Thermostat vs. Thermometer

For the next few weeks of devotionals, I want to share some Christian leadership principles with you guys. I was first introduced to these in college, but they have stuck with me, and I find them valuable in everyday life. They are also accompanied by images that make them fairly easy to remember. They can all be found in the Habitudes books by Tim Elmore.

For this first week, I’d like to focus on thermostat verses thermometer. This week, to me anyway, has been just a beautiful week for weather. It’s sunny out, and at my house we’ve been keeping the ac/heater off, and just keeping the windows open -at least until late evening. We haven’t had much need to look at thermostat this week, but there are occasions when minor fighting breaks out over that thing. I prefer it to be warmer, while my husband wants to keep it at arctic tundra level. And our poor thermostat doesn’t know whose side to be on—it just does whatever the last person told it to do.

That is what thermostats do—they set the climate. When working properly, they ensure that a house is heated or cooled to a determined temperature. Thermometers, though, do something very different. They merely reflect the temperature around them. You can walk outside and trust that the thermometer will give you information about what is going on around it, but it’s never going to control or change the climate.

As Christian leaders, we have to decide if we are to be thermostats or thermometers. Are we called to merely reflect the climate or environment, or are we called to make it different? To make our climate and our spaces more comfortable for all who enter and spend time there? I would say that we should be change-makers, just like our trusty thermostat. When we encounter environments that need a climate change, whether it be negativity at home, complacency at work, isolation in our community, or various other problems, we can be the ones who decide to turn things around. Just because others are living in a less than best manner doesn’t mean that we have to join them. Our positivity, encouragement, compassion, love, and hard work can be a turning point to bringing up our entire climate a few degrees.

In Scripture, we see this in Luke 6:46-49: ⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

As did the men in this parable, we too have the choice as to whether we are going to merely hear the words of God, or if we are going to make a change and actually put them in to practice. If we choose to build on rock, and do the hard work of making change happen, then we know our foundation will stand the test of time. I encourage you to find one environment this upcoming week that could use a good thermostat, and then I ask you to serve that roll. Encourage someone. Be a helper. Help turn negative conversation in to gratitude. Don’t merely reflect what is going on around you, but be the one who sets the tone.