“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”
Colossians 1:28-29
Javan Payne is the national coordinator for the ministry of Overseas Instruction in Counseling (OIC) in Italy, the director of Utah Biblical Counseling, and a pastor/elder at Christ Fellowship Church in Utah. His foundational purpose for leading the life that the Lord has called him to lead is his conviction to proclaim Jesus Christ and see “people grabbling with the preeminence of Christ and the sufficiency of Scripture” through biblical counseling. Javan is convinced that biblical counseling is essential for teaching disciples of Christ to “obey all that Jesus commanded.” He believes that biblical counseling is thinking biblically about all life, hence, “it touches every part of ministry and life.” Javan believes that the Word of God, namely the Bible, is sufficient for everything that it speaks to, and it speaks to all life. It “is not just sufficient in some abstract, academic sense but every moment of every day, it is sufficient!” Therefore, Javan heartily desires that “people will understand this reality and not limit the scope of Scripture.”
Prior to his call to Christian ministry, Javan did not have a high view of the Bible or of the Christian church. He came from an unbelieving background; but the Lord captured his soul after he heard the gospel on radio broadcasts. The journey into Christian ministry began shortly after he surrendered his life to the Lord as God’s transformative work caused him to grow in love for the church. He quickly became involved in the ministry of his local church. In addition, as he listened to pastor-theologians like John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul, Javan became interested in learning how to think rightly about the presuppositions that undergird the Christian faith so that he could wisely teach others. At that time, Javan’s roommate encouraged him to take a seminary class. Thus, the Lord paved way for Javan to study at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
Notably, Javan’s initial intention for going to seminary was not to go into biblical counseling ministry. His desire for personal spiritual growth as well as to be equipped to help others know Christ and grow in their knowledge of God was Javan’s primary motive. However, his first introductory class was an intensive biblical counseling class with Dr. Stuart Scott. Prior to this class, Javan did not have a category for the sufficiency and authority of the Bible over life. But the one-week class was pivotal in Javan’s Christian pilgrimage. According to Javan, “on day one of the intensive, I was angry. Day two, convinced. Day three, broken!” By day four, Javan resolved, “Alright, this is what I want to do, I want to show people the sufficiency of Scripture. This is what I have been longing for, I just didn’t know how to put words on it.” By the time he graduated with his Master of Arts in 2012, Javan was absolutely convinced that his purpose is to proclaim the supremacy of Christ and the sufficiency of Scripture that people might know Jesus and grow in their love for Him and delight to walk with Him.
In God’s providential sovereignty, Lindsay, Javan’s now wife, became the first fruit of God’s purpose for Javan as he began to proclaim the supremacy of Christ and sufficiency of the Word of God. Javan and Lindsay hailed from Missouri. After Javan’s first semester at Southern Seminary, he returned home for the Christmas break. Lindsay happened to also visit home during the same period. One evening, Javan drove his unbelieving friends to Buffalo Wild Wings and there, at the bar, the unbelieving Lindsay approached Javan. Javan shared the gospel with Lindsay and pointed her to Christ through the Bible that night. Lindsay surrendered her life to the Lord and Javan became the only Christian she knew. Over the several months following Lindsay’s conversion, Javan had the blessed opportunity to watch her grow in her love for Christ and her walk with Him from a distance. Shortly after they attended an ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors) marriage conference with Christian couple friends, it became clear that the Lord was divinely orchestrating them coming together to walk alongside each other for their Christian journey.
Post-graduation, the Paynes moved to Utah where they served as church planters and biblical counselors for several years. Initially, the Paynes were hoping to be church planters, as their response to God’s call to missions. However, in 2016, knowing the character and vision of Wayne Vanderwier, OIC’s Executive Director at the time (now Director at Large), as well as OIC’s mission to train trainers in biblical counseling, the Paynes were convinced to become a part of the OIC team. They particularly desired to be part of a ministry committed to “training the nations in a biblical worldview and allowing that worldview to manifest itself within people’s particular life and culture;” this commitment defines OIC. The Paynes’ first mission-training trip with an OIC team was to El Salvador in 2018. This trip sealed their commitment to OIC as team members as well as Coordinator for Italy and Utah.
