David Powlison (1949–2019)

David Powlison, Executive Director of CCEF (The Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation) died in June.

For many decades God had used him to provide both a rigorously theological and a deeply pastoral foundation for the biblical counselling movement. As I reflect on his life and ministry, three things stand out.

Worship of Christ

First, his commitment to worship Jesus. Those who take his foundational course, Dynamics of Biblical Change, soon discover that every lecture begins with David leading an unaccompanied hymn of praise. Why? Because he was convinced that true biblical change always leads us to renewed worship. Indeed, for David, the only way to truly understand our inner world was through the lens, and language, of worship:

‘Life has to do with God. We are innately and thoroughly worshippers, lovers, fearers, trusters, believers, obeyers, refugees, hopers, seekers, desirers of something or other. This is not a general background truth but a specific foreground truth, playing out in every motion of the soul. The human heart and the intricate multitude of responses – behaviour, emotion, cognition, memory, anticipation, attitude, and so on – are ruled. We heed either the true God, Saviour, and Lord, or a host of identifiable lies, lusts, idols, voices, and pretenders.’1

In his ministry, as in his own life, he was determined to press on to a richer and deeper worship of Christ.

Intellectual integrity

Second, I remember his intellectual integrity. This was expressed in his determination to engage with only the very best and most faithful representations of any alternative views he critiqued. Not for him the construction of straw men. When he taught or wrote about secular psychologies, he invariably began with their strengths. David wasn’t afraid of their insights because he was convinced that the Bible provided a much richer, clearer and deeper picture of who we are and what it is that troubles us:

‘On the surface, the secularity of the psychologies seems a threat to Christian faith. But on closer inspection, secularity is rather like the Wizard of Oz – it seems big and menacing, but in reality it’s vulnerable. Actual human beings always work the way the Bible says that we work. Every psyche organises around some life-defining love, purpose, meaning, trust, hope, fear, identity. This defining centre is either a fabricated lesser god or the self-revealing God. Secular psychological models fail to capture this most significant reality. The effort to erase the God-oriented or God-disoriented core of the human psyche immediately creates blind spots and fatal flaws, internal contradictions, irresolvable disconnects between theory and reality. The disjunct creates wonderful opportunities for redemption. Christian faith contains the good sense and good news of a comprehensive alternative. The points of contact are everywhere.

‘Therefore, it is on us, the church, to ‘convert’ their knowledge, theories, and therapies – as part of loving them well … We engage secular people most effectively when we can show how Christian faith makes better sense of all that they see most clearly, care about most deeply, ask most perceptively, and do most skilfully.’2

Love of people

Finally, I remember his love of people. ‘Rarely, if ever,’ wrote Bob Kelleman, ‘have I seen such an outpouring of tributes to one person’s life and ministry.’ And in those tributes people remembered how David gave people his time and his love.

• ‘David was unparalleled as a wise, gentle, yet truthful counsellor.’ (Tim Keller)

• ‘I can recall so many moments at conferences and leadership summits when I would look over and see David sitting in a corner with a little group, listening intently, speaking gently, lost in the conversation as if nothing else mattered in the world. He knew how to zero in.’ (John Henderson)

• ‘I was not just shaped by David’s mind, but more profoundly by the way he lived his life. His infectious love for Jesus, his gentle love for God’s people, his humble scholarship, and his zeal to incarnate God’s love marked me and has marked my ministry to others.’ (Paul Tripp)

• No one greeted me like David – eyes fixed on mine, smiling gently, seeing, asking.’ (John Piper)

If even a small portion of this deep love of others – expressed in wise, gentle yet truthful counsel, and that readiness to zero in – were the imprint he left on my life, I would count it a very great blessing.

More about Biblical Counselling UK is available at www.biblicalcounselling.org.uk or you can contact them at info@biblicalcounselling.org.uk or c/o Christ Church, Christchurch Street, Cambridge CB1 1HT