The Scott Sauls Podcast

Feeling like an outsider at church can come from very different places. Scott Sauls brings together C. S. Lewis’s uneasy experience of worship and Hannah’s painful encounter with a priest who misread her grief, asking what each story can teach us. Rooted in Ephesians 2, this episode considers loneliness, church hurt, the need for trustworthy community, and the belonging Jesus has secured for his p...

You apologized. They forgave you. But when you are alone, the memory still returns. Scott Sauls considers why receiving forgiveness can be so difficult, and how the mercy of Christ meets us without minimizing the harm we have caused. Through 1 John 3 and the wisdom of historic Christian prayers and confessions, this episode explores lingering regret, responsible efforts to make amends, and the hel...

What do we need when the explanations people offer only make our pain harder to carry? Scott Sauls reflects on Kate Bowler’s experience of cancer and the prayers of Psalms 13 and 23, considering how sorrow and trust can belong in the same prayer. For anyone waiting on frightening news or walking beside someone who is, this episode explores the comfort of Christ’s presence, the freedom to lament, a...

Why does someone else’s success have the power to make us dissatisfied with our own lives? Comparison promises that we will finally feel secure when we have what someone else has—or move a little further ahead. But the finish line never stops moving. In this episode, Scott Sauls explores why comparison and envy steal our joy, what Psalm 73 teaches us about finding our true “portion” in God, and ho...

Most of us reach for the phone before our feet hit the floor, hoping something on the screen will tell us we matter. That reflex points at something older than technology. In part 3 of this 12-part series on The Mercy King, Scott Sauls looks at what Scripture actually means by idolatry, and why it has almost nothing to do with statues. An idol usually isn't a bad thing. It's a good thing we start...

What does true success look like in the kingdom of God? Scott Sauls explores how Jesus challenges our culture’s pursuit of status, control, power, and recognition—and offers a radically different vision of greatness. The world tells us that success means climbing higher, defeating our rivals, and making a name for ourselves. Jesus shows us another way: humility, sacrifice, service, and love. His v...

Feeling far from God? In this first episode of a twelve-part series based on The Mercy King, Scott Sauls explores Psalm 23:6 and the God whose goodness and mercy never stop pursuing us. Faith begins not with our search for God, but with God’s search for us.

Can you have real joy if you're carrying something that may never get better on this side of heaven? Fanny Crosby was blind from infancy. She lived with that limitation for more than ninety years, yet became one of the most prolific hymn writers in Christian history, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, including “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory.” Her joy was not denial. Her...

One of the most unsettling experiences in life is getting what you wanted — and discovering that it still isn’t enough. Leo Tolstoy reached extraordinary heights of wealth, fame, and literary achievement. Yet in the middle of his success, he found himself confronting questions his accomplishments could not answer: Why am I here? What will remain after I die? What makes any of this matter? Psalm 90...

What do you do when someone has hurt you deeply – and isn’t sorry? After Dylann Roof murdered nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, several family members of those he killed publicly forgave him, even though he showed no remorse. Their response raises one of Christianity’s hardest questions: Can we forgive someone who refuses to repent? In this episode, Scott Sauls explores what biblica...

We often think we need to be strong, polished, and "over it" to be effective at helping the people around us. But what if our biggest impact actually comes from the very places where we feel the weakest? In today's episode, Scott Sauls discusses: The "Wounded Healer" concept and why shared vulnerability is the ultimate catalyst for connection. How to transform shame into a source of healing for yo...

We often look for peace by trying to escape the storm, but what if peace is found by standing in the center of it? In this episode, we unpack the life and letters of Samuel Rutherford, a pastor whose experience of unjust exile became a masterclass in Christian hope. Join Scott as he discusses: "Christ’s palace in Aberdeen"—finding joy in places of our deepest loss. The "eye of the hurricane" metap...

C.S. Lewis once described himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” He did not come to faith because he was eager to find God. He came to faith because, in his own words, God closed in. In this episode, Scott Sauls reflects on Lewis’s conversion, Adam and Eve hiding in Genesis 3, Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman in John 4, and the Father who seeks worshipers before they...

