Give To The Ministry You Know The Least About: Doubt, Continued...

Distrust among believers weakens our witness. Jesus tied unity to faith in Him—division hands doubters more reasons not to believe.

Question for you: Have you ever been hurt by a fellow Christian or struggled to trust people in the church? If so, you’re not alone.

I became a brand new Christ Follower at 47 years of age. Two years later, absolutely on fire for Jesus, I was trying out for a missionary position that paid nothing except what I could scrape together myself. My roommate was John, a forensic accountant, and he had the power to greenlight or kill my application. I still remember what this Christian brother told me one day.

"Arnie, I know you're a new believer and I don't hold that against you. What I want you to know is that as you grow in your Christian life, always remember—give to the ministry you know the least about."

Then he unloaded horror story after horror story about corruption in the Christian church and parachurch organizations that he has been involved with as an accountant during his career.

If that weren't enough, I did get the position and ended up being sent to a country where my buddy Border Patrol Pablo had to promise my wife Char he wouldn't let me get killed. 

Between Pablo's warnings of danger and John's cynical advice, I wondered what in the world I was doing trying to serve God in the non-profit ministry world.

The Brutal Truth About Christian Distrust

Twenty-four years later, after serving as CEO in multiple parachurch organizations and surveying thousands of church and ministry leaders, I can tell you something heartbreaking: John was right about one thing. Some form of doubt and lack of trust for each other as Christ followers surrounds every aspect of ministry—both church and parachurch. And to make it worse, sometimes I even get caught up in it as a researcher.

Just last week, many of you sent me names of people stuck in doubt about God. Some even confessed your own struggles with doubt and asked for prayer. But here's what truly breaks my heart: I've watched church and parachurch ministries take years to trust me enough to accept a free spiritual impact assessment—one that could actually make them more effective at reaching doubters. Think about the irony: we're so suspicious of fellow believers possibly stealing donor names or finding little to no impact, that we reject help from our own brothers and sisters, yet we expect skeptics to trust us with their eternal souls. How can we guide others out of doubt when we're drowning in distrust ourselves?

What Does the Bible Say About Believers Doubting Each Other?

The answer should terrify every Christian leader.

Jesus made it crystal clear in John 17:21: "I pray that all of them may be one... so that the world may believe that you have sent me." Read that again. Jesus directly connected our unity to having the world believe in Him. When Christians doubt and distrust each other, we don't just damage ourselves—we sabotage the Gospel.

Paul was equally blunt in 1 Corinthians 1:10: "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you." Paul didn't suggest this as a nice idea. He commanded it in Jesus' name.

But here's the kicker—Paul listed "dissensions" and "factions" right alongside sexual immorality and idolatry in Galatians 5:19-21, with this chilling warning: "Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

The Devastating Impact on Non-Believers

Research confirms what Scripture teaches. Barna Group studies reveal that 91% of young non-Christians view Christianity as "judgmental" and 85% see it as "hypocritical"—not because of theology, but because of how they've seen Christians treat each other.

When that forensic accountant John told me to give to ministries I knew least about, he was acknowledging a cancer eating away at Christianity's credibility. Every time believers publicly doubt each other's motives, question each other's integrity, or split over secondary issues, we hand ammunition to those who reject Christ.

Jesus said in John 13:35: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." When we fail at this one commandment, we essentially hang a sign on the church door: "Closed for spiritual business."

When Doubt Becomes Spiritual Death

Just as individual doubt can transition from honest seeking to spiritual numbness, corporate doubt between believers becomes a death sentence for the church's mission. Look at what happened in Corinth—their divisions became so toxic that Paul wrote: "You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?" (1 Corinthians 3:3).

The Corinthians were so busy doubting each other—"I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos"—that they lost their supernatural witness. They started suing each other in pagan courts, creating such a spectacle that Paul asked: "Why not rather be wronged?" (1 Corinthians 6:7).

The Bottom Line

After nearly three decades in ministry leadership, I've learned this: the antidote to believer-to-believer doubt isn't more information or better systems. It's remembering what Ephesians 4:3 commands: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

Notice it doesn't say create unity—it says keep it. God already made us one through Christ.

Our job is to stop destroying what He built.

Jesus prayed for our unity because He knew the world was watching. When believers doubt believers, we don't just hurt each other—we give ammunition to those already doubting God.

That forensic accountant was wrong about one thing—we shouldn't give to ministries we know least about out of distrust. We should know them better, build relationships, and work together for the kingdom. And that is exactly what I am proposing to you.

In the upcoming weeks, I will be rolling out to you first how the Lord has led Back to the Bible to do way more ministry than we ever have, in a far more impactful way. I would love for you to be a part of this massive spiritual fitness movement, knowing that you can at any time ask me the what and why so that you can better understand what Back to the Bible and I are all about.

Remember we're fighting Satan, not each other (Ephesians 6:12)

The world is watching. They're deciding whether our Jesus is real based on how we treat each other.

Don't give them a reason to walk away.

-Arnie