An earthmoving piece published in The Christian Post this Tuesday shared the words of a former pastor from Grace Family Fellowship in Missouri, who renounced his Christian faith and slammed the church culture he dedicated his life to in a Twitter thread that was posted last week.

As the Christian Post points out, Dave Gass first announced his resignation from the church in a series of tweets that are now private, but not before they were screencapped and shared on social media.

Gass wrote that after 40 years of being a devout Christian and 20 years of being an evangelical pastor, he’s “walking away from the faith.”

“Even though this has been a massive bomb drop in my life, it has been decades in the making,” he declared.

“When I was in 8th grade and I was reading Greek mythology, it dawned on me how much of the supernatural interactions between the deity of the bible and mankind sounded like ancient mythology. That seed of doubt never went away,” he continued.

According to Gass, the beliefs he was raised with always disappointed. “The promises were empty. The answers were lies,” he said.

“I was fully devoted to studying the scriptures. I think I missed maybe 12 Sundays in 40 years. I had completely memorized 18 books of the bible and was reading through the bible for the 24th time when I walked away,” he wrote.

Among the many things that suffered as a result of his faith was his marriage, which he called a “sham” and a “constant source of pain” for him.

“I did everything I was supposed to – marriage workshops, counseling, bible reading together, date nights every week, marriage books – but my marriage never became what I was promised it would be,” he wrote according to The Christian Post.

Gass wrote that the people he saw benefit the most from religion were the people who didn’t take it as seriously as he did. It was the people who were the most devout who were the “most miserable,” but nevertheless always trudged ahead.

Then he added the following scathing indictment:

“The entire system is rife with abuse. And not just from the top down, sure there are abusive church leaders, but church leaders are abused by their congregants as well. Church people are just sh*tty to each other. I spent my entire life serving, loving, and trying to help people in my congregations. And the lies, betrayal, and slander I have received at the hands of church people left wounds that may never heal. … Being a pastor – a professional Christian – was killing me.”

Responding to Gass’s comments, a deacon at his former church accused him of being an unrepentant sinner, saying that he was caught having an affair with a married woman.

Yes, he was my pastor when he "walked away". He actually just slept with a married women in the church and got caught. He never repented and they still live together. — Justin Tuttle (@JesterTuttle) May 2, 2019

“Yes, he was my pastor when he ‘walked away,'” Justin Tuttle tweeted on May 2 . “He actually just slept with a married [woman] in the church and got caught. He never repented and they still live together.”

An unnamed church representative reportedly echoed Tuttle’s claims to The Christian Post.

In the comment thread that opened up beneath the article, most of the sentiments were critical of Gass’s rejection of his former life, prompting one commenter to point out that the majority of responses prove Gass’s point.

“Aren’t all the people bashing him proving his point?” commenter Jordache Jordan wrote. “Even if you think his acts were insincere while he served, he was patted on the back and embraced and as he tells you he is broken mentally people coldly turns their back on him to save face. This is not love, this is not Jesus’ love.”

I’ve reached out to Gass to get some clarity on why he made his tweets private, as well as the accusations from church members. This article will be updated if he responds.

H/T RawStory

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