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The Other Side of Certainty: How to Follow Jesus When Easy Answers No Longer Work
Not yet published
Expected 6 Oct 26From Black-and-White Belief to a Faith Full of Color
God is so much bigger than the box we often try to put him in.
Spiritual platitudes, easy answers, and rigid expressions of belief often cannot bear the weight of life's real questions. For those whose faith has been shaped by black-and-white certainty or narrow church cultures, what can it look like to untangle your faith and experience Jesus more fully?
In The Other Side of Certainty, Kristin Mockler Young invites you to shift from a faith of pressure, judgmentalism, and conformity to one of curiosity, exploration, and freedom. Kristin's gentle guidance will help you navigate through the confusion to find where God's grace and love are present, helping you see that God really is bigger than all your doubts, choices, past selves, or difficult circumstances.
The Other Side of Certainty will help you move beyond rigid, black-and-white beliefs toward a faith with room for wonder; embrace curiosity and questions as vital parts of your spiritual growth; and encounter a deeper understanding of who God is and the joy and freedom he wants you to live in.
Rather than clinging to certainty, you can choose wonder. Rather than fearing questions or tensions, you can embrace the mystery of a God who is far beyond your understanding. As you shift your focus from legalism to love, you can make room for not knowing and discover you're getting to know God―and yourself―better in the process.
God is so much bigger than the box we often try to put him in.
Spiritual platitudes, easy answers, and rigid expressions of belief often cannot bear the weight of life's real questions. For those whose faith has been shaped by black-and-white certainty or narrow church cultures, what can it look like to untangle your faith and experience Jesus more fully?
In The Other Side of Certainty, Kristin Mockler Young invites you to shift from a faith of pressure, judgmentalism, and conformity to one of curiosity, exploration, and freedom. Kristin's gentle guidance will help you navigate through the confusion to find where God's grace and love are present, helping you see that God really is bigger than all your doubts, choices, past selves, or difficult circumstances.
The Other Side of Certainty will help you move beyond rigid, black-and-white beliefs toward a faith with room for wonder; embrace curiosity and questions as vital parts of your spiritual growth; and encounter a deeper understanding of who God is and the joy and freedom he wants you to live in.
Rather than clinging to certainty, you can choose wonder. Rather than fearing questions or tensions, you can embrace the mystery of a God who is far beyond your understanding. As you shift your focus from legalism to love, you can make room for not knowing and discover you're getting to know God―and yourself―better in the process.
200 pages, Paperback
Expected publication October 6, 2026
About the author
Kristin Mockler Young
1 book1 followerKristin Mockler Young is a teaching pastor at Mosaic Church and host of the Becoming Church podcast. Through her teaching, podcast, and Turning the Gem Substack, Kristin encourages curiosity over certainty and helps people discover God in unexpected places. Kristin and her husband, Peter, live in Charlotte, North Carolina, with their daughters, Marlee and Margot.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I just finished reading The Other Side of Certainty and all I can say is: wow. This book is a breath of fresh air.
At a time when so much of Christianity feels weighed down by division, toxicity, and harmful expressions of faith, this book offers something profoundly different. It is beautifully written, engaging, accessible, humorous, and deeply thought-provoking. Above all, it leaves the reader with a renewed sense of wonder at the love and beauty of God, which so often meets us in uncertainty and the complexities of life rather than in easy answers.
Throughout the book, Kristin walks alongside the reader as both a friend and fellow pilgrim, gently guiding those navigating deconstruction or learning to let go of religious certainty. With warmth, theological depth, wisdom, and grace, she reminds us that certainty has never been the goal of the Christian faith. Instead, it is often in the wrestling, the questions, and the surrender of certainty that we begin to embody the way of Jesus through love, service, forgiveness, and self-giving.
Every chapter is outstanding, but without giving too much away, one chapter that particularly stayed with me explored the dangers of religious certainty in friendships. It is one of the most insightful reflections I have read on how unhealthy religious beliefs and attitudes can damage relationships, replacing love with control.
I've only scratched the surface of what this book offers. The Other Side of Certainty is a must-read for anyone who has been shaped by Christianity or the church, whether you remain within it or have walked away. Kirsten reminds us that Jesus and his message of love are far bigger than doctrinal statements or religious certainty.
Thank you, Kristin, for your faithfulness in writing this book. A tremendous gift to the global church for generations.
Please get this book.
At a time when so much of Christianity feels weighed down by division, toxicity, and harmful expressions of faith, this book offers something profoundly different. It is beautifully written, engaging, accessible, humorous, and deeply thought-provoking. Above all, it leaves the reader with a renewed sense of wonder at the love and beauty of God, which so often meets us in uncertainty and the complexities of life rather than in easy answers.
Throughout the book, Kristin walks alongside the reader as both a friend and fellow pilgrim, gently guiding those navigating deconstruction or learning to let go of religious certainty. With warmth, theological depth, wisdom, and grace, she reminds us that certainty has never been the goal of the Christian faith. Instead, it is often in the wrestling, the questions, and the surrender of certainty that we begin to embody the way of Jesus through love, service, forgiveness, and self-giving.
Every chapter is outstanding, but without giving too much away, one chapter that particularly stayed with me explored the dangers of religious certainty in friendships. It is one of the most insightful reflections I have read on how unhealthy religious beliefs and attitudes can damage relationships, replacing love with control.
I've only scratched the surface of what this book offers. The Other Side of Certainty is a must-read for anyone who has been shaped by Christianity or the church, whether you remain within it or have walked away. Kirsten reminds us that Jesus and his message of love are far bigger than doctrinal statements or religious certainty.
Thank you, Kristin, for your faithfulness in writing this book. A tremendous gift to the global church for generations.
Please get this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
If you are somebody that has wrestled with doubt in your Christian faith, and are either still in the trenches of it, or you are on the other side but with a much different looking faith than before - this book would be a great one for you to help navigate that exhausting path (been there.) It has a lot of very practical takeaways and is also encouraging!
One of the things I really loved about this book, was that you could tell that the author had a lot of experience in pastoral ministry. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 were where the author really shined with this, and I was able to take away a lot from those chapters. There was an emphasis on unity and charity with differences among Christians, and I never felt coddled, rather I was encouraged to grow.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
One of the things I really loved about this book, was that you could tell that the author had a lot of experience in pastoral ministry. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 were where the author really shined with this, and I was able to take away a lot from those chapters. There was an emphasis on unity and charity with differences among Christians, and I never felt coddled, rather I was encouraged to grow.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
September 25, 2026
I genuinely appreciate the encouraging tone and hope-filled journey the author takes us on as readers. Rather than coming from a place of criticism and “burn it all down,” she gently takes us by the hand and invites us into curiosity and an exploration of a better way. In the end, you’ll come away from this book holding on with clarity to the things that are certain, and courageously letting go of the things that no longer work.
October 2, 2026
Love the book's heart for the heavy burdened! The words in the book were so sweet and carefully crafted! The references to both scripture, and seeds in secular media that God plants in the world. Are gentile observations that seem to point out the glue that holds a broken world together. This book is for teens, adults, and people from all walks of life. We need more voices that remind us of our similarities, and that encourage us to be a united body actively showing the love of Christ by helping others. May God grant us more of this!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews