Have you heard any of the uproar about the excessive, over-the-top Christmas tree put up by a luxury hotel in the United Arab Emirates? Widespread criticism has been directed at the hotel for erecting a Christmas tree worth over $11 million.

Yes, it’s an $11 million Christmas Tree. They decorated it with gold, diamonds, rubies, and pearls. The most shocking thing about it (for me, anyway) is that in the pictures, there does not seem to be any security guards. Here is the story.

But to tell you the truth, when I first read about the story, I shrugged my shoulders and thought, “What’s the big deal? That’s nothing.”

I don’t know the exact numbers, but I pretty much guarantee that United States churches spend WAY more than $11 million on Christmas pageants and decorations. Especially when you consider that one church in Ft. Lauderdale spent $1.3 million on their Christmas pageant. I love the quote by the Senior Pastor of this church who said, “I think Jesus would come to the show [and say], ‘Authentically, you got it right.'”