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A lot has happened over the past five years. I have a grandchild. I finished my doctorate. I have less hair than I used to, and it is snow white.

The Missional Wisdom Foundation has grown and changed too. Elaine Heath has become the dean of Duke Divinity School, where she is doing holy mischief while sending blessings on our work. Our lead team has grown to four with the addition of Dr. Heidi Miller, who is a dreamer, a spiritual guide, and an expert in worship, and Ms. Denise Crane, who brings years of executive management and lay leadership experience wrapped up in a bundle of energy steeped in the Christian mystics. We have thriving ministries in Dallas and Asheville, and have established strong footholds in Portland and Wichita. Our educational platforms have grown and become more sophisticated, and our educational offerings are expanding.

And our country has changed, or at least has found a new voice. The rhetoric points inward—keep immigrants out, bring jobs home, build walls and weapons to keep us safe. And often politicians try to tie their pet issues to Christianity. They would have us believe that Christianity is the opposite of Islam. The climate is angry and many feel threatened or unbalanced.

Which is why it is time for a second edition of this little book. Now more than ever, it is important for Christian people to clearly understand the life Jesus modeled for us and called us to live. We need clarity regarding what Christian people are to do in our daily lives, how we are to do it, and why we need to do it. In a time when we are tempted to hate and fear people who are not like us, we need to know what Jesus calls us to do. In a time when people try to lift our Christianity as a rationale justifying particular types of national behavior, we Christians need a clear understanding of the teaching of Jesus so that we might decide for ourselves.

Over the past five years, I have had the opportunity to teach from this book in a variety of settings. I have taught from it as part of the MWF’s Launch and Lead course on Missional Ecclesiology. I have used it in church-based small groups, in Sunday schools, and in large conferences. This edition includes some new information and new chapters that incorporate responses to the most common questions that readers have raised while studying the text, and I am very grateful for the insights and contributions of those who have studied with me.

When I was a little boy attending Sunday school and church with my mom and dad, one of my favorite hymns was “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”—number 514 in your red hymnal. While the theologically educated adult in me bristles a bit at such military metaphors today, I find myself humming that tune as I listen to the news. In times like these, it is important for us to “stand up, stand up,” to resist policies that are contrary to our Christian beliefs and for us to fervently pray for our leaders and our country. In order to do so, we need to grasp the what, how, and why of being a follower of Jesus.

Larry Duggins

March 2017