In this daily Bible reading Paul warns the Church at Philippi to ‘beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.’ Very soon after the Church was formed it was infiltrated by false believers, those who appeared to believe in Jesus but didn’t. The Bible characterized this as leaven which corrupted the purity of God’s Word. Just as leaven makes bread taste better, so too does some religious teaching make the Church more appealing to the world.
I believe that if a church is very large and very popular with the masses, it has compromised the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that ‘the Gospel message of Jesus is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews.’ Jesus said to His disciples, “ The world hated Me. It will hate you also.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ requires repentance of sins. However, the world does not want to repent. It wants to keep the sins, but go through religious rituals.
Some churches even endorse sin. For example there are churches with pastors who practice homosexuality. The Bible says that practicing homosexuality is sin. Some churches reject this notion, and they deny the Truth of God’s Word, the Bible.
We must not seek popularity with the world. Rather, we must be true to God’s Word. That is the only way to gain entry into Heaven.