Jesus, Justice + Mercy: Bold faith, radical love and justice for the church

Kristen A. Brock
  • 4.9 (9)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

Jesus, Justice & MercyBold faith, radical love, and justice for the church.   Welcome to Jesus, Justice & Mercy — a podcast for Christians who sense that justice matters but feel the tension between Jesus and much of what they see practiced in the church.   If you’re wrestling with inherited faith, questions that don’t have easy answers, or the growing gap between the Gospel and the world we’re navigating, you’re not alone.   I’m your host, Kristen Brock, rooted in the church and committed to following Jesus with honesty, courage, and compassion. Each season, we engage Scripture, history, and lived experience to explore the intersections of faith, justice, and discipleship. We talk about race, trauma, power, civic responsibility, and the ways faith has been both a source of harm and a force for healing.   Whether you’re deconstructing, rebuilding, or simply learning to ask better questions, this is a space for thoughtful reflection, faithful wrestling, and a faith shaped by justice, deeply rooted in Scripture.

  1. Shabbat | Rest, Recalibration, and Why I'm Not Going Quiet

    16h ago

    Shabbat | Rest, Recalibration, and Why I'm Not Going Quiet

    I missed last week. Here's why. We lost one of our cats, and grief doesn't keep a production schedule. But there's more. After two years of this work, I find myself worn out, and I've been sitting with that honestly. So today I'm giving you a word: Shabbat. Not as a self-care buzzword but as a theological practice, commanded, ancient, and countercultural. And its companion, nuakh, the Hebrew word for dwelling, settling, being present. Together, they're my invitation for this season. I'll be back with Theology Unleashed, a new series of short Greek and Hebrew word studies starting with tzedakah. And despite what the men of the SBC would prefer, I may not be as quiet this summer as I planned. This is not the time for women with voices to go silent. 69 episodes in the archive. Start at Season 1 if you're new. Jesus. Justice. No apologies. Want to see what's coming this fall?  Check out www.kristenabrock.com/theology-unleashed Episode mentioned: Pulpit Fiction: The Women They Renamed, Silenced, and Forgot  For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    6 min
  2. Unlocked: Pentecost for Doubters, Deconstructors, and the Depleted

    May 28

    Unlocked: Pentecost for Doubters, Deconstructors, and the Depleted

    Pentecost and social justice belong in the same sentence, and this Season 3 finale makes the case that they always have. This episode goes back to the room before the wind came. The locked room. Full of frightened, grieving, failing people. And that is exactly where Jesus starts. Two Pentecost accounts belong together. Acts 2 is the outer Pentecost: loud, public, multilingual. But Joel's prophecy is a social inversion, sons and daughters, old and young, servants and free. The crowd in the street is itself a justice statement: colonized people hearing the gospel in their own languages, not Rome's. And the multilingual miracle is the reversal of Babel, not uniformity, but the many held together without erasing each other. John 20 is the inner Pentecost: intimate, quiet, a locked room. Jesus walks through the locked door, shows his wounds, and breathes on them. The Greek emphysaō appears only once elsewhere, in Genesis 2, when God breathes life into the first human. New creation, in the dark, with people who ran. Romans 8 tells us the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and intercedes with groans when we can't find words. That resurrection power is available now. Spirit-fueled faith is not a feeling. It is a direction. This is the Season 3 send-off. Scripture References: ·      John 20:19–23  ·      Acts 2:1–21  ·      Acts 4:32–35  ·      Joel 2:28–29  ·      Genesis 2:7  ·      Genesis 11:1–9  ·      Ezekiel 37:1–5  ·      Romans 8:26–27  ·      Philippians 2:6–8 For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    34 min
  3. Inside Out: A Mental Health Theology Big Enough to Hold the Dark

    May 21

    Inside Out: A Mental Health Theology Big Enough to Hold the Dark

    Mental health in the church is one of the most underprepared gaps in the Christian community, and for families in crisis, that gap has real consequences. This episode is personal. Kristen reads a piece of writing kept private for years, a story about her son, suicidal ideation, and a 5150. After reading it aloud, she pauses to name what her body still carries: not just memory, but PTSD. The hypervigilance doesn't turn off when the crisis passes. From there: a direct theological reckoning with what the church typically offers families in mental health crisis, and why it causes harm even when it means well. The anti-medication strain in evangelical culture has cost people their lives. The brain is an organ. Bipolar disorder is not a faith failure. The church's silence around suicide compounds the harm, isolating families, layering shame on the unbearable, leaving the bereaved without a community equipped to hold their grief. Scripture offers more. Psalm 88 closes in darkness without turning toward hope, and that's canon. Jesus was on his way to perform his first resurrection miracle when he stopped for the woman with the issue of blood. Turned. Made her visible. Called her daughter. The resurrection could wait. She could not. Mental health in the church is also a justice issue; kids from trauma backgrounds, BIPOC families, and lower-income communities bear the highest cost of the church's unpreparedness. The close lands in Ezekiel 37. God doesn't ask the dry bones to reassemble before entering the valley. God enters first. Mental Health Awareness Month is not a secular intrusion into sacred space. It is an invitation to recover something the church was always supposed to be. Content note: This episode discusses suicide and mental health crises. The 988 Lifeline is available by call or text, anytime. RELATED EPISODES Season 1 Episode 14, Beyond the System: A Journey of Love, Loss, Healing and Faith (ACEs and childhood trauma)Season 1 Episode 16, Bearing Witness: Navigating Mental Health and Miracles (original telling of this story)Season 3 Episode 5, The Cost of Staying Awake: How Long, O Lord? (lament theology and Psalm 88)Season 3 Episode 14 Everyday Prophets: You Can't Heal What You Won't Name with Conscious Coore(trauma-informed spiritual care)Season 3 Episode 8, Starting in the Rubble: Reconciliation That Holds (repair before reconciliation)For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    32 min
  4. Pulpit Fiction: The Women They Renamed, Silenced, and Forgot

