Almost 20 years after the publication of Missional Church by Darrell L. Guder, there is a lot of misunderstanding and misuse surrounding the term missional. But the missional movement generated by Guder and his colleagues is substantive, and I’d like to give the authors of the book a fresh hearing.

Missional leadership in this time of anxiety can seem like facing a heavyweight prize fighter who comes at us with steady jabs of guilt and demoralizing right hooks.

A few years ago, Bo and I watched the show The West Wing. I liked the character, C.J. Craig (Alison Janney) who played the White House Press Secretary and then the Chief of Staff. C.J. was successful and powerful.…