Review of Olivia Jackson’s (Un)Certain

Understanding Religious Doubt in Patients & Clients

Are you working with clients or patients who open up to religious doubt? Do you find it difficult to understand them completely? Olivia Jackson has captured surveys and interviews from people worldwide who have objections to Christianity and compiled them into her latest book (Un)Certain. Struggles with one's religious origin are as varied as the human fingerprint. Themes are noticed but each experience is unique. The culturally trending word ‘deconstruction’ is an interesting choice of vocabulary. Jackson agrees; “‘Deconstruction’ isn’t everyone’s chosen word to use about their own process or experience. However, it is the word most used at the moment, so, much as I also dislike it at times, it is the word I will use for this book.” I am in awe of the task Jackson accomplished which would not only take years of dedication but also would have required the emotional strength of a saint to come out on the other side happy, confident, and doubt-free.

Deconstruction: A Personal and Cultural Reflection

In the opening of her book, Jackson reflects on the history of her 1790s farmhouse renovations. The analogy immediately sparked my interest, as I have been around the construction industry my entire life. As an example, I stumbled across a family photo of my sister learning how to use a hammer before the age of 2, and I was not too far away from the action in an infant carrier. Here is one thing I know about ‘deconstruction,’ the only way it takes years is if a homeowner chips away at projects, one room at a time. This is the example described by Jackson’s farmhouse analogy. In DIY projects, two questions must be addressed. First, at what point does deconstruction stop and construction begin? Second, did the homeowner take matters into their own hands or did they call on qualified professionals to handle the renovations? I want to highlight these two questions in my reflection. 

Key Questions Before Starting the Process

Often we see a gray area between deconstruction and construction when tackling DIY projects. Honestly, the confusion is emphasized by each individual taking on the project and here are a few questions that need to be addressed before anything can be resolved: 

• Is the individual organized and prepared or did they rush into the project without a plan?

• Are multiple projects being tackled simultaneously? 

• Why is the deconstruction taking place in the first place; is it out of necessity?

Many of the testimonies that Jackson highlights are actually in the rebuilding process [instead of the demolition process]. The individuals are breaking down false ideas that were taught to them or that they unintentionally created for themselves. For some the deconstruction happened in an instant; whether, during a strong storm, a house was carried away by a tornado, an electrical mishap damaged a home beyond repair, or on a more positive note, an old home could be intentionally demolished to start from scratch because the site is picturesque. If we add to Jacksons analogy by broadening the example, generally the construction industry is the perfect analogy to describe religious objections; each project is unique with an undistinguishable amount of gray between demolition and rebuilding.

Lessons from Construction and Faith Doubts

My personality does not hyperfocus on deconstruction, though it is necessary to determine. I am the visionary in our home to the point of being a flaw. I actually do not focus on anything in the middle; planning, demolition or rebuilding. I keep my eye on the prize; my husband will roll his eyes at that comment. I remember when we bought our first home. We were young, financially mindful [a.k.a. broke] and tackling each project with an acraphiliac two year old close to the action. One of the first projects was to remove a wall that created an unnecessary hallway between the kitchen and the living room, and enclose the dining room completely with two pocket doors. It was an inner wall and we ensured the wall was non-load-bearing; checked the boxes before the demolition. Well, what we didn’t anticipate was the electrical mess we created by not calling an electrician first to ensure the removal would not disturb the connections between the basement and the upstairs bedrooms. It took the electrician days to figure out our jumbled wires dangling from the ceiling. Even though we had an expert [my husband is a construction manager], we tried to trim costs and omit another expert, the electrician. In the end, we ended up paying more and the project took much longer than expected; for a mess that we created. Using the construction analogy for religious doubt, an important aspect of deconstruction that we need to know when trying to make a repair is what component is structurally sound moving forward. If the wall was taken down correctly to ensure the structure remains strong, does it matter that my son’s bedroom lights do not turn on upstairs? 

Is Your Foundation Secure?

Jackson also recognizes the importance of qualification; “Allowing unqualified people to fix things according to their own ideas results in more damage and expense further down the line.” Similarly, if an objection surfaces because of theological differences during a wedding sermon not held at the objector's home church and deconstruction takes place; where do we start? A few questions should be asked: 

• Is the foundation [life, death, and resurrection of Jesus] safe? 

• What doubt surfaced based on the theological difference? 

• Who is the expert in the respected field to answer the question? 

The Messiness of Faith and the Church

In my experience, the construction process is never completely clean and easy. What is important is how individuals respond to each situation when it surfaces. It does help when the project is intentional and the correct experts are organized and scheduled by a professional project management team. However, that does not necessarily ensure conflict will not surface - rain sometimes pops into the radar when the roof is being reshingled, even though the forecast has been accounted for in the planning. Jacksons book proves that we don’t always experience life with a clean and easy approach. She actually emphasizes the mess; “And so with the Church and the faith we unpack: it’s a fucking mess.” I hope [pray] that Jackson continues her work as the construction project has not been completed in many of the stories she addresses. I pray that each and every final walkthrough will take place, the punch lists get settled, and the final project invoice paid completely. Maybe encouragement is needed to find the correct expert for each individual situation [+ her own] … I hope [pray] that this book is only the beginning for Jackson, the renovation quote or preliminary drawings.  

Moving Forward with the Right Support

Book Ideas & References: 

• Construction/Deconstruction (Intro/On Fire in Book XVII)

• Fundraiser burnout: “Getting people saved was far more important.” (Lemon Meringue Pie Gospel, p. 68)

My Ideas & Outside References:

Is the damage of church more dangerous than the damage of ‘not’ doing church? 

Separation of religious organizations (terrible actions from Christians) and Christianity: You might believe that organizations cannot fully remain pure, but does that mean that Jesus did not historically live in first-century Palestine, die on the cross, rise from the dead, and return to explain what happened? Or instead, does that mean that someone 2,000 years later misrepresented the Gospel message, and that misrepresentation followed by the actions, hurt you greatly?

Martin Luthers dilemma during the Reformation - always fighting on two fronts - 1. Against the Catholic church, and 2. Against the ‘fanatics.’ I in Ryrie’s book Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt “The magisterial theologians who ended up dominating Protestantism, above all Martin Luther himself, were always fighting on two fronts: against the pope, but also against the people Luther called ‘fanatics’ - the perverters of the Reformation who threatened to dissolve Christendom into anarchy (Ryrie 2021, 141).