Dear Friends in Christ, friends of the Anglican Realignment,

Whether or not you observe the practice of making resolutions for the New Year, it is a good time for us to reflect upon where we have been in the last year – and where we are going in the new year, by the grace of God. While I was leaning into this discipline in this morning’s devotions, I was arrested by the gospel reading in John 1:35-2:22. From John the Baptist’s cry “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36), to Mary’s command to the servants at the wedding at Cana, “Do whatever he [Jesus] tells you” (John 2:5), to Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, his “Father’s house,” in John 2:12-17, to Jesus’ declaration “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days,” (John 2:19), and the disciples’ recognition of the prophetic nature of Jesus’ words (John 2:20-22) – it’s all about Jesus Christ.

Can you and I resolve that in 2014 our lives and aspirations will be about Jesus Christ- crucified and risen from the dead, the only savior and Lord of all humankind?

If it’s all about Jesus Christ, it can’t be about me. As I reflected on this passage, I felt the Lord reminding me that there are many, many good things that I can end up doing, just like you, but which may end up displacing Jesus Christ as the central focus and priority of my life. Yes, even church and ministry. If you are a church leader, you may feel as I do about the words famously attributed to John Allin, arguably the last orthodox Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, who said shortly before he died, “I fear I have loved the church more than I have loved the Lord of my church.” Heaven forbid that we should arrive at its gates with such regret on our hearts.

Maybe it’s time to take stock of the words that Jesus spoke to the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7). Jesus praised their perseverance in the face of false teaching, wickedness and weariness in doing well, but he also said “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first.” (2:4-5) Could 2014 be a year when we return to those first things: the appreciation of his first love that rescued us from sin, cleansed us and caused us to fall in love with him? A return to our first love in renewed worship, bible study, prayer, service to others in Christ’s name- and other habits of the heart (aka spiritual disciplines and “means of grace”) that will rekindle our love and our affections so that it will in fact be “all about Jesus”?

Here at the American Anglican Council, we’ll be evaluating why we do what we do: Are our Clergy Leadership Training Institutes developing leaders who are more in love with Jesus Christ, and more committed to leading as he would, than they were before? Will the same be true of our new Lay Leadership Institute which we launch in March here in Atlanta? Will our church renewal workshops help local Anglican congregations to do ministry as Jesus himself would in their communities? Will our work with the governing structures and leaders of ACNA, The GAFCON Primates and the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans help develop leaders and structures that will fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to reach all people with his transforming love?

It’s all about Jesus, and it’s all for the love of Him. May this be our resolve in 2014.

Yours in Christ,
Phil+

The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey,
CEO, American Anglican council