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Our Role in the Priesthood of Believers:
The Story of Susan*
by Stephen Lambert, MDiv
Naomi and little Leah lived at the end of a long row
of one-bedroom apartments. As an unemployed welfare recipient,
this was all that Naomi could afford. Her apartment was
furnished modestly with furniture that may have been purchased
at the Salvation Army store or picked up the curb. Beside
a musty smell, the most notable feature inside the apartment
was a badly stained, partially collapsed ceiling that
had buckled during the last heavy rains. Naomi had pleaded
with the landlord to fix it, but he threatened to raise
Naomi’s rent an additional $50.
In childhood, Naomi herself had been a dependent of the
court and was placed in a family that often reminded her
that she was adopted. Naomi, now a 31-year-old single
mother, was haunted by these recollections, which she
pushed aside in order to live out the manic existence
she felt was necessary to care for Leah. At 25, with minimal
social support, Naomi had given birth to Leah. Like her
mother before her, Leah would struggle from birth with
multiple issues related to disorders of childhood, not
the least of which would be childhood attachment problems.
After Naomi lapsed into depression, little Leah, at two
months, began a trek through foster homes until she eventually
ended up back with Naomi at age three. By this time the
damage was done. Leah was already showing many of the
psychological symptoms we find with children who have
spent much of their early life in county systems. Like
so many other children in the overworked county system,
Leah had a formidable list of diagnoses, only to be topped
in numbers by the list of therapists Leah had encountered,
each interim therapist with a different take on what was
wrong. Her condition worsened. Naomi became even more
despondent over the plight of her little girl.
One day the telephone rang at our Pacific Clinics Wraparound
Program. I took Naomi’s call, “I really can’t
take it any more. Can you please help me?” I yearned
to get involved, but I simply could not give Naomi and
Leah the time and attention they deserved. Then I thought
of Susan, who had recently graduated from a Southern California
program that focuses on synthesizing Christianity and
psychology. I remembered her sweet spirit, sound clinical
decision-making abilities, and her genuine commitment
to a living faith in Jesus Christ. This was just the person.
I made the suggestion to the supervisor, and Susan was
assigned to the case. As I briefed Susan on the case,
she listened attentively. New in the field, she asked
sound clinical questions and showed deep concern over
this dilemma. Susan was attempting to process and assess
the case with her heart as well as her head. She was not
just firing off a list of questions, as do some new clinicians.
My heart became quietly confident that Susan was a good
fit.
Susan began seeing Naomi and Leah almost immediately.
Not fearing for her own safety, she would make home visits
into the poor area of Pasadena where Naomi lived. Often
as Susan spoke with Naomi, Leah would lunge at Susan,
sometimes hitting her and at other times putting her arms
around her. Susan hung in there, dividing her time between
therapeutic conversations with Naomi and play time with
Leah, in which Susan inculcated fun, rules, structure,
and boundary setting. With the assistance of her team
of competent case managers, she began addressing crisis
needs along with mental concerns. She contacted clinic
associates and other agencies and secured classroom-based
behavioral programs for Leah. Susan advocated for AFDC
to be continued.
Assessing Leah, Susan thought it wise to consider autism.
Upon a regional center psychologist’s assessment,
Leah was diagnosed with childhood autism and qualified
for regional center services. Above all, Susan wove practical,
Christ-centered spirituality into her work, listening
carefully, as Naomi sought to understand where God was
in her suffering, and struggled beside her. Carefully,
Susan would help Naomi identify points of light in her
life and show Naomi that God was with her. Susan helped
Naomi recognize that all the new services were an answer
to prayer. In a word, Susan provided containment and,
one might say, became Naomi’s priest. Susan’s
work with Leah was equally spiritual and therapeutic.
Further, Susan would pray for this family. Susan also
took the initiative to visit psychiatrists to talk about
the diagnosis of autism. She interviewed potential therapists
for Leah and helped Naomi phone the health department
about the buckled ceiling. At times she felt tired and
yet at these times some of the greatest positive change
occurred.
