Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ Book

Having read one other book by Elyse Fitzpatrick, I was excited to read her again and dive into a topic that is becoming increasingly necessary for Christians, regardless of occupation - counseling. I have found that Christians in my generation are absolutely open to being counseled as they (and I) work through complicated sin issues. Fitzpatrick and Johnson do a nice job of driving home the main point of this book, which is "we are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, but we are also more loved and welcomed than we ever dared hope." They believe that counseling should always be in this context, and I definitely agree.

I enjoyed several sections of this book, and the theological groundwork at the beginning was great. I thought her explanation of love was very good, because so many counseling issues stem from a lack of love, or at least a perceived lack of love, and of course the Gospel is all about God's love displayed to us through Christ. Her identification of the happy and sad moralists were interesting and seemed to be good categories to consider when counseling. I love the distinction that the authors make between gospel-centered counseling versus Biblical counseling. Unfortunately much Biblical counseling today is probably just self-help moral strategies that might work for a time but then don't last because of a lack of Gospel focus. Overall, my two favorite chapters were probably her chapters on emotions and relationships.

I only have a couple criticisms: One is that it could have probably been more concise. There was a lot of repeating, and I know that was possibly intentional, but it made it hard to keep going at times. Another criticism concerns her chapter on the Gospel and sanctification. Sanctification is rooted in the Gospel, yes, but it also involves intenional effort on our part. The Gospel has been understated in the church today, so I'm assuming that the authors are reacting against that by bringing the focus back to where it should be. However, we need gospel-fueled effort to overcome our sin issues, and I did not feel that the authors focused enough on what our effort should look like as it grows out of gospel soil. But in the end, these are small things compared to the benefit that I got out of reading this book. It will be a resource that I go back to time and again.

A few quotes:

"Don't be concerned that you will spend too much time thinking of his love and forget your obligation to obey."

"Rather than asking, 'What does this passage tell me to do,' ask yourself 'What do these verses tell me about God's love through Christ?'"

"What we experience as feelings or moods are a physiological response to the thoughts, emotions, and judgements of our inner person (mind and heart)."

"This desire for relationship, though broken and self-focused, originates with God."