Paul the Apostle taught that after he left, wolves would come and corrupt churches, not sparing the flocks, and that one thing wolves do is pervert things in order to draw people away from other churches to them. I think this seems to have happened in all churches and denominations. Even the main churches are teachings things which are not sound and are not biblical. I think the founders or early leaders were many of them wolves who changed the truth just to get a Unique Selling Proposition so they could poach followers from other groups. I think almost all churches now have this built in. Even when leaders come along and want to restart a new group to try to fix these problems, really they cannot resist doing what predecessors did and adding some kind of distinctive doctrine, unbiblical or unsound or both, just to help draw initial followers away from other groups. Just proclaiming truth, it seems, is never enough if you are young or worldly and want to make a name in church building. Like Jesus said of his own time, all who came before were thieves and robbers. What is the answer? Just be aware, you might be misled, even by those you trust to preach truth to you. Even the great preachers tend to twist a doctrine or two to get themselves a name and sell books. Sad but true.
