Episode 1: You Aren’t Crazy: A Pastor Explains the "Madness" of Church Hurt

There is a specific kind of madness that comes when you go to church and see the people supposed to represent God act like the very people Jesus warned us about. If you have been treated like you are crazy for noticing it, I want you to know: you are not crazy.I am a pastor, and I am taking responsibility for what we got wrong. For years, I have watched the church utilize a primal, biological thing to gain power and security. It is a feeling in your stomach that I call the visceral glitch. You might have felt it in the cold shoulders or the subtle rejections that made you feel like you didn't belong.In this first episode, I go back to a moment at college where I watched a room full of people turn a human being into something "less than" using the mechanism of disgust. We are diving into why your body reacts to spiritual gaslighting the same way it reacts to the smell of a trash can in the August heat. This is for the wounded, the disappeared, and the heart-sick. You are not "falling away." You are finding a way back.Key Highlights:(05:06) The Ohio State Story: When a human being became an "other."(10:32) The Biology of Contempt: Why your gut knows the system is broken before your head does.(13:51) Adam, Eve, and Nakedness: What we actually lost in the Garden.(22:30) The "Vomit" Response: Why you can't just "think" your way out of church hurt.About the Show: You Still BelongIf you walked away from the church feeling heart sick, gaslit, or told that you were the problem, this is your safe harbor. This is also your proof that you were not wrong to leave.You Still Belong is a podcast for survivors of church hurt, spiritual manipulation, and the visceral glitch of modern religion. I explore the intersection of neuroscience, theology, and radical spiritual recovery. As a pastor, I am taking responsibility for what the institution got wrong. If you are finished with the institution but still hungry for the Person of Jesus, you are in the right place.I am writing a book on finding Jesus after the church failed. Join the waitlist for early chapters and updates:www.nathanmcwherter.comJoin the Journey