Continuing our series of posts on the book Total Church, today we come to the subject of pastoral care. In this chapter, the authors get at some issues of counseling and the effect of the world upon the church and its upholding of the gospel and community. One quote that gets at this is on p.135:
Part of the hope the gospel gives me is in understanding that I have a God-given responsibility together with a corresponding God-given ability to respond in a way that honors him as my all-sufficient Savior. In Christ and the gospel word there is sanity.
Speaking in relation to this core truth, they highlight community:
Pastoral care in a Christian community is not merely one therapy device among many. It is the context in which any other pastoral care takes place.
This has enormous implications for our lives. When we have some sort of problem, we should find hope for that problem in a gospel-saturated context. This gospel context is going to be encouraged and nurtured in community. As the church is thriving in this way, problems can be not only addressed but overcome by the Spirit of God at work in these things.