Decorations

A few days ago, I was watching the news and heard a story that piqued my interest. The story was about the planning, logistics, and execution of lighting the Christmas Tree at The Grove Shopping Center in Los Angeles. I was unaware that standing over 100 feet tall, the Christmas Tree at The Grove is larger than the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City. I was also unaware that the entire process of setting up and decorating the tree requires hundred of people, thousands of hours, and millions of dollars.

Watching that story stirred something in me. And that is noteworthy, because I am not much of a Holiday person. Since my children have grown, my enthusiasm and excitement about the Christmas season has waned. When added to the under appreciated but marvelous fact that it does not usually snow in Los Angeles, that I am not much of a party goer, and that this year Christmas Eve is on a Sunday (and I thus have to prepare to serve God’s people), I am usually much happier when Christmas is over that when it first arrives. But watching that story stirred something me. Perhaps it’s nostalgia. Perhaps I’m getting softer and more sentimental. Perhaps I am yearning for my two sons to add a few underlings to the Robinson clan. Perhaps. But probably closer to the truth is that what stirred in me in while watching that story is disbelief at the cost of decorating that tree. Millions of dollars to decorate a tree? Hmmmm.

It may not take “hundreds of people, thousands and hours, and million of dollars” to decorate the Christmas trees in our homes. But it will cost each of us—and our families, friends, and loved ones—some time, energy, and money. In some neighborhoods, this zeal for decoration extends from the tree inside the house to the porch, windows, driveways, and sidewalks outside the house. In other neighborhoods, entire industries have emerged to meet the burgeoning demand for the design, installation, removal, and storage of your holiday decor. We love Holiday decorations.

If you think about it, it seems that we love decorating the Christmas tree more than we love the tree itself. Most people who have Christmas trees probably don’t even know that the tradition of even having a tree in your home during Christmas is believed to have originated in Germany. During medieval times in that nation, the feast of Adam and Eve was celebrated on December 24, and was commemorated by bring a tree into the home. This was done to symbolically reenact the drama in Genesis 3, which describes how humanity’s access to the tree of life was lost by disobedience to God’s commandment. However, that access has now been restored by the birth, and eventual obedience of Jesus Christ. Powerful stuff! But the meaning or significance of the tree is probably not high on anyone’e list of concerns. The tree? who cares. But oh, those decorations!

The truth is, we love decorating, period—whether trees or anything else. One definition of the word “decorate” is “to plan and execute the design, furnishings, and ornamentation of the interior of especially by selecting colors, fabrics, and style of furniture, by making minor structural changes.” It is the last part of that definition that explains why we love decorating so much, and also explains why we need to be alert to its dangers and deceptions. Decorating is about making minor structural changes. Decorating is about surface change. And surface changes are far easier, less costly, and more readily apparent that structural change. You can make a cheap tree look good with the right decorations. In fact, you can make anything cheap look good with the right decorations. Some tinsel here, a wreath there; a light here, a candy-cane there, and even a chintzy artificial tree can be made to look far more valuable than it is.

So here’s my question for you today: are you making superficial or structural changes in your life?

Jesus told a powerful story about the dangers of making superficial changes in our lives that we should all pay more attention to. In Matthew 12:43-45, he said:

But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any. Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first.

The individual in this story had experienced a legitimate spiritual transformation. Something deep and powerful had taken place. An unclean spirit had been ejected, and space had been made for new priorities, new visions, and new habits. However, in the aftermath of this experience, the individual made no structural changes to their lives. Instead, they focused on the superficial: they didn’t address the inside; they swept, and decorated. They left unattended and unaddressed the gaping hole that was left in the center of their souls—which was eventually re-occupied by seven spirits that were far worse than the one that originally left.

Don’t spend the bulk of your time, energy, effort, and resources on the superficial. Spend the bulk of your time, energy, and effort on the structural.

More development, less decoration.

More discipline, less decoration.

More destiny, less decoration