Chapter SixChapter Six
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STEP FOUR: INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENT
In the context of this procedure, "commit" is defined as: "to carry into action deliberately." Thus, "commitment" is defined as: 'the state of being obligated or emotionally impelled." (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.)
Individual Commitment, as the fourth step of Biblical Directionism counseling, is the naturally sequential step following redemptive confrontation (Step Three). After redemptive confrontation (where the counselee is brought face to face with the conditions and consequences of his or her present state of being), a decision must be made to deliberately act upon the biblical criteria necessary for redemptive change. That is, the counselee must decide to carry into action the biblical solutions necessary for positive change.
Individual commitment is that fourth step of Biblical Directionism counseling where the counselor assists the counselee in deliberately agreeing to enter a state of obligation to the corrective action necessary for healing. This state of obligation ought to serve as both an intellectual and emotional facilitator which implies the counselee toward commitment to change. Stated perhaps more succinctly, individual commitment involves bringing the counselee face to face with the need to make a commitment to follow the biblical direction necessary for help and healing.
The acceptance of individual commitment as the fourth and logically sequential step following confrontation is based upon the belief that God requires of man a individual and deliberate decision to carry into action the truth of His Word if any genuine restoration is to be realized.
Scriptural Methodology
Essential to any real restoration, is the willingness on the part of the counselee to actually adopt a therapeutic regime. Resistance to change and reluctance to cooperate with known and proven methods of therapy are universally recognized as the primary barriers to successful counseling. That help is available for any given situation is a biblical absolute; that such help is available only if sought and appropriated is likewise a biblical absolute.
The Scriptural premise from which this fourth step is derived is found in the Book of Matthew. "Come unto Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30.
The offer for help is explicit in the words, "come, take, learn." These three proffered calls for help and healing carry an implicit demand for personal acceptance and individual accountability. The Greek word translated "come" is "deute" and is the plural of "deuro" which means "come here." It is actually a call designed to incite the hearer with an imperative to come.
That this word is in the plural implies the universality of the call to come. The Greek word translated "take" is "arate" which means "to take up, lift, rise." There is conveyed in this word the idea of active participation on the part of the one called to take.
The Greek word translated "learn" is "mathete" which means "to increase one's knowledge, or be increased in knowledge, frequently to learn by inquiry or observation." Implicit here is active participation in the learning process on the part of the individual learner.
Inherent in Jesus' call to "come, take, learn" is the concept of commitment. One is called to actually come, take up, and begin to learn. A deliberate decision to take action is essential. Note too, that the act of coming, taking up, and learning must, by the nature of it, involve an individual's willing participation.
The rewards of commitment are explicit; there is the promise of rest from the burden, an easy yoke (a yoke being an instrument used to ease the burden of carrying heavy loads), a lighter load (easy burden), the lessons of a gentle and humble mind (heart), and rest for the soul. All these rewards are possible only as a consequence of commitment to the call.
This principle is not exclusive to Biblical Directionism counseling or even to God's dealings with man; it is, in fact, inherent in a great many systems. However, it is perhaps more obvious in counseling systems; for, in counseling of any type, individual commitment is essential to any meaningful success.
In Psalm 37:5, David said, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noon day sun." The Hebrew word translated "commit" is "galal" which means "to roll." Thus, to "commit" one's life unto the Lord is to "roll" it upon Him. Implicit in the idea of "rolling upon" is the necessity of deliberate and decisive action which is prompted or motivated by personal willingness to accept both the liberty and constraint of turning one's way over to God.
A righteous God must require commitment of those who would be the recipients of His healing systems. Otherwise, there must be universal healing for every wrong thing regardless of individual accountability. If such were the case, no system of absolutes could be possible; and without His system of absolutes, God could not be God.
This same principle is quite well established within a great many secular disciplines and societal systems. Jurisprudence, for example, would degenerate into a meaningless exercise in irrelevant philosophy if the element of personal commitment were totally removed. Are God's righteous requirements to be taken less seriously than the state-established requirements of law? And what system of counseling (secular or biblical) could possibly be effective without the all-important element of individual commitment?
The primary factor in counseling success/failure for all types of methodologies is the degree of individual commitment on the part of the counselee. God requires individual commitment because He has established that, for the duration of earth-life, man would be free to commit to the righteous requirements of the ways of God or be free to reject them. Hence, individual commitment is an irrevocable prerequisite to healing.
