Read Me Like a Book

Using Hermeneutics as a Guide to Pastoral Counseling

Cusick

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781630872854
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Many pastors feel overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the counseling issues in their congregations. But pastors are actually better equipped for counseling than they realize. Hermeneutics, homiletics, pastoral care, and counseling all share a common foundation in the field of interpretation. With this book, pastors can learn to interpret people with the same expertise they use to interpret Scripture. Read Me Like a Book offers a simple, practical, and theoretically sound approach to help pastors leverage their exegetical skills to improve their pastoral counseling.

1

Who Am I?

The Pre-Understanding of the Interpreter

What we know, how we feel, what we believe, and how we make decisions impact how we interpret new information. In what ways does interpreting the Bible and people start with an honest self-understanding?

Pastor Dan opened the door of his office and invited Sarah to come in. She was a causally dressed woman in her late forties, slightly shorter than Dan, and carried what seemed to Dan to be an unusually large purse. She didn’t look upset. She sat down across from Dan, set her purse on the floor next to her chair, turned off her cell phone, and looked up.

“Thank you for meeting with me today, Pastor,” she began. “I won’t take much of your time. Before we start, I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and talked to a pastor before about, you know, things in my life. I’ve been coming to the church for a while now . . . off and on, but not as often as I should. I was raised Catholic and didn’t go to Mass every week, so I guess it’s hard to get into the habit of coming every week.”

She shifted in her chair and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I said all that. But I guess you are my pastor . . . Anyway. I’m married. This is my second marriage. My husband is an engineer. We have three teenage sons. I homeschool all of them. That’s kind of a juggling act right now,” she sighs. “But the main reason I came to see you today is that since my brother’s death, my faith doesn’t seem as strong as it used to be.”

Pastor Dan’s mind was already filled with thoughts and questions. She was nominally raised Catholic, he thought to himself. Why the change to this church? Is she saved or seeking? She considers me to be her pastor? What does “pastor” mean to her? And her second marriage? Is she widowed? Divorced? I wonder what happened. Married to an engineer . . . Homeschooling mom . . . Teenage sons . . . God bless her! Brother died. What happened? What’s going on with her faith since this loss?

Sarah’s words also triggered some of Dan’s own feelings convictions. He thought, I grew up Catholic and I really have a heart for Catholics looking for Jesus. You say you love the music, but what about my teaching every week? I just counseled a couple struggling in their second marriage—not another one! That homeschooling group has really been pushing me about preaching homeschooling from the pulpit. Is Sarah part of that group? Her brother died. That’s really close to home. I still don’t think I’m over my sister’s death.

Dan’s racing thoughts remind us that before the person we are listening to completes a sentence or even begins to speak, our own knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and approaches to problem-solving are already at work. This is called pre-understanding. It is the first step of interpretation.

What Is Pre-Understanding?

We don’t come to interpretation as blank slates. Our previous education and experiences affect how we interpret what see, hear, and read. Whether the document is written or human, our pre-understanding shapes our interpretation. In a very practical sense, interpretation begins with the interpreter in four areas:8

1. What I Know

What information do I already possess about the subject I am interpreting? Is this a new area of study for which I have little or no information? In regards to biblical interpretation: Have I studied this Bible passage before? Am I familiar with this genre? Do I know the history and culture of the time? In regards to pastoral counseling: Have I counseled this person before or someone similar? Am I familiar with the general issue this person is facing? Is there any important information I need which I currently do not have?

2. How I Feel

What are the feelings I have about the subject I am interpreting? In what ways will my mood (positively or negatively) impact my interpretation? Regarding biblical interpretation: Is this passage of Scripture exciting or a burden? Will this text cause unwanted reactions from the congregation? Is this a subject I preach on regularly because I am so passionate about it? With regard to pastoral counseling: How do I feel about the person I am counseling? Is the session interesting or boring, life-giving or annoying? Do I feel hurried, tired, restless, or frustrated for some reason?

3. What I Believe

What theological, moral, political, or philosophical views do I possess that shape my interpretation? In what ways is my worldview predetermining how I read a text or person? In regards to biblical interpretation: Am I Calvinistic, Arminian, Dispensational, Covenantal, or Reformed? Am I a Cessationist or Continuationist? Am I Complementarian or Egalitarian? Regarding pastoral counseling: Is addiction to be considered a sin or a disease? How do people grieve properly? What do I believe about marriage, divorce, and remarriage? What are my views on parenting or aging?

4. How I Decide

What is my cognitive style? What is my methodology when it comes to thinking through issues? With regards to biblical interpretation: Am I inductive or deductive? Am I linear or non-linear? Are the first questions I ask historical/scientific or literary/narrative? In regards to pastoral counseling: Is my process slower and relational or more diagnostic and problem-solution oriented? Do I quote Scripture or try to draw Scripture from the people I am counseling? Do I see people as individuals or as part of larger systems and families?

Our pre-understanding is like a storehouse. We draw from it to know what to ask and what we need not ask. It guides our thinking process and shapes how we make sense of what we are learning.

Our pre-understanding is like a storehouse. We draw from it to know what to ask and what we need not ask. It guides our thinking process and shapes how we make sense of what we are learning. Our pre-understanding comes from our education, but is also formed and shaped by our spiritual giftedness, personality, vocational experience, cultural background, family dynamics, religious upbringing, successes and failures, and a variety of other sources. We bring this storehouse to the interpretive act.

It is important to note that our pre-understanding should not be the basis for our interpretation. It is important and necessary, but also comes with its problems. “Our pre-understanding is our friend, not our enemy. It provides a set of understandings by which we can make sense of what we read. The problem is that our pre-understanding too easily becomes prejudice . . . The reader’s background and ideas are important in the study of biblical truth; however, this must be used to study meaning rather than create meaning that is not there.”9

Is My Pre-Understanding Helping or Harming?

Our pre-understanding is like a reflex. When we read, see, or hear something, we react based on who we are and what we know. Sometimes this reflex is helpful. The Bible tells a story of a Roman soldier who came to Jesus asking him to heal his bedridden servant. When Jesus offered to go to the house, the solider stopped him and said, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Matt 8:8–9). The soldier’s military experience taught him that powerful people make things happen in ways the rest of us can’t. This soldier’s pre-understanding aided in him making sense of what was in front of him.

A few years ago, I was listening to my pastor talk about his research trip to Egypt. He visited the Temple of Hathor, an ancient Egyptian god represented as a cow. My pastor described how he had learned that worshippers would scrape the temple walls with a rock, collect the shavings, put them in water, and drink it. It sounded like a very strange practice, but also struck me as oddly familiar. Then my pre-understanding kicked into gear. I remembered a story from the Book of Exodus in which Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments. He saw Israelites worshipping a golden calf, and infu...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Who Am I?
• Chapter 2: What Do You Mean?
• Chapter 3: Can I Get Some Background?
• Chapter 4: What Is the Big Idea?
• Chapter 5: What Do We Do Now?
• Final Thoughts
• Appendix: Pastoral Counseling Using the Five Steps of Interpretation
• Bibliography