Don’t read that book. Don’t watch that channel, don’t be friends with them, don’t listen to what they have to say. You know what the Bible says–these people are clearly not Christians.

This was the message I heard every Sunday morning proclaimed from the pulpit of my childhood church. It was firmly ingrained in my brain, like a disease that permeated every aspect of my thinking. I was unable to turn to the right or left, seeing nothing except that which was straight in front of me. These blinders kept me from experiencing the world, or anything beyond my narrow line of vision. Fleeting moments when I wondered if there was something more were simply the result of worldly passions that must be controlled. None of us dared to take our blinders off, because to do so meant to lose your protection. To do so meant to cease being a Christian.

The leaders of this church had subscribed to a very narrow view of what living as a Christian looked like. A Christian who was “truly saved” should dress a certain way, read only church-approved books, and watch only church-approved movies. They must only act as the church elders instruct them to act, and only expose themselves to writers and thinkers who agree with the church, for fear that a member might develop “doubts” otherwise. The ever-present danger of encountering ideas considered unorthodox was to be avoided at all costs. Doing so might present you with incorrect ideas and, heaven forbid, arguments for which you may not have an answer.

Ridiculous as this may sound, this anti-thinking lifestyle was not limited to a small group of people. In fact, the church I grew up in was a mega-church with three separate campuses, located in the heart of one of America’s major cities. The pastor went on to become world-famous, traveling the globe and publishing his ideas. He is now known among the majority of American Christians as a household name, and his ideas have shaped many churches.

Sadly, many Christians today are in a situation similar to my own, and many of them don’t even realize it. This is largely because of one powerful weapon which enables these churches to intellectually enslave so many. Ironically, it is most often used by the enemy to paralyze and trap the people of God. What is this weapon?

Fear.

Fear comes in many different forms, and is often so subtle we don’t even recognize its presence. Yet, it has the power to control our thoughts and actions. Fear can take the form of a blaring alarm when we are in danger, or a little voice inside us that stops us when we want to try something new. As humans, we were created with this instinct to protect us. However, irrational fear shuts us out from the world and the people around us—it hinders our ability to grow.

I was afraid to ask hard questions, afraid to listen to anyone with a different point of view. Why? Because they might be right. I was told that Christianity consisted of these narrow sets of rules and beliefs.

My faith was dependent on what this church said it meant to be a Christian. So, if other people who believed and lived differently were right, if they also had valid points of view, that meant my faith was somehow wrong. I chose to live in my protective shell of ignorance rather than, as I saw it, sacrifice my faith.

I graduated in a class of six, from a tiny high school in small-town Wisconsin. This community consisted of one subset of people, those who lived by two mottos: always keep a well-stocked supply of beer, and have nothing whatsoever to do with the government. These old-fashioned country folk were so set in their ways that anything with the label “liberal” was inherently bad, and anything “federal” was inherently worse. The underlying assumption behind all of this was the same as my church: That Christianity consisted of believing in a certain set of values—and if you didn’t have these values, you weren’t a Christian.

It wasn’t until I came to college that I was exposed to an entirely different mindset. I was suddenly surrounded by people with very different opinions and very different values. What’s more, this was actually celebrated and encouraged. I was shocked to realize that there were other opinions out there which were just as valid as the ones I had left behind, and ironically, most of them even more so. But the true wake-up call for me was when I realized that these people had a legitimate, heartfelt relationship with God. The unstable foundations of my faith began to crumble as I realized what faith could truly look like. Because Christianity at its core is not a set of rules or even a certain lifestyle–it is a belief in unshakeable truths. It is a desire to grow in holiness. It is, above all, a relationship with the God of the universe.

When we are free to explore and to question, our faith is strengthened and our lives take on a deeper meaning. We encounter new ideas. We test out new theories. We form our opinions from an informed position, rather than accepting someone else’s because they are “what a Christian should believe.”

When our definition of faith is living by certain rules, we have missed the point. Our eyes are so focused on doing “the right thing” that we miss the beauty God is doing all around us. True Christianity at its core is about love. It’s about living our lives out of love, not fear, and letting that love guide our actions towards others. It’s about following God because of our love for him, not because we are trying to do things “the right way.” And it’s about the love God has for us, a perfect love that casts out all fear.

Fear, especially of the unknown, is never from God. Fear is a weapon the enemy uses to manipulate us and to keep us from growing. If we truly believe in the truths of our faith, we should not be afraid to expose ourselves to new ideas, because we know that nothing can ever prove the truth of the Gospel wrong.

There is true beauty to be found when we approach new ideas with wonder and curiosity. When we seek to understand the opinions of others, it allows us to connect with them in a whole new way. We should never be afraid to listen and consider—gems of truth can be found even in the most unlikely places.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV).