Video 1C: Sin, Death, Distortion, and the Hope of Renewal

Video 1C: Sin, Death, and the Hope of Redemption

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “All right, it's Abby and Abbie here, and we continue in this Soul Coaching class. We're going to talk about a difficult part of coaching. We are dealing with sin, we're dealing with death, and the distortion that came from the Fall. But we've also been talking a lot about helping hope be renewed in people's lives, and what an opportunity that is as a coach.”

Professor Abigail Munroe: “Absolutely. Soul Coaching cannot be shallow. Terms like, ‘Think positive,’ ‘Just try harder,’ ‘Forget about it,’ or ‘Move on,’ are not helpful. The Bible tells us a deeper and more honest story, and it's important as coaches that we help people see that.”

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “Yes. In Genesis 3, sin enters into human experience after we chose to rebel against God. The man and woman hide, and we see shame, fear, blaming, the distortion of relationships, the disruption that occurs in fellowship, and the reality of death and the curse of death.”

Professor Abigail Munroe: “People bring tangled stories to the table that have all of the elements you just listed, Abby. This manifests in anxiety, bitterness, anger, lust, envy, grief, family wounds, addiction struggles, loneliness, pride, confusion, and despair.

With these things, sometimes people have been sinned against, which creates this. Sometimes they are actively sinning. So we see that suffering and sin are truly tangled together.”

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “Yeah. It's the difficulty of being a coach because you're going to have some people come to you who are sinning and they don't acknowledge it. You have others who have been deeply hurt by someone else's sin, and then their response is so much pain and hurt.

As that slide talked about, those responses can be anxiety, frustration, confusion, and sadness.

Romans 5:12 says, ‘Therefore, sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin. So death passed to all men, because all have sinned.’”

Professor Abigail Munroe: “Death shows up in ordinary life in the forms of alienation from God, broken relationships, corrupted desires, bodily weakness, emotional disorders, injustice, and creation's groaning.

A Soul Coach must be honest. The living soul exists in a fallen world and needs redemption.”

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “Yeah. The hope of Soul Coaching is Jesus Christ alone. Without Christ, coaching can become despair or moral pressure. But with Christ, we get to present forgiveness, the new identity we receive when we become believers in Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the resurrection that gives us hope that is real and changes every aspect of our lives.

Again, as a Soul Coach, you really want to help people walk in that and see that reality.”

Professor Abigail Munroe: “Yeah. I like the little title at the top there that says, ‘The story does not stop.’ The story of brokenness doesn't end there. It doesn't end with death. We are part of this redemption arc, and inviting that into coaching is so powerful.

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.’

The deepest reality has changed. Not every struggle disappears instantly, and we truly know that as coaches, but forgiveness, new identity, the Holy Spirit, and resurrection hope are real.”

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “Yeah. Sometimes people's struggles are so big that they can feel disconnected from this truth—the truth of their new identity, the truth of the Holy Spirit given to them, and the resurrection hope.

One of the tasks we have as Soul Coaches is to reconnect people to this amazing truth that the Bible teaches us and that we get to live in as followers of Jesus Christ.”

Professor Abigail Munroe: “Absolutely. Transformation is real, but not always instant. Right. This isn't happening the first time you're meeting with a client. Some experience dramatic transformation in one area of life, but others grow slowly through small acts of obedience, prayer, confession, accountability, counseling, community, and time.

So, as coaches, we do not promise instant healing, but we also do not deny hope.

One of the things we learned in our coaching training was that, at the end of each session, we help the client lay out some steps. What are you going to do in our time apart? We might be seeing each other again in a week, so what do those days between sessions look like?

This slide identifies those small acts moving toward transformation. It's not transformation in one sitting, and we don't want to set that expectation with our clients.”

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “Yeah. That was one of my favorite experiences from the coaching experience we had. One of the beautiful things a coach gets to do is take a situation that might be very overwhelming and multifaceted in someone's life and ask questions that encourage them to address, ‘What is the biggest thing I need to do first?’

Then you break it down into very bite-sized steps—things that feel doable.

I really believe that so much of life doesn't get done because we become overwhelmed. You just have to start taking those steps and making those action steps.

Again, as a coach, we get the privilege of helping people do that—to take this massive thing, take the first step, then the second step, and keep going until what once seemed overwhelming becomes something they have walked through. What a beautiful thing that, as a Soul Coach, you get to walk through that with them.”

Professor Abigail Munroe: “Definitely. I think part of that process, as this slide is saying, is helping the client with observations—trauma patterns, addiction recovery, family systems, habit formation, emotional regulation, and behavioral change.

These are all things we can easily get stuck in, and we often are not self-aware. As the coach, helping make these observations and helping the client come to these realizations through conversation can be very valuable.

These insights can be useful, but they cannot replace the Gospel. We observe the patterns while also presenting the redemption that is found in Christ.”

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “Truthful hope is what helps. We tell people the truth about their sin and suffering while holding out real hope in Jesus.

What is harmful? Denying the pain they're going through, excusing sin, promising instant healing, and equating small growth with failure.

Again, we have such an opportunity to help people see the sin they're struggling with or whatever they're facing, while reconnecting them to the hope they have in Christ to work through these things.

The Life Coaching process is typically one of slow growth. Yes, there are amazing testimonies of instant healing, but as a coach, you're usually walking with someone through that slow growth—those small steps over time—to get to the other side of whatever they're facing.”

Professor Abigail Munroe: “Absolutely. So, in closing: God designed life. Sin distorts life. Death wounds life. Jesus redeems life. And the Holy Spirit renews life.

Soul Coaching tells this truth and points people to Christ.”

Professor Abigail Dominiak: “Wonderful. We'll see you in the next session.”