As the weeks went by and Susan continued to talk about
her role with this vulnerable family, I thought of biblical
priests, how our concept of the priesthood of believers
is derived from New Testament teachings anchored in Old
Testament models of priesthood. All believers are part
of this priesthood through the sacrificial atonement of
our high priest Christ Jesus: “You are an elect
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people,
that you may show forth the virtues of Him who has called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (I
Peter 2: 9).
Dr. T. W. Manson describes the great Old Testament high
priests up to Jesus’ time, distinguished clerics
among the most educated Pharisees and Sadducees, extremely
erudite, with a life consisting of service and scholarly
pursuits. Then he refers to a large number of Old Testament
temple priests, multitudes of rank and file priests who
ministered long hours, working tirelessly to administer
the sacrificial rituals required to help the common person
find forgiveness and reconciliation before God. They remind
me of today’s Christian psychotherapists in the
priesthood of believers and their sacrificial service
to help clients receive forgiveness, reconciliation, and
restored dignity before God. When Jesus came, as the supreme
eternal sacrifice, the fulfillment of all that it means
to be a priest, he became the means by which Christian
psychotherapists who partake in Christ receive the power
to lead others toward healing and hope.
As twenty-first century Christian counselors and psychotherapists,
we often perform priest-like functions. I might even say
that we, perhaps, have the greatest responsibility to
commit our lives to helping people experience forgiveness,
reconciliation, and relational healing with other people
and with God. At times the cost of giving ourselves to
these tasks may be high, but the reward will be people
restored to peace and hope.
Such was Susan’s ministry. As a member of the priesthood
of believers serving Christ in the role of a psychological
and spiritual counselor, Susan addressed Naomi and Leah’s
practical day-to-day concerns, while offering spiritual
succor. Moreover, Susan went far beyond the basic role
of listening. She chose to pour herself out emotionally
and spiritually to gain a deep sensitivity to their desperate
plight and then acted on that sensitivity to bring relief
into their lives.
Susan is a model for Christian psychotherapists in the
twenty-first century, and yet she provides another compelling
example of how rich and full our role in the priesthood
of believers can be. Her actions of self-sacrifice mirror
the self-giving passions which are consistent with who
we must be in the priesthood of faith, moving far beyond
listening to people or helping them hash through their
problems. We are called to a high level of service, to
be proactive, shining examples of Christ in the world,
to help clients realize transformation before God, and
to plead in intercessory prayer. We are compelled to be
priest-like in sacrificing our energies. We may become
fatigued, akin to Christ when He felt virtuous power temporarily
leave him. To settle for less in Christ-based client-care
is to realize less of who we are as Christian Caregivers.
Finally, you may say, “I am a psychotherapist in
a small private practice. What is my role in the priesthood
of believers? Susan is a social worker, consumer advocate,
case manager, teacher, child therapist, adult therapist,
and minister all wrapped into one. I simply don’t
have the time or the expertise to follow all of Susan’s
roles in my client care.”
Of course you don’t need to. In Christ’s
divine plan for your priesthood role, Christ has you just
where you are for a reason. You are called to serve where
you currently serve. Understand that you have a distinct
personality, distinct gifts, and a distinct ability to
serve God as no one else could serve God in your position.
You can take heart and feel real joy that you are right
in the center of God’s plan, if you are truly seeking
out the heart of God.
Stephen Lambert of Upland, CA, is
a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors,
a CAPS member since 2001, an ordained minister with a
Masters of Divinity Degree from Fuller Seminary, a nationally
certified Pastoral Counselor with the American Baptist
Churches, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in
California, and an adjunct faculty member in the department
of undergraduate psychology at Azusa Pacific University.
*This version of the Sunday morning worship
message delivered by Stephen Lambert, MDiv, at the CAPS
International Convention in Orange, CA, June, 2003, was
edited for length by Sandra F. Anderson, MA, and published
in the November 2003 issue of the CAPS West Newsletter,
30 (4).
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