Earlier this month, a group of leaders in the biblical counseling movement that included scholars, authors, practitioners, and pastors wrote and signed The Sufficiency Statement. I am, gratefully, one of those original signatories. I have never signed a public statement like this and, frankly, was never interested in doing so until now. So what changed?
What the Statement Is
The Sufficiency Statement includes four brief sections that seek to clarify matters relevant to biblical counseling philosophy and practice. The current sprint by so many who embrace the biblical counseling moniker to incorporate extrabiblical (i.e., contra-biblical) ideas and methods into their counsel highlighted the need for a fresh defense of the ancient doctrine of Scripture’s sufficiency (see sections I and II of the Statement).
Outside the current dust up regarding these issues (see section IV), the statement would hardly be controversial among those who call themselves biblical counselors. However, now, further clarification on sufficiency is warranted because many are seeking to practice methods and purport ideas that contradict Scripture, claiming that “because both special grace or revelation and common grace or general revelation are divine, they are intended by God to be integrated”* (see section III).
What we believe about this doctrine, as well as what we do with this doctrine in the lives of others, matters greatly. Therefore, the Sufficiency Statement makes for a wise, strategic stand in this currently crucial moment.
What the Statement Is Not
Some are claiming that this controversy (of which the Statement is a part) is a matter of theological nitpicking, organizations jockeying for position in the biblical counseling world (the Statement wasn’t produced by any particular organization, by the way), or mere intramural name calling, or some combination of all of the above. While I can’t speak for any man’s individual motives at any given moment, let’s be clear, this issue just isn’t about those things. Such claims ignore the real concerns articulately raised by godly men. (See also Heath Lambert’s other “For the Church” lectures here, as well as the Fall 2024 issue of The Journal of Biblical Soul Care.)
In his perfect timing, God has always seen fit to raise up discerning, zealous defenders of his truth. He will, God willing, do the same in our day in defense of this precious, pertinent doctrine. For the sake of his name, his word, and his church, I am praying that he does and that they win the hearts of many in their fight for sufficiency.
* Southeastern Theological Review, Volume 15, Number 1, Spring 2024, 3.