Conservative Christians Are Saying, "To Hell With Jesus."

The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz Podcast · Aug 24, 2025 · 5m

What makes someone a Christian?

I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately.

I feel like I should know the answer.

I was a pastor in the local church for over two decades.

I attended seminary, read, studied, and taught the Bible; delivered hundreds of sermons, and led more retreats and conferences than I can recall.

And despite that wealth of experience as a member of the clergy, I’m still not sure how you can tell if someone who claims to be a Christian actually is a Christian (by that, I mean, if they have any real interest in the teachings of Jesus). The story goes that seeing into…