The Cost of a Soul
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
The Lord Jesus asked His disciples many hard questions. Two that stand out to me are “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matt. 16:26). If we stop and think about these two parallel questions, we are soon involved in reflections on who and what humans are. In Psalm 62 David comes to God for refuge from his enemies. While most of the Psalm is directed to praise and petition to God, he also addresses the nature of his earthly adversaries:
How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse. (Ps. 62:3-4)
David sees his enemies’ actions and their intent and their nature. They work to attack him, to overthrow him, and they are two-faced, taking delight in the lies they tell. He perceives their nature as they say blessings out loud even as they repeat curses in their soul.
The concept of soul is an interesting study. I used the word “soul” in the paragraph above because that word allows us to discuss our construct of the immaterial part of a human being. In Christian theology there are three generally accepted “schools of thought” relating to the makeup of a person.[1]
The first is that an individual has three parts—body (physical), soul (mind, emotions, will), and spirit (that directly relates to God). Dr. McCarty holds to this viewpoint in his writings. This three-part division of personhood is called trichotomy. The second, dichotomy, divides the person into body and soul. Those holding to this school of thought find a great deal of Biblical support for the idea that soul and spirit are used interchangeably in Scripture. This position says we are made up of a body and a soul/spirit (mind, emotions, will, and ability to connect with God). The final school of thought is called monism. It holds “that man cannot exist at all apart from a physical body, and therefore the ‘soul’ can’t exist separately after the body dies (although this view can allow for the resurrection of the whole person at some future time).”[2]
Even secular monists, those who limit our internal life to biological signaling and discount any immaterial reality of personality, creativity, or spirituality beyond the physical, recognize that there is an inner life that requires attention. I recently read a well written example of monistic thinking in The Body Keeps the Score by psychiatrist and counselor Bessel van der Kolk. While the book, a treatise on trauma and its effects on mind and body, is a “good read,” it fails to interact more than superficially and selectively with the spiritual nature of humanity made in the image of God. To deal with the spiritual aspect of our nature requires some degree of soul care.
The term soul care has a long and storied history dating all the way back to Genesis where God breathed the soul into His human creation (Gen. 2:7). Such practices as the Sabbath rest, honest expression of emotions as in the Psalms, spiritual discipline both individually (as in guarding one’s heart) and in community, and the great emphasis on returning to God who loves and cares for His people. Our focus Psalm for this month is an expression of soul care as David reaches out to God for salvation, mercy, refuge, and wholeness (Ps. 62).
The early church focused on caring for one another’s souls both corporately and individually. This tradition was still alive and well in 17th and 18th century Puritan theology with leaders like Richard Baxter, John Owen, and Jonathan Edwards addressing the topic in their sermons and writings. The modern era saw a movement away from the pastoral counselor to the psychological counselor with an ever-increasing emphasis on biological understanding and secular clinical psychology. Only in the last 50 odd years has historically significant Biblical soul care been revived in many Christian churches and organizations. Garrett Higbee in an article entitled “Ancient Practice, New Paradigm” describes the church’s reclaiming of soul care this way:[3]
We did not come up with the concept of biblical soul care; it is simply living out the care and cure of souls as a body of believers. …
The early church embodied deep, relational, prayerful care. They lived out the “one anothers” of Scripture: bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), confess your sins to one another (James 5:16), encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11). Care wasn’t a ministry program; it was a shared life. …
At the center of this renewal is the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Peter writes,
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Pet. 2:9).
That means ministry isn’t reserved for a professional few. Every believer has the privilege and responsibility to represent Christ to others—to pray, comfort, counsel, and speak truth in love.
Paul gives the same vision in Ephesians 4:15-16:
“Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ… when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (paraphrased).”
When the whole body is engaged in care, the church becomes a living organism of grace—each part supplying what the other needs.
Within the framework of soul care prayer, as one of the most basic of spiritual disciplines, plays a big part. Just as David in Psalm 62 cries out to God for help, we are to do the same for ourselves and our community of faith.
Reflection Questions:
1. Considering Jesus’s questions about the value of our souls (Matt. 16:26), do most people pay too much or too little attention to their souls? Why?
2. Do you find examining the concepts of soul and spirit helpful in understanding the immaterial part of a human being? Why or why not? Another term often used for the essence of a person is “heart.” What are some of the attributes of “heart” when it is used in Scripture? How does it compare to soul and spirit used in this discussion?
3. Does your church use “soul care” as a concept in its ministry? Whether or not the term is used, do you see the kind of care the above discussion of this term suggests going on in your body of believers? How can you practice Biblical soul care with the people around you?
(Photo description and credit: Paul closes his letter to the Philippians with words of praise to God and encouragement to his readers. He writes, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). This statement suggests one of the purposes of soul care we can all enjoy…if we will. This picture of Lake Superior illustrates the peace that comes even in a stormy world. Credit: R.A. Stites, north of Duluth, MN, June 2026.)
[1] What Is the Soul? Is It Different from the… | Zondervan Academic. I don’t want to get too far off into the scholarly weeds in this post, so I recommend this article drawn from Dr. Wayne Grudem’s online systematic theology course if you want to wade further into the subject of body, soul, and spirit.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Biblical Counseling Coalition | Ancient Practice, New Paradigm: Returning Soul Care to the Body of Christ
