CBB Review: Messy and Foolish

Pope Francis during the 2013 World Youth Day festivities told us he wants us to make a mess. That’s right. And what does that mean? Go out and gets your hands dirty. Do something, anything to build Christ’s church. Don’t be afraid, just do it. Matthew Warner gives us a guide on just how to do that in his book Messy and Foolish: How to Make a Mess, Be a Fool, and Evangelize the World.

Matthew tells us early in the book: “So our purpose – your purpose – is to help the God of the universe change the world by helping others to see the world differently. That is to help them see the truth about who made them and discover their true identity and purpose. Whether you’re a mother father brother sister teacher farmer leader, builder, thinker, doer, doodler, dawdler or whatever, your purpose involves nothing short of helping the God of the universe help the world to see. That’s evangelization.

The most effective way of evangelizing, as Matthew mentions, is simply one person at a time. We are called to love our neighbor. We not called to conjure up the latest social experiment to help feed 1000 people. Our responsibility is to our neighbor and to change the world one person at a time. We do that through love and reflecting that love through displaying true Christian values. It worked in the early church and it can work today.
Another key point comes out in the pages of Matthew’s book. What is really important in life? Were we put here to amass material goods? Were we put here to solely focus on climbing he corporate ladder? Absolutely not! We are called to join in a personal one on one relationship with Christ. In turn we are called to show others how great that relationship can be. We are called to build the Church not maintain it. Simply maintaining the current levels is not enough.

Our mission has been handed down to us by the Early Christians. Through the centuries the torch has been passed from generation to generation. All were called to spread the good news and so are we. “So how do we do all this? How do we set the world aflame? How do we reverse the mass exodus? How do we convince the unconvinced? How do we change the world?” We become fools for Christ and we make a mess. Make a mess in your own heart, make a mess in your family, make a mess in your parish community, then finally go outside the four walls of that building you attend Mass at and make mess of the world.

Matthew Warner has succeeded in being foolish in his own right. As the creator of Flocknote he knows what it takes. Don’t be afraid, step outside of your own world, be big, bold and brave and make great things happen for God. In Messy and Foolish Matthew tells us how to do just that. In a short 79 pages he gives readers a foundation on how to take part in the new evangelization. This is a valuable book that I recommend or anyone to read. It’s a short read but a powerful one that will aid us in answering the call of Pope Francis and his predecessors to spread the Gospel to the world.

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I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

To get you own copy of Messy and Foolish visit Dynamic Catholic.