Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul David Tripp has been called by Deepak Reju (of 9Marks) as the one book to get on Biblical counseling.After laying a good foundation of our need for Christ, Tripp sets out a fairly simple process to counseling: love, know, speak, do. These steps are broken down into various parts:
* The four elements of a loving ministry relationship are entering the person's world, incarnating the love of Christ, identifying with suffering, and accepting the agenda.
* To gather information, you need to know the situation, the responses, the thoughts, and the motives.
* To speak the truth in love requires a balance of comfort and call to sanctification. The direction of the guidance involves consideration of what the Lord wants the person to see, confession of sin, commitment to new ways of living, and change in daily life.
* To help a person do what God wants has four objectives - establish your personal ministry agenda, clarify responsibility, instill identity in Christ, and provide accountability.
One refreshing aspect about this book is that Tripp looks at quite a few passages of Scripture to find a way forward in being used to help people change. Not the normal sort of proof-texting one might find to support the odd point or two, but almost sermons on sizable passages. But what really stands out is that Tripp continually brings us before a sovereign Lord and before the cross of Christ, giving both hope and grace.
A friend of mine recommended Tripp to me and I must say that he was very insightful and practical. I hope to read some of his other works along with some of his contemporaries like David Powlison. Great stuff; beneficial to anyone who talks with other people.
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