: Don’t Take a Back Seat to Anyone! Be Equipped to Be a Christ- Confident “4C” Spiritual Friend Be a Church Of Biblical Counseling Not Just a Church With Biblical Counseling

Sharing and Growing As Spiritual Friends 1.Which of the “4Cs” will you further develop? How? 2.Personal Dream: What would demonstrate you had caught God’s vision for you as a SF? 3.Church Dream: What would demonstrate your church had caught God’s vision for it as a SF community? 4.What will you be doing differently as a SF?

Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D. The Résumé of a Spiritual Friend: Equipped to Offer Wise Counsel in Complex Times