Interestingly, the Paynes’ ministry context in Utah is similar to that of Italy. According to Javan, in both contexts Christians live isolated lifestyles, they are spread out and leery of outsiders. Evangelical Christians make up only 1% of the Italian population; this reality is not far removed from the situation in Utah where it is 2%. In both settings, pastors are often bi-vocational which makes attending a biblical counseling training or conference a difficult choice, both financially as well as in taking time from work. In addition, Javan commented that, sadly, “Christians in these contexts don’t seem to understand why biblical counseling is needed or why they needed to be trained.” However, they are hopeful for the future in Italy through their contact with a handful of reformed groups in-country, even though Italy’s Covid-19 lock downs and policies have prevented the Paynes from visiting since February 2020.
At the same time, prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Paynes were able to organize OIC training in Utah on six weekends in 2019 and 2020. They went through Modules 1 through 3 of the Church Leadership Training program (CLT), but have delayed offering Module 4, as it is purposefully geared toward pastors teaching their local bodies how to do biblical counseling. Due to the Paynes’ ministry context in Utah, the majority of students who attended the training were lay people; few were pastors. As such, they offered a series on how to think biblically about addiction and medical issues. The training was enlightening for the attendees who were taught to think from God’s perspective, addressing how the Lord desires human beings to respond to the problems of life and genuinely examining and discerning the dispositions of the heart before the face of God.
Over the years through these biblical counseling trainings, the Paynes have been privileged to witness the Lord change lives for his glory as they proclaim the supremacy of Christ and point people to the sufficiency and authority of the Bible over human life. Javan recalled a woman who was having marital problems and was initially angry at him for asking her to determine if she was responding to her husband in a manner that is worthy of Christ. But, through the training, she was convicted through seeing the bigger picture of what sin is, the beauty of the gospel, and how Christians are called to respond to life situations in a God-honoring manner.
It is also a wonderful encouragement that attendees are pursuing further equipping through the ACBC certification process. After attending training, two siblings decided to continue their training through biblical counseling degrees at Southern Seminary. In fact, one of the siblings currently serves as one of OIC’s interns. The Paynes have been privileged to see the Lord use OIC’s training to his glory over the years.
When asked why anyone, reading their story, should consider pursuing biblical counseling training, including partnering with OIC? Javan responded that the process of training in biblical counseling is simply transformative! It is transformative in one’s personal life, with family, at work, and in the church. Being a biblical counselor transforms personal relationships, as the believer grows in how to interact with God in his Word as well as how to live in God’s world generally.
Javan is convinced that growth in personal holiness and one’s walk with God has significant effects for family life. It becomes the mechanism for husbands lovingly and wisely shepherding their wives and parents discipling their children as they all seek to grow in maturity through the knowledge of God and his Christ. Furthermore, biblical counseling is a paradigm for evangelism. A biblical counselor can speak into the lives of all sorts of people, regardless of their socio-economical, cultural, or religious background. Through biblical counseling, unbelievers are confronted with the One True God, who alone is worthy of worship. Javan believes that, according to John 15, the “job of the church is to show the world who God is because we are abiding in Christ.” Finally, the Paynes are convinced that biblical counseling leads to the praise of God’s glorious grace. Lindsay commented, “If we don’t walk away from a counseling session praising God more than when we started, are we even doing it right?”
Finally, as the Paynes faithfully serve in Utah and Italy, their ultimate hope for the future is the Lord will cause many people to embrace the Bible as sufficient for all of life and that they will know and rejoice in the supremacy, preeminence, and sufficiency of Christ in all things. This reality, the Paynes are convinced, impacts individuals, families, the church, and the world. The preeminence and supremacy of Christ is evidenced in that individuals who were once dead in sin, are made alive in Christ and are living before the face of God with joy, delight, and hope! Javan and Lindsay, alongside their five children, continue to serve the Lord by proclaiming the preeminence of Christ in unique and difficult contexts.
Therefore, readers are encouraged to support them and their ministry by partnering with them through OIC’s ministry, including becoming official prayer supporters here and/or by providing financial gifts here, all for the praise of God’s wondrous glory and grace.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST:
