Is it possible to love Jesus and pursue justice?

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For the believer who’s wrestling with faith, identity, and the world’s deep ache.

Can you love Jesus and care deeply about justice? If you’ve ever felt caught in that tension—longing to follow Christ while also seeking change in a hurting world—this episode is for you.

In this Season Two opener, Kristen shares the heart behind Jesus, Justice + Mercy and her personal journey navigating faith, identity, and the messy, beautiful call to justice. As a trauma-informed mentor, budding theologian, and solo parent to two bi-racial boys, Kristen opens up about what shifted her theology, challenged her comfort, and led her to ask harder, more honest questions about the gospel.

This episode lays the groundwork for what’s ahead: a season filled with Scripture-rooted conversations about race, identity, power, justice, and compassion. Whether you're feeling uncertain, curious, frustrated, or hopeful, this space invites you to show up fully—with your faith, your questions, and your heart.

You’ll hear:

• Why so many believers feel the tension between faith and justice
• How Kristen’s story as a parent and a learner reshaped her view of discipleship
• What to expect this season—from biblical foundations to real-world conversations
• An invitation to walk this road with humility, courage, and mercy

This isn’t about abandoning faith. It’s about reclaiming it—anchored in Jesus and committed to the kind of love that restores.

If you find hope and challenge here, help grow this community by liking, sharing, and leaving a review so more people can join us in pursuing justice and Jesus together.

RESOURCES:

www.kristenannette.com

Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list

"Find your justice mindset" quiz!

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hey friend, it has been a minute, so welcome to
Season 2, Episode 1 of Jesus,Justice and Mercy.
The title of the first episodeof this season is, Is it
possible to love Jesus andpursue justice?
Because that's the question atthe heart of so many
conversations I've had, both inmy own journey and with others

(00:21):
who feel caught in the tensionbetween their faith and their
longing for justice.
In this episode, I want to setthe stage for the season ahead
by sharing a bit of my story,why I'm here, what this podcast
is about, and an invitation foryou to walk this journey with
me.
So again, I'm Kristen, atrauma-informed budding

(00:42):
theologian, justice-mindedmentor, and fellow question
asker.
I'm also a mom, a solo parent,and a and someone who's walked
through a lot of complex faithspaces, holding both a deep love
for Jesus and what I might calla growing ache for the kind of
justice and compassion I believehe came to bring.

(01:04):
I'm currently finishing amaster's in theology and social
justice at NortheasternSeminary.
That might sound kind ofofficial, But all it really
means is I've spent the last fewyears sitting with scripture,
reading a ton of great andthought-provoking books,
learning from theologians andpioneers of our faith, and
asking real-life questions abouthow we live out the gospel in a

(01:28):
hurting and divided world.
This podcast was born out ofboth heartbreak and hope.
Heartbreak over the ways faithhas sometimes been used to
exclude or wound people, andhope that we can reclaim a
vision of Jesus that is deeplyrooted in mercy, truth, and
love.
Just to clarify, when I sayheartbreak, I mean the deep

(01:50):
wounds I've seen in the church.
The exclusion, the silence, themisunderstandings, and sometimes
the spiritual harm done in thename of God.
One example is sitting withwomen of color whose stories are
filled with pain from people whoshould have been their allies,
their spiritual family.

(02:12):
Listening to these voices hasbeen humbling, challenging, and
absolutely necessary.
It's one thing to hear stories.
It's another to listen, to trulyopen our hearts and to be
changed by them.
And when we let those storiesshape us, we start to ask new
questions about what we've beentaught, what we might've

(02:34):
ignored, and what Jesus actuallycalls us to.
That kind of listening can stirsomething deep, a discomfort, a
reckoning, a longing for a faiththat makes room for justice and
mercy.
Because if you've ever felt tornbetween your heart for justice
and the way you were taught tofollow Jesus, Or if you've

(02:56):
wrestled with how to stay rootedin your faith while engaging
hard conversations with love andintegrity, you're not alone.
We need space to ask honestquestions, space to explore
scripture with a new curiosity,and to rethink how we show up,
not from a place of fear orpressure, but from a place of

(03:17):
courage, compassion, and trustin a God who is both holy and,
thankfully, merciful.
Scripture shows us this tensionin the life of Jesus, the way he
spoke truth to power and alsowelcomed the outcast with open
arms.
He challenged religious leaderswhile dining with sinners.

(03:39):
He confronted injustice whileoffering compassion.
That balance of justice andmercy is messy and hard, but
it's also our model.
And that's the tension I want towalk through with you.
You might be wondering how I gothere.
Honestly, I never set out tolead conversations on faith,

(04:00):
justice, and race.
But when I became a parent totwo biracial boys with complex
trauma histories, I found myselfface-to-face with questions I
couldn't ignore.
Somewhere along the way, I alsolearned how vital it is to truly
listen.
Without judgment ordefensiveness or or
dismissiveness to my friends ofcolor and their experiences both

(04:23):
within and outside the church.
That practice changed me.
It shaped my theology.
It deepened my understanding ofwhat discipleship really means
and also shaped how I understandjustice and faith.
This podcast grew from thatjourney.
It has become a space where Ican share what I'm learning and

(04:44):
invite others into honestreflection and bold dialogue
about faith, identity, andjustice.
At some point, I may havestarted as a writer and I still
have visions of writing a book.
Years ago, I started a blog.
I thought I would share myexperiences raising my boys, but
that's their story to tell andit's still unfolding.