    May 14

    Pulpit Fiction: The Women They Renamed, Silenced, and Forgot

    Women in church leadership is not a new idea; it's a biblical one. The record is full of women leading, prophesying, teaching, and apostling. The church just worked very hard to make you forget them. In this episode, we go directly into the text: Deborah, judge and military commander. Huldah, the prophet, the king sent his priests to. Junia, the apostle whose name was changed to erase her. Phoebe, the minister, and leader Paul celebrated. Mary, whose Magnificat is not a lullaby, it's a liberation text. We also address the passages used to silence women, 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2, and read them in their full context. We take on the teaching vs. preaching distinction, the complementarianism vs. egalitarianism debate, and the theological architecture of patriarchy from Genesis to Galatians. And we ask: what has the church lost by silencing women's voices? We spend time with Pauli Murray, Anna Julia Cooper, and Ida B. Wells, women who prophesied to the church even when it wouldn't let them in the door. This is a longer episode. Theologically heavy. Worth every minute. This episode covers: The biblical record of women as leaders, prophets, apostles, and theologians1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2 in full contextThe teaching vs. preaching distinction, where it came from, and why it doesn't holdPatriarchy as a consequence of the fall, not God's designThe cost of silencing women theologically, pastorally, and propheticallyPauli Murray, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells, and Fannie Lou HamerWhat Re-Imagining the church looks like when women leadEpisodes referenced: Ep. 17 (Mary Magdalene), Ep. 10 (Fannie Lou Hamer), Ep. 4 (Black theology), Ep. 6 (White Christian nationalism) For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    39 min
  5. No Casseroles Required: What the Women of Scripture Knew About Grief

    May 7

    No Casseroles Required: What the Women of Scripture Knew About Grief

    Grief doesn’t arrive alone. It brings everything you’ve ever lost with it. And the church has rarely known what to do with that.  In this episode, we sit with the women of Scripture who grieved loudly, honestly, and without apology, and ask what they knew that the church has largely forgotten.  The Women We Cover: •  Naomi | who insisted on an honest name for her pain and refused to perform wellness •  Rachel | whose grief was so vast God responded to it with promise •  Rizpah | whose months-long vigil over her sons’ bodies forced a king to act •  Martha, Mary & Mary Magdalene | who brought their grief directly to Jesus and found he entered it rather than bypassed it •  Hannah | whose desperate, silent prayer was mistaken for drunkenness by the priest in front of her We also talk about what happens when grief goes underground, why the impulse to fast-forward through pain causes real harm, and how to hold devastating loss alongside a God who is supposed to be good. This episode isn’t about getting over grief. It’s about what happens when we grieve anyway.  Scripture References: Ruth 1 · Jeremiah 31:15-17 · 2 Samuel 21:10-14 · John 11 · 1 Samuel 1:9-18 · Psalm 13 · Psalm 22 · Psalm 77 · Psalm 88 · Psalm 23  Resources: Grief support with Dr. Quanny Ard Mother’s Day reflection | We See You:  For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    34 min
  6. Undressed: Are We Unwittingly the Emperor?

    Apr 30

    Undressed: Are We Unwittingly the Emperor?

