The Greek word for church is ''ekklesia'' which means 'called out'. The church is made up of those who are called out of the world, not those who are called into a building. This means that there may be people in the building who are not really the church. We don't fret it. Where would you rather have them be, than learning the word of God. There is one mechanism to remove people from the local church and it is to be used only for the one who is teaching others to sin either by their words or by their unrepentant grievous and public sin. The letters to the churches are warnings as a guide to church discipline. Church leaders are servants;  Niclolaitans are those who would be lords. They elevate one class of people over another. These are the self-appointed priests and gatekeepers to the church and grace. They block the door that Christ has opened.  The doctrine of Balaam would compromise the church teaching that world change is through politics. God changes the world through the teaching of Christ. Western political ideas have no place in the global gospel. A Christian is able to live, without compromise, under dictators, Communist rule, and worst of all, individual freedom, where every man does what is right in his own eyes <ref>Jud 17:6 In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.</ref> <ref>Pr 12:15 ¶ The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.</ref>. The church is not a social change instrument. It changes society by changing hearts. In the US, the government is of the people, which means we are the designated source of authority, and it is wise to take political participation seriously as individuals.  The Judaisers are those who would impose law upon the ones set free by Christ. They use tradition as law, Biblical suggestions as law, examples as law; always building a hedge so that we do not sin. They do it in the name of Holiness. Holiness is not just keeping the law better. It is having a heart that loves God BY loving his enemies, and his neighbors, and his family. God did not save you through a tithe and he won't keep you through one either. He has called you to be totally devoted to him. The Judaiser just thought to himself: a devotion measured by this or that or the other thing. No, God measures the heart. Those who lost their first love deified Mary in the first century. But it is a warning against anything becoming more loved than Christ. Many love television, movies, the internet more than Christ. This IS measurable by the time spent doing those things. If in your work you do all things as unto the Lord, then you might count that on his side, but our wicked hearts deceive us to justify ourselves. It is a warning, not a justification. Be warned about the meaningless and counterproductive things that take up your time. The church is about teaching. If serving the poor replaces teaching, then we have lost our first love. As a reminder, when Jesus fed the 9000, they were not the poor, they were the ones being taught.