Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands

What does it mean to be a Counselor in a contemporary culture?

There are so many creative options I can use to help clients connect with their stories and their hearts: movies, art, music, literature . . . I'm a teacher, so I like to use a whiteboard and a handful of markers when I meet with clients. I have a room full of stories to tell - about myself [the session begins to take a subtle turn towards focusing on the counselor, rather than the client]. On a "successful" day, words of wisdom,insight and a stirring drama from my life can wow the client. I can be an entertainer or I can be a salesperson doing an hour long infomercial on my product of choice for the day. Where did the counselor go? Here, at the end of my counseling practicum, I will answer:

Woe to me if I reduce the ministry of counseling to an infomercial or a circus of magical [supposedly]stunts. And yet, to counsel within a culture of entertainment and flashy quick-fix quotations, I wish to be salt and light. I wish to be a prophet(a disrupter) and a priest(a consoler).

[Tools have their place, but only in the hands of the Redeemer - nothing more, nothing less, nothing else]

"We must not offer people a system [or formula] of redemption, a set of insights and principles. We offer people a Redeemer. In His power we find the hope and help we need to defeat the most powerful enemies. Hope rests in the grace of the Redeemer, the only real means of lasting change." (Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, Paul David Tripp, p 8.)