Why does anything exist at all? And why do we exist? It is the kind of question we can avoid for a long time, until awe, grief, success, failure, or exhaustion brings it back to the surface. Some answer by saying life is an accident and meaning is something we must create for ourselves. Others live as if meaning must be earned through achievement, usefulness, admiration, or success. But Christiani...

Why do so many successful, admired, high-capacity people feel so deeply alone? In this episode, Scott Sauls explores the hidden loneliness that often lives behind public visibility, leadership, popularity, and constant responsibility. From Michael Jackson’s longing to be treated like an ordinary neighbor, to Lady Gaga’s description of the silence that follows the crowd, to the quiet burdens carrie...

The small acts of faithfulness in your life may feel ordinary, hidden, and easily forgotten. But because Jesus walked out of the grave first, none of it is wasted. The meal cooked for a struggling neighbor, the correction spoken to a child, the good work done when no one was watching, and the forgiveness extended in secret are all being folded into a future that has already begun in the resurrecti...

Leo Tolstoy had nearly everything people associate with a successful life: literary genius, wealth, family, fame, influence, and security. Yet by his own account, he found himself deeply restless and despairing. In this episode, Scott Sauls reflects on Tolstoy’s crisis and the three false gospels that still steal joy today: comfort, control, and approval. Each one begins as a good desire. Each one...

You can believe in grace and still live as though God is disappointed in you. In this episode, Scott Sauls reflects on the hidden equation many Christians carry: God’s love equals Jesus plus our current spiritual and moral performance. Through the story of Peter in Luke 5, the ache beneath achievement, and the difference between forgiveness and mercy, Scott considers why grace can feel unsafe to r...

What should you do when your prayer is not calm, composed, or polite, but angry? In this episode, Scott Sauls looks at Habakkuk, C.S. Lewis, Job, the Psalms, and Martin Luther to explore whether anger toward God is always a sign of weak faith. Scripture is far more honest about complaint, grief, protest, and unanswered questions than many church cultures have allowed. Angry prayer may not be the d...

In this episode, Scott Sauls reflects on John 11, the death of Lazarus, and Jesus’ stunning promise to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Drawing from Elie Wiesel’s Night, Tim Keller’s preaching after September 11, and C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce, this episode explores the difference between mere consolation and true Christian resurrection hope. When suffering, grief, unanswered pray...

In this episode, Scott Sauls explores the difference between guilt and shame through The Scarlet Letter, Genesis 3, Brené Brown, Brennan Manning, and the mercy of Jesus. Shame says, “I am something bad,” and it drives us to cover, hide, and fear being fully known. But from Eden to the cross, Scripture tells a better story: we cover ourselves badly, but God covers us truly. If you have carried a sc...

In this episode, Scott Sauls shares personally about struggles like perfectionism, drivenness, shame, and the exhausting attempt to find worth through achievement. He also shares the invitation Jesus gives to every overextended, over-functioning heart: to stop striving for an approval that has already been freely given. Drawing from Psalm 23, Luke 15, and themes from his newest book, The Mercy Kin...

In this episode, Scott Sauls explores why gossip can feel satisfying in the moment while quietly damaging the soul. Drawing from Scripture and personal experience, he looks at the difference between healthy processing and sinful gossip. When does venting become gossip? Why do we use another person’s failures to manage our own hurt? And how can confession, repentance, and the grace of Jesus lead us...

We all demand justice until it shows up at our own front door. In this episode, Scott Sauls works through the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18, the bishop and the silver candlesticks in Les Misérables, and the cross itself, drawing on Fleming Rutledge, Isaiah 53, and Psalm 130. The real question underneath every cry for fairness: are you willing to receive what justice woul...

Workaholism is the most socially acceptable addiction in our culture. Nobody stages an intervention for it. Nobody tells you to get help. Instead, we get rewarded with raises, promotions, and applause. In this episode, Scott Sauls draws from his forthcoming book The Mercy King (Zondervan, June 2026) and a clinical study from the University of Bergen to expose what compulsive working actually is: a...