청년 비신자의 기독교 경험이 암시하는 교회 내 목회상담의 역할

Abstract

Crises in Korean Christianity can be studied from a sociocultural perspective or in relation to problems with sermons or evangelism. However, they can also be investigated in terms of non-Christian thoughts on Christianity. In this vein, this study aims at exploring roles of pastoral counseling required for Christians to empathize with and understand non-Christians. In my qualitative research, the non-Christian participants expected or even acknowledged distinctions between Christians and non-Christians. At the same time, they were also disappointed at many Christians' selfishness and disapproving behaviors and attitudes, which in their thought should be found mostly in non-Christians. Therefore, we should help Christians through pastoral counseling to establish firm Christian values that reveal the Christian culture as different from the non-Christian one. One of the conclusions drawn from the participants' responses is that the gospel should be propagated through relationships, which, in turn, shows the necessity for pastoral counseling because it can give Christians opportunities to have one-to-one intimate relationships with non-Christians and then introduce them to the Gospel. Some of the participants, after listening several times to sermons in churches, expressed that they did not understand them at all. Thus, in this paper, I assert the necessity of counseling-style sermons as an alternative way to overcome the present sermonic crises. The aforementioned participants felt uneasy owing to the unknown Christian values and cultural differences they experienced. In this respect, a psychological viewpoint lets us know the need of the new believers to interact with others who understand these difficulties in their minds. Pastoral counseling is a useful method to educate and train Christians to understand theoretically and experience practically the human inner psychic world. If these trained Christians have relationships with new believers, the latter can take root more easily in the church.