Confronting Unscriptural Behavior in the Body of Christ

By Pamela Rae Schuffert presenting investigative journalism from a Biblical Christian perspective-

The self-professing "Body of Christ" in North America is in trouble. And frankly, it is our own fault. Whenever we fail to adhere to the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ, Whom we profess to believe in as our Savior, problems subsequently emerge. And I have noted throughout 40 years of ministry that there is much sin, compromise and unscriptural behavior throughout the churches of North America. Although it is sad truth, I would be lying if I said otherwise. I have met many people as I travel across America, alleging "I am a Christian." However, I have learned to take this with a grain of salt, because so much of what many call "Christian" in America today is in fact NOT "Christian" by the Biblical definition at all. And many of you know exactly what I am referring to. I call it "pseudo-Christianity."

Throughout 40 years of nonstop ministry in my life, I have frequently been exposed to the "good, the bad and the ugly" in many Christian circles and denominations and churches and Christian organizations.Many of you Christians have also encountered disturbing unscriptural behavior, throughout your years of your walk with Jesus Christ.

And you know exactly what I am talking about.

In general, when people calling themselves adhere to Christian teachings and principles of true discipleship, no real problems can emerge that cannot ultimately be resolved . The Word of God works.The teachings of Jesus Christ when adhered to and followed, work.

It is when people calling themselves "Christians" then fail to adhere to solid Biblical principles and teachings, that many problems will inevitably emerge.

I choose to be very hard on myself when it comes to adhering to Biblical principles and the commandments of Jesus Christ. I realize that He is my only hope and that His Word IS the final authority in the life of every Christian. I have no wisdom apart from HIS. He is all that I have as a single woman in ministry for forty years now, with years of training at Bible college and many other Christian schools of instruction, and now on the front lines of battle for Jesus Christ.

Recently, I have been working and ministering in Montana. I have been encountering some wonderful people in various churches and groups here in NW Montana. (Previously, I spent much time researching and reporting across Montana, since 1997.)I love this kind of encounter with new people wherever I travel. We are called as Christians to fellowship with one another, to receive one another and in fact to LOVE one another as Jesus Christ loved us. This is the word of God.

The heart of God is grieved when we disobey the word of God and His Son. He is especially grieved when we fail to love His people whom He has redeemed by His Son Jesus Christ. "He that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love."

I was saddened when, after spending time one afternoon with a group of Montana Christians, that one woman decided to begin to attack me for no apparent reason.In fact, I couldn't help but laugh when friends of mine told me what she was saying to my contacts behind my back.I asked them, WHAT is she somehow finding fault with me over?

My friend told me, "She took me aside, and warned me that something was WRONG with you... she stated that your backpack was TOO new and your bicycle was TOO shiny...and you were camping around GLACIER NATIONAL PARK!" And to her, this was cause for suspicions about me!

Oh, really ! This was a real shocker. Nothing legitimate from Bible Scripture against me was mentioned by her to our mutual friends. Nothing was mentioned about any unscriptural behavior in my life, nothing. She chose to become suspicious because of my backpack and my bicycle(!). I have been attacked on many fronts for many reasons in my 15 years of my investigative journalism, but this was the weirdest attack by far!

Could it be that my backpack and bicycle are "new and shiny" because, after several years of prayer for God to replace the backpack I had previously donated to my church for missions, that a website reader finally sent me the funds to recently replace the backpack I donated? AND this same supporter also provided funds to obtain a bicycle as well, for my cardiovascular program I am on for my health and heart condition? Many Park Rangers know me now at Glacier National Park, because I am seen riding my bike and hiking with my backpack for cardiovascular health at this time.

Friends from one church I have  attended  (West Glacier Assembly of God) who have a booth at the Farmer's market every week at Glacier NP, and one gas station attendant at West Glacier Village, PLUS many Rangers have all witnessed my efforts to improve my health  as I work out there with my backpack and bike for the times to come. During this time I also encounter many people that I spend time witnessing the Gospel to, including internationl workers and visitors.

And yet this person sowing discord just sent me a nasty to me email stating that "...you have never ridden your bike at Glacier, it's too new and shiny and your backpack is too new..." Huh? And you have never been there to personally watch me or confirm this foolish diatribe?

Please, try to convince the many people that I am friends with at Glacier who have seen me with both backpack and bike there that your lies are "the truth!" (Sigh...) And THIS is the kind of ignorance and unscriptural behavior I am forced to deal with at times. And none of it is Scriptural. However, it does force me to grow in patience and longsuffering, and to increase my prayer time for those who are walking outside of Scriptural guidelines and need to mature in Christ! And to learn more about FORGIVENESS.

I am going to print a copy of this nasty email I just recieved from the source of these false accusations, denying that I ever have done the above in Glacier NP, and taking it to my Ranger friends and to my other friends mentioned above at Glacier NP, for them to see how ridiculous some people can become, and for us to laugh over together. Yes, sometimes you just have to laugh at the incredible stupidity of some folks and give it to God and go on!

Because if you did not laugh, you would have to cry at what masquerades as "Christianity" at times here in America.

Could it be that I spend much time around the Glacier NP region, because of reports of so much preparations for a future martial law takeover of this region (Glacier NP has in fact already been declared a "UN BIOSPHERE"), and I am therefore doing more research there and spending much time in prayer as well? The answer to all of the above is YES.And it costs me nothing to "car camp" around Glacier NP: I  camp in my vehicle to save expenses in this work, parking in truck pull-offs on side of the road.

