I use David Powlison’s seminal article “Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair” all the time when training new volunteer biblical counselors. In fact, just yesterday, I was reviewing it with some students. I can’t ever get through it all in a single discussion, because there’s just so much worth chewing on in there.

This week, Dr. Powlison posted “A Fresh Look at ‘Idols of the Heart’“, in which he reflects on the article, now twenty years since it was first published:

How well does the article hold up after twenty years? You be the judge. But as I reread it, I think it does pretty well. Let me make two introductory comments, first to orient you, and second to caution and remind you of important things.

I love to hear people say “I never saw it that way before” after a Redemption Group. Never saw their hearts with such clarity, never saw their sin with such conviction, never saw the gospel with such hope. That’s great insight—but it’s not change.

Recently, as I reviewed Paul Tripp’s book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands for the umpteenth time as I prepared to highlight some key ideas in a training time, I stumbled onto an idea that grabbed me in a fresh way. Tripp says:

“Most of us are tempted to think that change has taken place before it actually has. We confuse growth in knowledge and insight with genuine life change. But insight is not change and knowledge should not be confused with practical, active, biblical wisdom.” Instruments, pg. 242.

Redemption Groups seem to be particularly effective at insight—shedding new light, opening blind eyes. But that’s really just the start of walking in a new direction. It’s that walking—by the Spirit, in the community that is his gift to us—that bears the fruit of change over time.

So I’ve been encouraged recently to hear how various pastors have been creatively connecting the off ramp of their Redemption Groups to the on ramps of their Community Groups, promoting long term change from the heart. These wise pastors recognize that Redemption Groups, as helpful as they are, must be tied in to a larger vision of community and discipleship.

David Powlison comments on where we have room to grow in the Biblical Counseling movement: “If ministry is speaking truth in love, we tend to be stronger on the speaking in truth than on the love.” (See the original post on CCEF’s site.)

I recently finished reading C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra—fascinating. In the final chapter, Lewis paints a picture not unlike the book of Revelation, with all singing the praises of the Creator and Redeemer (known in Perelandra as “Maleldil”). Among their praises, the following line grabbed my attention:

After a falling, not a recovery but a new creation

Oh what significance is packed into so few words.

In Redemption Groups, we do not aim at recovery, if recovery simply means getting back to life before “a falling,” be that some abuse or some addiction.

No, our eyes are fixed forward on the new creation, something wholly different—and better. Jesus is the first of that new creation, has already given his children new birth into that new creation, and promises to complete it in us, making us gloriously, perfectly, like him (1 Cor. 15:23, 2 Cor. 5:17, Phil. 1:6, 1 Jn. 3:2).