The manner in which God requires commitment is three-fold. First, God requires repentance for past actions and attitudes which were incongruent with righteousness (right living and right thinking) (Luke 13:1-5; II Peter 3:9). Second, God requires restitution for wrongs committed against others (wherever this is possible) (Exodus 22:3-14; Leviticus 5:16; 6:5; 22:14; 24:18-21; Numbers 5:8). Third, God requires realignment of attitudes and actions according to the infallible standards of His Word (right living and right thinking) (Micah 6:8; Hebrews 12:14).
Perhaps no other passage of Scripture teaches this lesson quite so succinctly as Isaiah 1:16-20. "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of My sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the cause of the widow. 'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.' For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Experiential Methodology
If commitment is a generic fourth step in biblical counseling, the Scriptures ought to abound with clear evidence of it. The following selections are only representative of a vast quantity of such evidence.
Biblical Case Studies
God counsels Noah.
"So God said to Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it:'...Noah did everything just as God commanded him." Genesis 6:13-15a, 22.
That commitment was required is clear in these words, "So make yourself an ark." (:14); "This is how you are to build it:" (:15).
Jethro counsels Moses.
"Moses' father-in-law replied, 'What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. This work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you'...Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said." Exodus 18:17-19a, 24.
That commitment was required here is made clear in these words, "Listen now to me and I will give you some advise" (:19).
Eli counsels Samuel.
"So Eli told Samuel, 'Go and lie down, and if He calls you, say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak for your servant is listening.'" I Samuel 3:9-10.
That commitment was required here is made clear in these words, "Go and lie down, and if He calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening'" (:9).
Jesus counsels Simon.
"When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.' Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break." Luke 5:4-6.
That commitment was required here is clear from the argument Simon puts up about having worked all night and caught nothing---still Jesus required commitment..."Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch" (:4).
Premier Case Study: Nathan counsels David.
"You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' Nathan replied, 'The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.'" II Samuel 12:12-13.
That commitment was required here is made clear in David's reaction to Nathan's confrontation..."I have sinned against the Lord" (:13). The primary and initial step of commitment is repentance; this, David knew full well and willingly took this step as an evidence of his deliberate decision to take whatever action necessary to correct his way.
The Results
God counsels Noah (Genesis 6:13-15a, 22).
The results of a call to commitment here is revealed in these words, "Noah did everything just as God commanded him" (:22).
Jethro counsels Moses (Exodus 18:17-19, 24).
The results of the call to commitment is revealed in these words, "Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said" (:24).
Eli counsels Samuel (I Samuel 3:9-10).
The results of the call to commitment is revealed in these words, "So Samuel went and lay down in his place" (:9); "Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening'" (:5).
Premier Case Study: Nathan counsels David (II Samuel 12:12-13).
The results of David's willing commitment is revealed in the words of David, "I have sinned against the Lord" (:13). In each of the above case studies, the counselee was faithful to the call to commitment. Certainly, the Scriptures are replete with case studies where the counselee failed to be faithful to the call for commitment.
In all such cases, tragedy resulted. Examples would include Cain's rejection of God's call to repentance (Genesis 4); the nation of Israel's rejection of Moses' call to enter the promised land (Numbers 13); Jonah's initial rejection of God's call to go to Ninevah (Jonah 1); the rich young man's rejection of Jesus' call to self-abnegation (Matthew 19). The contrast between the case studies of those willingly committed and those who refused provides a clear picture of how, without commitment, positive change is impossible.
To confront a counselee with the realities of his or her present state of being without also calling him or her to commitment is to violate a simple and basic premise of sound reasoning.
"Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him." Psalm 32:10.
"The Lord redeems His servants; no one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned." Psalm 34:22.
"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe." Proverbs 29:25.
"Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:11.
END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS
Chapter 6
Instructions: After reading the chapter,
study each question. Try to determine the correct answer without referring back.
Check the accuracy of your answer by clicking the hyperlinked portion of the
question. The link takes you to the correct place in the chapter.
Q.1 Give a succinct definition of "INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENT" as the fourth step of Directionism.
Q.2 As the fourth step in Directionism, "individual commitment" is based upon what essential belief?
Q.3 Universally, what is the primary barrier to successful counseling?
Q.4 Define the Greek words "DEUTE", "ARATE", and "MATHETE" as used in Matthew 11:28-30. How do these Greek words relate to the rewards of "willing participation"?
Q.5 Explain why God requires individual commitment.
Q.6 What are the three (3) ways in which God requires individual commitment?
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[Table of Contents] [Introduction]
[Chapter One] [Chapter Two]
[Chapter Three] [Chapter Four]
[Chapter Five] [Chapter Six]
[Chapter Seven] [Bibliography]