Did she choose to act scripturally and come to me with her suspicions? No. Instead, she disobeyed the clear word of God to come to me FIRST privately and express her concerns. Instead she went to other people to express these unfounded suspicions. HAD she come to me as the Bible dictates when we have "ought against our brother," I then could have explained to her each thing she somehow was concerned about. We could have prayed together. Everything could have been resolved according to the Word of God. Fellowship could have been restored. But she did not.

To add insult to injury, her husband had stated that there was "SOMETHING" that bothered him about me.Could he name exactly what it was that lined up with Scripture? No.It was simply that nebulous "something" that he could provide no Scriptural justification for. The flesh and our natural mind is known for this kind of behavior. We have to counter that which the Bible states is not Scriptural with applying the Word of God to our lives.

My Scriptural advice? Sir, forget that nebulous "something" and get back into the Word of God! We are all called to LOVE ONE ANOTHER as Christians, as Jesus Christ loves US! The Bible further states, "Receive one another, but NOT unto doubtful disputations." As long as you refuse to obey this most basic of Christ's commands to us and you refuse to get rid of your nebulous excuse for failure to do so , you remain in sin and disobedience to the word of God.

I then talked to some sources who had known her for years, and they admitted to me that she had a long history of being combative and confrontational with her words with other Christians. One source mentioned how she had been thrown out of several churches in fact for this type of attitude, and how pastors simply lost patience with her when she had pushed them to the limit with her words and her behavior.

I breathed a slow sigh of relief when I heard these words from my Montana friends. I apparently was not the only one she had been verbally abusive with, after all. She apparently has many mental and emotional problems that surface through this kind of behavior.

I found out however that she had then been going to other people in Patriot meetings and spreading her unfounded suspicions regarding me, as if to undermine my already difficult and dangerous work in this region. This is very tragic, especially at a time when I desperately need the love and prayers of the Christians in this region. It is also very sad, when we face such crises in our nation today. Christ has commanded His Body to stand united together against the darkness in this world. At a time when we as Christians need to unite and embrace one another, this person was spreading disunity and division.

My life has come under several attacks for my reporting, in fact, in this very region previously. My laptop was stolen from the home where I was visiting here several years ago, by a known CIA operative. My brake line was severed deliberately the night before I was to meet with a Canadian film crew, to film a secret facility in Idaho, by this same operative who let me know it was him. He is known to frequently be used by the CIA to attack and harass members of the Patriot community in fact, as others warned me. He has openly boasted to us that he does "whack jobs for the CIA!" (Assassinations.)

It is only the mercy of God that I did not die in the accident that subsequently followed. For reasons such as this, I desperately need to love and prayer support of the Body of Christ while I am here. And she has been deliberately seeking to undermine my credibility and support here! Truly, this  kind of behavior is of satan himself. And the friends who warned me of her words agreed completely.

I discussed this with my Christians friends who knew her and her problems, and they agreed that her behavior was utterly unscriptural and her baseless suspicions totally unfounded. We agreed that I would have to take the time now to confront her with with others were now telling me she was stating to them behind my back, and confront her with what the Bible says regarding such behavior.

I also informed my friends that warned me about her malicious words, that if she would not repent and stop this type of baseless accusations (essentially lying) and seeking to undermine my already difficult work, that I would be justified in publishing her full name and relevant details on my blog for the sake of my many readers and contacts here in Montana who may encounter her here, and warning people to beware of her tactics.

Frankly, I fully expect this kind of behavior from the unsaved in our government and intelligence community who hate my reporting and are actually paid to write COINTELPRO articles attacking me and my reporting with slander and false accusations. This comes with the turf. I can deal with it because they are UNBELIEVERS! They are not Christians and will behave as the unsaved world behaves. They publish malicious lies and slander on the Internet against me at the government's behest all the time.I can accept this from unbelievers.Jesus declared we are blessed when we are reviled and persecuted and things are said falsely against us for righteousness' sake.

But when it is people professing to be born again Christians that exhibit this tragic kind of unScriptural behavior, I have a much harder time justifying it. Christians have the WORD OF GOD instructing us  how to behave towards fellow believers. We have the commandments of Jesus Christ instructing us how to love one another, to encourage and support one another. Because we have the Word of God,  and we profess to be followers of Jesus Christ, we are without excuse.

I have chosen to forgive this person in error. I have chosen to love and pray for this person. I am seeking to spend time with her personally  in the near future to discuss what has been happening, and to pray for resolution and reconciliation as soon as possible. This is the Scriptural response.Pray for her to be brought under conviction and to repent. Otherwise, as Jesus warned, she will have to give account in the day of judgment for every careless word uttered against me, a fellow Christian and fellow member of the Kingdom of God.  The Bible further warns that ALL LIARS  shall have their part in the lake of fire.

I have laid down my life for this work God has called me to, and my life stands in jeopardy every single day for His sake and this work on behalf of His Body. God does not take lightly the slandering of His servants and the undermining of the serious work he has called them to.Whatever has happened of the concept of THE FEAR OF GOD in the Body of  Christ today?

Many are the challenges I face on many levels in my work daily. Pray for me to receive grace and strength to continue in my work and to overcome every challenge I face for the sake of the call of God.

-Pamela Rae Schuffert reporting from NW Montana