Christian Spirituality Compared to Secular Spirituality
Christian spirituality is the continual growth in love and service
to God by becoming more like Christ, which is then evident through
actions of compassion toward others. By remaining engaged on this
journey through obedience to the Great Commandment, one becomes
more God-focused and less self-focused, resulting in being other-focused.
The positive changes start internally with adopting God’s desires and
thoughts as one’s own through the power of the Holy Spirit, and thus
manifesting externally in one’s speech and behavior.
Secular spirituality involves many of the same activities as
Christian spirituality (Watts, 2000). Though the observable behavior in a
specific situation can appear the same, the motivations are often very
different since secular spirituality ultimately elevates the self. Given the
same situations, the differing motivations will reveal over time as
divergent choices and actions when comparing the ongoing practice of
one type of spirituality to the other.
The values of the counselor are usually passed to the client.
Some counselors do this in the guise of neutrality while others state their
values upfront (Powlison, 2010). Since a secular therapist can never truly
understand the depth of Christian spirituality without a personal
relationship with Jesus, there is only so much he can do to align his
training of spirituality, even if trained in Christian spiritual formation, to
meet the needs of his Christian client. I believe that a properly trained and
spiritually sensitive secular counselor may be effective for short-term care
where attention is targeted toward techniques and solutions with minimal
relationship building (Garzon, 2011). However, I do not believe thoughtful
attention and respect can be given to the counselee in the case for longer
counseling because the secular counselor’s personal values will have an
impact on the Christian client.
I conclude that it is preferable to seek treatment from a
Christian counselor over a secular one. I am not implying that positive
results from secular counseling are impossible. After all, change comes
through the client’s growing self-reflection and sensitivity to the
prompting of the Holy Spirit. However, the client may spend more effort in
questioning nuanced advice before accepting it and the additional
skepticism may slow the process of trusting and connecting with the
therapist.
References
Garzon, F. L. (2011). Spirituality in counseling. Faculty Publication and
Presentations, 62.https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/ccfs_fac_pubs/62
Powlison, D. (2010). The biblical counseling movement history and context
[Kindle iOS]. New Growth
Press.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MTP9FWZ
