“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” Proverbs 25:14
My husband and I had always questioned the rational behind Douglas Stauffer leading the missions department at our church considering his lack of experience as a missionary, but what difference did it make when we could inquire from other people around us about the realities of deputation and the mission field? Besides, maybe he did have bits of wisdom from his time as an assistant pastor, and considering he was a supposed evangelist, he would have already had experience and knowledge about deputation and how to get one’s name out to churches. We hesitantly tested the waters, keeping our eyes on Zambia, but instead of wells of wisdom, we found a perpetual drought.
Straining at a Gnat
“”Ye Blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” Matthew 23:24
Peter Ruckman, an Independent Baptist scholar and founder of Pensacola Bible Institute in Pensacola, Florida, is well known for his outlandish claims about the “Authorized King James Bible” correcting the so-called errors of the Textus Receptus and the Greek and Hebrew texts. Ruckman’s followers, commonly referred to as “Ruckmanites,” have continued to perpetuate these teachings even after Ruckman’s death in 2016. Despite Pastor Andrew Ray telling us initially that Antioch Baptist Church was not a Ruckmanite church, we heard often from the pulpit about the fallacies of using the Greek and Hebrew, and how missionaries are Bible-corrupters [correctors] if they do not translate from the King James Version on the field. What did this have to do with Douglas Stauffer? Stauffer was a strong Ruckmanite and as far as we could tell, a major part of his job description was scrutinizing potential missionaries against this standard.
Stauffer’s personal view can be summed up with his statement that if one uses the modern version, he has no authority, and if one uses the Greek or the Hebrew, he is his own authority. (For a more detailed response from Stauffer himself about referencing the Greek and Hebrew, click here.) When it came to those of us surrendered to the mission field, rather than advising on how to find churches for deputation, he asked us to make a database of churches for him that were not only King James Only, but also did not use the Greek or the Hebrew. Essentially, he taught us how to limit our resources to a legalistic, Ruckmanite standard, making us thankful for being able to fall back on the insight we were given from experienced missionaries at Crown College of the Bible.
Seeing the Forest for Trees
The second part of Stauffer’s job description as head of missions was visiting the missionaries our church supported to make sure they were doing what our church felt they were supposed to be doing with our monthly support. But how did he view them? As equal brothers in Christ in the ministry? As one body working together for the cause of Christ? No, not in the slightest, because interestingly enough, Douglas Stauffer stated repeatedly that pastoring in the United States, a job he supposedly did not want to do, was significantly more difficult than being a missionary on the foreign field. The irony though, considering his previous position as an assistant pastor, is that he stated repeatedly that he, personally, would never go to Africa.
Guiding Future Missionaries
While we were not looking for a close mentor or someone to hold our hands, we were longing for hands-on experience in the ministry to prepare for the field. In contrast, when it came to our calling to work with the Deaf in Africa, Stauffer purposefully limited- and eventually eliminated- the amount of times we were interpreting in the service despite that the set-up was established in case any Deaf showed up at the church. What was his reasoning behind the decision? It was supposedly so we could receive more of the actual preaching.
Additionally, his lack of encouragement for anyone in their personal walks with the Lord and failure to point anyone to Christ for direction and guidance spoke volumes. Instead, he was a detriment to those God had called to the mission field and even later excused his behavior by equating one’s ability to deal with his discouragement with how successful one would be on the mission field. Stauffer was, admittedly, a purposeful stumbling block to my family, but God had already proved Himself faithful in our lives multiple times over, and thankfully, we were not dependent on Douglas Stauffer to get us to the field.
In this series I share my thoughts and opinions concerning these ministers and the events which led to my departure. Click here to continue reading: “Blindsided: Planning on a Prayer” or click on the link below.
For a list of the complete series, click here.
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