(05:06):
What I can offer is my ownstory, one of obedience, of
wrestling with fear andinsecurity, of pushback and
imposter syndrome, andultimately, a story of listening
to the voice of God that refusedto be silent and kept nudging me
forward.
But this all probably startedmuch earlier.

(05:26):
I grew up deeply embedded in awhite conservative Christian
world.
I was born in 1963, a year thatincluded Martin Luther King Jr.'
's I Have a Dream speech, hisletter from a Birmingham jail,
the bombing of the 16th StreetBaptist Church in Birmingham,
and so many other pivotalmoments in the civil rights

(05:47):
movement.
But in my childhood church andfamily, none of that was
mentioned, at least to myrecollection.
It felt far from my daily life,my family, and my church.
My faith was familiar andcomfortable.
We went to church every Sunday.
And growing up in the SanFrancisco Bay Area, I probably
was exposed to more progressiveviews.

(06:09):
But the issues of race andinjustice didn't come up.
It wasn't until adulthood that Ibegan to realize how much I
hadn't seen and how much I hadto learn and unlearn.
Through relationship learningand painful reflection, I began
to see that justice isn't a sideissue.
It isn't just a political orsocial issue.

(06:32):
It's sacred.
It's central to the gospel.
And that realization changedeverything.
This podcast is part of thatjourney.
It's born out of sorrow for thepain I've witnessed and hope for
the healing that's possible whenwe lean into truth and grace.
So what can you expect thisseason?

(06:54):
We're diving into what happenswhen your love for Jesus and
your burgeoning questions aboutand hunger for justice collide.
How do we hold that tensionwithout losing our footing?
Each episode will explore a bigquestion or theme like why
social justice feels sodivisive, especially in church

(07:15):
spaces.
What the Bible really says aboutjustice.
How race, identity, andprivilege shape our
discipleship.
Navigating LGBTQ conversationswith both conviction and
compassion.
How to separate your personalfaith from political pressure.
And how to engage all of thiswith grace, even when it's hard.

(07:39):
Some of this will be tender.
Some will challenge what we'vebeen taught as unshakable truth,
not to dismantle our faith, butto deepen and refine it.
And all of it will be groundedin Scripture, thoughtful
reflection, and the kind of hopethat doesn't give up on the
church or each other.

(08:00):
I believe that this is what Godis calling the church to right
now, and I'm convinced it startswith each of us showing up,
listening deeply, and leaninginto the hard questions with
humility and hope.
I'm inviting you to walk alongwherever you are in your faith,
however you may have beenwounded or stretched or stuck.

(08:21):
Because I know this work ishard, but it is also necessary.
And none of us need to do thisalone.
Over the course of this season,we'll follow an intentional arc
of learning.
We'll spend some time in honestself-reflection and identity.
We'll root ourselves in thebiblical foundations of justice
and how they align or sometimeschallenge our modern

(08:44):
understanding.
We'll explore systems ofinequality, grow in spiritual
discernment, and learn how tohave hard conversations with
both conviction and compassion.
And finally, we'll begin toimagine what faithful,
justice-rooted action can looklike in our everyday lives.

(09:04):
That said, this journey isn'talways linear.
Like most things in faith, we'llcircle back, wrestle, revisit
ideas and hold tension.
But through it all, we'll beanchored in the heart of Jesus,
trusting that he meets us in thequestions and leads us toward
wholeness.
Because justice isn't just anidea.

(09:25):
It's a way of life, and we allhave a part to play.
If you're new here, welcome.
Season one launched during BlackHistory Month in 2024, and I
focused on the intersection ofsystemic injustice, the church's
historical role, and whatscripture really says about
race, power, and justice.

(09:48):
In that season, I laid a lot ofgroundwork.
I believe it is important tolook honestly at the past so we
can better understand ourpresent and better live out
God's call.
You don't have to start there.
But if you're curious...
Those episodes are there forwhen you're ready.
You might still be wondering, isthis podcast for me?
Let me give you a glimpse ofwhat I imagine.

(10:10):
This podcast is for thosewrestling with their faith and
what it really means to followJesus in a divided, polarized
world.
It's for the ones who love thechurch but feel uneasy or even
heartbroken about how it hashandled race, power, politics,
or belonging.

(10:30):
It's for those of you whoseconvictions have grown deeper,
but also more complicated.
Those whose questions feelheavier than their answers.
It's for anyone whoserelationships have been
stretched, strained, or evenbroken as their faith has
shifted.
And it's also for those of youwho have walked away, who just

(10:52):
couldn't reconcile what you weretaught with what you were
seeing.
For those who are still curiousabout Jesus and but cautious
around Christians.
So if you want to face hardquestions with courage and
clarity, if you want a faiththat is honest, rooted, and
resilient, even if it doesn'tlook like it used to, this space

(11:13):
is for you.
The invitation is for you todecide if you are open to taking
the journey with me.
You can stay connected bysubscribing to the podcast,
sharing this episode with afriend who might need it,
leaving a review so others canfind it, or visiting my website
where you can find discussionprompts and more resources.

(11:35):
I also want to encourage you tojournal or reflect after these
episodes, because processingthis and these questions takes
time and grace.
Next time, we'll start by divinginto a tough but important
question.
Why does social justice feel sodivisive in the church?
I hope you'll meet me there.
Thanks for listening, friend.

(11:56):
I'm glad you're here.