Comfort Food for Mutual Ministry by Paul Tautges
Note: Pastor Paul Tautges shared this blog post this week at his Counseling One Another blog. You can read the entire post at Comfort Food for Mutual Ministry. 
Here’s an excerpt from his post about his favorite page from Equipping Counselors for Your Church.
Comfort Food for Mutual Ministry by Paul Tautges
Last fall I posted a review of Bob Kellemen’s new book, Equipping Counselors for Your Church. You can read that review here.
Today, I draw your attention to one of the best pages in the book, which calls us to the mutual ministry of comfort. Bob effectively argues for balance in two areas of biblical counseling: confrontation and comfort. Both, he rightly affirms, are Scriptural priorities we must grow in as we counsel one another. Here’s a lengthy quote that received a smiley face and a “Yes!” in the margin of my copy. In the context of this quote the author has just finished explaining the importance of noutheteo, warning, and now urges for the equally-important ministry of parakaleo, coming alongside in mutual ministry to comfort and strengthen one another.
Paul never intended Romans 15:14 to be the final or only word on the nature of biblical counseling. Nor did he use noutheteo as the only or even the primary concept to describe the personal ministry of the Word. For instance, in 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Paul uses five distinct words for biblical counseling. “And we urge [parakaleo] you, brothers, warn [noutheteo] those who are idle, encourage [paramutheomai] the timid, help [antechomai] the weak, be patient with [makrothumeo] everyone.”
Among the many New Testament words for spiritual care, parakaleo predominates. Whereas noutheteo occurs eleven times in the New Testament, parakaleo (comfort, encourage, console) appears 109 times. In 2 Corinthians 1:3–11, Paul informs us that we are competent to comfort (parakaleo) one another. Those who have humbly received God’s comfort, God equips to offer comfort to others.
Continue reading at Comfort Food for Mutual Ministry.
Join the Conversation
What does comprehensive, compassionate one-another care look like?
RPM Ministries: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth
Comfort is so a part of bearing one another’s burdens. I am glad that I feel that in my Reformed church. Sometimes I think it is all about theology, and then I realize that when I open up to others there is comfort in the body of Christ.