    What if the most dangerous thing happening in American Christianity right now isn't happening in Washington, it's happening in us?  In this episode, Kristen sits with two early voices: Paul writing to a fractured community inside Caesar's Rome and James writing to people who were hearing all the right things and walking away unchanged. Between them, they have a diagnosis for exactly what we're living through right now.  We unpack Romans 12:1-2 phrase by phrase, the imperial claim on bodies, the weaponizing of the text through purity culture and the theology of slavery, the flip that turned 'do not conform' into a bunker, and the metamorphoo that is received, not performed. Then James holds up the mirror: not for people who rejected the gospel, but for those who looked at it carefully, walked away, and forgot their own face.  Including: the first American pope quoting Isaiah in Holy Week, and Christians calling it unbiblical. The Acts 2 community that became something the world couldn't explain. And what formation actually looks like, in the kitchen, at church, at the checkbook, and in the spaces where answering the oldest theological question out loud costs something real. WORD STUDY: THE GREEK BEHIND THE TEXT katanoeō (James 1:23)To perceive, to observe carefully, to really take in what you're seeing. Not a casual glance. The person in James's mirror fails not because they're unwise but because they looked carefully, saw clearly, and then walked away and forgot. The forgetting is the indictment. nomos teleios (James 1:25)The complete law, the fulfilled law. Not the law as burden or guardrail. The law as Jesus fulfilled it: love God, love neighbor, do not overlook the poor. A direct inversion of Roman imperial law, which gave freedom only to the powerful. poiētēs (James 1:25)An active, ongoing doer. Not someone who did a thing once. Someone whose identity is shaped by continuous action. Formation language, not compliance language. metamorphoo (Romans 12:2)The same word used for the Transfiguration. What happens to a person encountered by the living God. Not performed. Not achieved. Received. For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    33 min
  7. No Tap-Dancing Required: A Theology of Being Beloved with Kieawnie Clar

    Apr 23

    No Tap-Dancing Required: A Theology of Being Beloved with Kieawnie Clar

    Centering prayer isn’t about emptying your mind or saying the right things. According to Kieawnie Clar, it’s about finally stopping and letting God do what God needs to do. In this episode of Jesus, Justice and Mercy, Kristen sits down with Kieawnie, a minister, spiritual director, Executive Director of her local Street Chaplaincy, and founder of the Bethany Project, for a conversation about what it actually means to be formed by love rather than driven by performance. Kieawnie grew up Catholic in predominantly white spaces, came of age spiritually in evangelical environments that rewarded outward expression, and eventually found her way to contemplative practices, particularly centering prayer, that changed everything. Not because she had to do something, but because she finally stopped. Together, they explore what centering prayer actually is and how to start, the difference between believing in God and truly experiencing God, how spiritual direction holds space for honest and doubting faith, what repair and reconciliation look like with unhoused neighbors, and why you can’t love others well until you’ve let God love you first. This episode is for the person who knows all the right words and wonders why nothing is changing. It’s for the re-imagining. How to reach Kieawnie: Email: info@thebethanyprojectmarin.org The Street Chaplaincy The Bethany Project Bethany Project Donation Link For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    34 min
  8. Everyday Prophets: You Can't Heal What You Won't Name with Conscious Coore

    Apr 16

    Everyday Prophets: You Can't Heal What You Won't Name with Conscious Coore

    What does it mean to offer care to people the church has already harmed? Conscious Coore, founder of Flamingo Trauma Recovery and educator in trauma-informed spiritual care, has been answering that question for years. In this first episode of the Everyday Prophets series, Kristen and Conscious go deep on what trauma-informed faith actually looks like in practice, why the church keeps collapsing reconciliation and reconnection into one thing, and how doctrine gets weaponized when we adopt it uncritically. Conscious brings a framework that will stay with you: doctrine, choice, and power. She makes a distinction between reconciliation and reconnection that the church desperately needs. And she closes with a call for every listener to see themselves as a person of influence, because this work was never meant to live in the hands of a few. If you've ever walked out of a church service feeling more alone than when you walked in, this conversation was made for you. Connect with Conscious •       Website: Conscious Coore or Flamingo Recovery •       Instagram: @consciouscoore •       Threads: @consciouscoore Resources Mentioned •       Flamingo Trauma Recovery | trauma-informed spiritual care training and counseling •       Beyond Faith as Usual Resource List  For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode to a friend who might need itLeave a 5-star rating and reviewSubscribe so you don’t miss future episodesWrestling with faith and justice and not sure where to start? Grab my free theological reading list, Beyond Faith as Usual, HERE!Here’s to a faith that tells the truth, refuses silence in the face of harm, and follows Jesus all the way into healing and justice. RESOURCES: www.kristenabrock.com Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list Justice Coaching options! "Find your justice mindset" quiz!

    40 min
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Jesus, Justice & MercyBold faith, radical love, and justice for the church.   Welcome to Jesus, Justice & Mercy — a podcast for Christians who sense that justice matters but feel the tension between Jesus and much of what they see practiced in the church.   If you’re wrestling with inherited faith, questions that don’t have easy answers, or the growing gap between the Gospel and the world we’re navigating, you’re not alone.   I’m your host, Kristen Brock, rooted in the church and committed to following Jesus with honesty, courage, and compassion. Each season, we engage Scripture, history, and lived experience to explore the intersections of faith, justice, and discipleship. We talk about race, trauma, power, civic responsibility, and the ways faith has been both a source of harm and a force for healing.   Whether you’re deconstructing, rebuilding, or simply learning to ask better questions, this is a space for thoughtful reflection, faithful wrestling, and a faith shaped by justice, deeply rooted in Scripture.

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