People think I suddenly became some kind of “heretic” who left Christianity and now hates Christians.
But that’s not true.
I don’t see anyone through the lens of Christianity.
I see their created value first — the divine blueprint underneath all the layers.
But I also know what they call themselves, because I was one of the 2.8 billion who wore that identity like armor, fear, and belonging all mixed together.
And here’s the pattern of the gospel that nobody wants to talk about:
God always takes you out of the system before sending you back to free the ones still trapped in it.
That’s the story of Moses.
That’s the story of the prophets.
That’s the story of Jesus.
That’s the story of Paul.
And that’s the story of every son who wakes up.
But people don’t like that pattern.
They don’t like the wilderness.
They don’t like isolation.
They don’t like being separated from the comfort of the crowd.
It’s the same thing Israel said in the wilderness:
“Why did you take us out of Egypt? At least we had food there!”
They preferred slavery with seasoning
over freedom with uncertainty.
And that’s exactly what’s happening today.
Most Christians are so used to the taste of the toilet —the spiritual sewage of punishment theology, duality, fear, and separation—
that leaving it feels terrifying.
They’d rather stay dirty,
call it holy,
call it tradition,
call it “sound doctrine,”
than step into the unknown where the Spirit actually leads.
And this is where cognitive dissonance becomes the real battle.
Years ago, someone told me exactly what the Spirit later revealed to me:
that hell wasn’t what religion taught,
that judgment wasn’t eternal torture,
that salvation wasn’t a last-minute escape plan,
and that the gospel was about union, not avoidance.
But when they said it, my mind locked up.
My heart wasn’t ready.
My identity wasn’t secure.
My fear was louder than my curiosity.
I dismissed them —
not because they were wrong,
but because I couldn’t imagine a gospel bigger than the one I inherited.
Cognitive dissonance:
when truth knocks but your cage is too small to hold it.
I instantly labeled that person a heretic.
Deceived.
Dangerous.
Unbiblical.
Because that’s what indoctrination trains you to do
when something threatens the narrative you built your life upon.
And the irony?
The very Bible I used to defend my beliefs tells me plainly:
Paul didn’t receive his gospel from men.
Paul didn’t receive it from a book.
Paul threw away his entire religious identity.
Paul let the Spirit purge him in the desert.
And only once Christ was revealed within himself did he finally understand truth.
Paul literally called the scriptures of his day dung compared to revelation.
Yet people today cling to their interpretations and call it “truth,” when half the time it’s only trauma, tradition, and inherited fear.
When I returned to religion, I got more miserable, not more holy.
Week after week:
“the devil has no power!”
…followed by ten minutes of panic prayers against him.
The Spirit finally whispered:
“Come out. Return to the secret place.”
And suddenly the scriptures made sense:
“Call to Me and I will show you great and unsearchable things.”
Meaning: things not written in a book.
You cannot claim the Bible is complete and inerrant while reading a verse that literally says God will show you things beyond what’s written.
That’s cognitive dissonance again.
And when someone else hears something that threatens their worldview?
They react the same way I used to:
They attack.
They dismiss.
They label you.
They retreat into fear.
Because the narrative they cling to would collapse if love were truly unconditional.
And here is the truth:
The spiritual man discerns all things.
The spiritual man judges from restoration, not accusation.
And the spiritual man walks free from offense — because truth is never threatened.
Cognitive dissonance only lives where fear still governs.
And the ones who attack the hardest
are the ones most afraid to leave Egypt
because deep down, they’ve grown comfortable with the taste of the toilet.
SPIRIT’S WHISPER 
“Do not fear the trembling of the mind when truth arrives.
Let the old crumble.
Let the new arise.
For I am leading you out of Egypt
and back into the Promised Land.”
By Keith Brown