A Season of Light, A Mirror of Truth
By Florida Night Train
Dedicated to Charley, Erika, Sarah Rose and Charley Jr. Kirk
December is supposed to be the soft landing of the year. The gentle exhale after twelve months of chaos, triumph, mistakes, and unexpected blessings. It’s the season of warm lights in cold windows, of family rituals, of familiar carols played on repeat in grocery stores. For many, it’s the annual return to a story they’ve heard since childhood: a manger, a star, a promise.
And yet, as this year closes, I find myself looking less at the lights and more at the shadows they reveal.
We published a lot this past year. Reflections on resilience, stories of redemption, commentaries on community, faith, brotherhood, and the strange beauty of human struggle. I’ve written about Wilderness and pain, about the roar of motorcycles and the quiet truths of a father’s love. I’ve written about grace that finds you on the asphalt and strength that emerges in the unlikeliest places.
But as I sit to write December’s editorial, something in me refuses to simply wrap the year in a bow and offer the usual warm sentiment wrapped in the scent of cinnamon and nostalgia.
The world is not doing well.
And we all feel it … whether we admit it or not.
War, hatred, division, anxiety, loneliness, moral confusion, corruption, spiritual laziness, tribal thinking, entitlement, decadence disguised as freedom, freedom interpreted as selfishness.
You can pick any corner of the map and find a fracture line.
And this has led me to ask a harder, more uncomfortable question—one I believe every person celebrating Christmas this year needs to ask themselves:
If Christendom is real, alive, and deeply embedded in the lives of millions who claim it…then why is the world not getting any better?
This is not an accusation.
It is a mirror.
The Discomfort of the Nativity
Every December we revisit the same story. The child in the manger, the shepherds, the wise men, the star. We love it because it’s beautiful. We love it because it’s familiar. We love it because the holiday season gives us psychological permission to pause and believe that something holy still touches the earth.
But we rarely ask:
What is the point of celebrating this story if we don’t live its truth?
I’m not questioning God.
I’m questioning us.
We have more churches per square mile than any time in history.
More Christian media.
More Christian books.
More Christian influencers, merchandise, megachurches, conferences, podcasts, worship bands, hashtags, slogans, bumper stickers, and inspirational reels.
Yet the state of the world, and the state of our hearts, suggests something is not connecting.
Christ has been proclaimed, but have we actually been transformed?
Because if we had, would greed still lead us?
If we had, would hatred be so loud?
If we had, would division be the default?
If we had, would Christians be so overwhelmed by the same anxieties, addictions, rage, and emptiness as everyone else?
If we had, would the world look like this?
This Isn’t Blasphemy …. It’s Honesty
Some will read this and say the answer is simple:
“The world is getting worse because the world rejects Christ.”
Fair point, but not the whole picture.
A darker, more uncomfortable truth stands beside it:
The world is getting worse because Christians … millions of us … are not living Christ.
We’ve mastered the symbols but abandoned the sacrifice.
We’ve memorized the stories but ignored the call.
We’ve celebrated the birth but neglected the teachings.
We’ve praised Jesus in December and forgotten Him by February.
We’ve built a brand around Christianity, but not a life.
And before you think I’m preaching from some lofty moral mountain, let me be clear:
I’m included in this indictment.
I fail.
I fall.
I forget.
I get angry, impatient, stubborn.
I question God as often as I praise Him.
But the difference, and perhaps the path forward, is the willingness to admit it.
Maybe the Problem Isn’t Christ … It’s Christendom
Christ never promised the world would improve because we celebrate Christmas.
He promised the world would change when we changed.
When we forgave freely.
When we loved sacrificially.
When we lived courageously.
When we carried crosses we didn’t choose.
When we protected the weak and challenged the powerful.
When we surrendered ego and embraced humility.
When we practiced quiet righteousness instead of loud religion.
Christendom …….. the human-made structure of Christian identity, tradition, and culture …… is not the same thing as Christianity. Thank God!
One can flourish while the other quietly dies.
Perhaps the world is not getting better because Christendom has become comfortable, familiar, performative …… a routine instead of a revolution.
True Christianity was never meant to be safe.
It was meant to be transformative ….. painful, beautiful, demanding, humbling, liberating.
It asks everything of you. Everything.
And we, in modern society, often prefer a Jesus who asks nothing.
A December Challenge
So as we close this year, I want to make this December editorial something different ….. not a reflection, but a charge.
If you celebrate Christmas, then honor Christ.
If you honor Christ, then embody Christ.
If you embody Christ, then change your world.
Start with your home.
Your children.
Your relationships.
Your habits.
Your daily battles.
Your hidden places.
Your small acts of courage.
Your private moments of integrity.
Christianity was never supposed to transform the world through speeches, politics, or holiday displays …… it was meant to transform the world one soul at a time.
And if we don’t see change, it’s not because God is absent.
It’s because we have grown comfortable with partial obedience.
This December, let the Nativity disturb you.
Let it challenge you.
Let it call something deeper out of you.
Let it remind you that faith is not decoration ….. it is discipline, selflessness, and loving sacrifices.
Before we hang the lights, let’s reflect on the shadows in our own hearts.
Before we wrap the gifts, let’s ask what gifts we refuse to give …. forgiveness, patience, humility, truth. Before we sing the carols, let’s ask if the words still live in us.
Christmas is not a story we remember.
It is a truth we are supposed to become.
And maybe, just maybe, the world will start to heal
when the people who celebrate Christ
finally start resembling Him.
Merry Christmas.
And may this year’s light reveal what needs to change …….. in all of us.
Night Train
