For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
1 Corinthians 3:3 (NLT)

I don’t have good luck with dogs. For some reason, any dog in a three-mile radius that is not inside a fence or on a leash is likely to chase me down, snarling and apparently ready for some calf-bone.

Sometimes, I have the same luck with Christians.

There is a snarling, snapping, flesh-tearing evil among us. Pit bull ministry.

What is “Pit bull ministry,” you ask? Let’s take a look at some examples of Christians engaging in such behavior.

Territorial: These church (or ministry) turf-defenders act like Christianity was their idea. If they have any brilliant ideas for church growth, or are using a standard that really works, or even if they have extra funds, they aren’t about to share with another ministry in need lest others become too successful. They might not get the credit they feel they deserve. Besides, if they help too much, the other ministry might surpass them, helping even more sinners into heaven. God forbid.

I work with an international missions organization that faces persecution in some of the countries they’re located in because of anti-conversion laws. I phoned a similar U.S.-based high-profile ministry once who encounters the same kinds of problems in the same countries to ask how they handle certain security issues in print so we could learn from them (they work in the same areas and know who we are). The man on the phone sounded suspicious and said, “Which ministry are you calling from again?” When I told him, he responded, “Uh, I can’t talk to you right now, I’ve got to go…” Click. We’ve had many such encounters with this same ministry at many levels.

“This is my ministry,” territorial Christians say. “I’m not helping you enjoy the same level of success. It’s my hard work that has put me here.”

All the while, God is drumming His fingers, rolling His eyes, and thinking, “What about My ministry? What about the ideas I inspired, the anointing I bestowed, the money I sent, and the lives I changed? Did you think that was you?”

Jealous: There’s a fine line between territorial and jealous, but I’d say that territorial is preventative, and jealousy happens after the fact. These church folk can’t stand to see your ministry or class flourish while theirs is waning. They take it as a personal attack, rather than asking themselves some hard questions such as: am I doing this for the right reasons? What do the people I’m teaching really need to hear? Might God be ready to use me somewhere else, outside my comfort zone? And for leadership: Am I ready to respond to the Spirit’s leading in making way for new areas of teaching for the good of all?