Are You A “Christmas Tree Christian”?
*Post by Sharon Hodde Miller*
I don’t know about you, but in the debate between real Christmas trees versus fake ones, I am a REAL TREE girl all the way! Nothing beats the smell of a fresh Frasier Fir in my home, even if it does mean extra clean up afterwards. It is worth it to me!
I purchase a real tree every year, and after draping the branches with glowing lights and sparkling ornaments, I love to turn off the overhead lights and just sit in its glow. Perhaps my sentimentality comes from happy childhood memories, but even as an adult the experience is magical.
There is a part of me that wishes I could keep a Christmas tree in my house all year long, but the reality is that I can’t. Not because it would be awkward when I had dinner guests in June (although that is, in fact, a valid reason), but because my Christmas tree, as breathtaking as it appears, is dying.
At the end of the day, all the ornaments in the world cannot breath life into a tree that has been cut off from its roots. The tree may look healthy and full for a time, and the ornaments mask its deterioration. But over time the tree’s lack of nourishment will become obvious. The needles will dry out, turn brown and fall off. Eventually, no amount of decorations can hide the tree’s decay.
With this reality in mind, the Christmas tree that currently sits in my living room is also a powerful reminder to me. Throughout my life I have experienced seasons in which I felt just like that beautiful Christmas tree. I have covered myself with all kinds of Christian decorations–I have achieved a seminary degree and I have served as a minister and mentor to many young women. Those achievements, however, sometimes function as artificial decorations that mask a withering soul. They make me look like a great Christian, but they cannot sustain my spiritual life.
Like a dying Christmas tree, spiritual death is not readily apparent. It can take months, even years, before the lack of nourishment becomes observable. And that makes it easy for me to ignore this part of my spiritual life. I hit autopilot and carry on my Christian commitments as if they can replace my time with God. But the pace never lasts. My proverbial branches become too dried out to hold up those ornaments, so I ultimately break and drop them.
So this holiday season as you walk past your own Christmas tree—whether it’s alive or fake!–I encourage you to ask yourself whether you are a “Christmas Tree Christian”? Are you piling on the decorations of Christian service, yet neglecting the source of your spiritual life? Are your roots firmly planted in an ever-growing relationship with God, or are you experiencing the slow and quiet decay that comes from a schedule devoid of time with Him?
God indeed values our service to Him, but don’t let leadership become a façade that masks a disconnected soul. As John 15:5 reminds us, the measure of a strong faith is one that abides in the Lord. A rootless faith, on the other hand, will ultimately yield a fruitless faith.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
- John 15:5
Oh Sharon, this is such, good, timely wisdom. Thank you!! So grateful for your voice in my life!
Beautiful thoughts Sharon! I hope I get to meet you someday. I am a fake tree girl.
What your post made me think about was how I put so much excitement and effort into Christmas time because I feel a certain way. That can be much like my walk with God & my marriage. I will do and try and work towards living for Him or working on my marriage when I feel a "certain way" but will become lifeless and unmotivated when those feelings are not around. Thanks for challenging me.
Such wise words. This is my hope that I keep the mask of the Christmas tree ripped off my face and show others how to take it off or never wear it. I'd love for women to never have to go on the journey I've taken.
Sharon, I resonate with your post. I hit that point in my life where my faith tree was so dry that it couldn't hold things up any longer. We can keep trying, and doing the things we have done before, but ultimately we need to die and to be made new. I think as believers we have this sense that we only need to do that once, but especially when major issues arise in life that derail or alter us it needs to happen again. In my journey that dying was the most painful thing I have ever gone through, but it has brought life, hope, and new direction. I have come to know the Lord like never before because my life truly depended on Him for everything. I would never trade that.
Thank you for the words to think on and heart of truth.