Thermometer Vs. Thermostat

 

People are either thermometers or thermostats. They will merely reflect the climate around them, or they will set it. Leaders develop values and principles to live by and set the tone for others.

 

 You may remember when you first figured out the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat in your home. As a kid, I began to understand it when my science teacher brought it to my attention in the fourth grade. Up until then, I just knew our home had a thermometer hanging outside of our back patio that told us what temperature it was outside. And I knew we had a little box on our living room wall that mom and dad would fiddle with when the house got too hot or too cold. I’ll never forget when it first dawned on me that, while both had something to do with the temperature, they were fundamentally different. The thermostat set the temperature. The thermometer only reflected what the temperature was.

 

This is a great picture of another leadership truth. Most people are like thermometers. They tend to reflect the culture around them. They buy things that others buy, say things that others say, wear things that others wear and value things that others value. Oh, there are slight variations. But most people don’t set the “climate” for the world they live in. They just mirror back that climate.

 

Leaders, on the other hand, are people who decide to take life to the next level. They become thermostats, and set the social climate in which they are placed. For instance, you may know people who set the emotional temperature of a group. They are excited about life and their work. You may know some that determine the attitudes of others, by their presence in the office. They’re pace setters. They influence, rather than merely get influenced by people. My challenge to you is to move from being a thermometer to a thermostat. (Tim Elmore, Habitudes #1)

 

As we think about Scripture, another picture of this can be seen in Luke 7:36-50, as the woman washes Jesus feet:

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. 37 A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and stood behind Jesus at his feet, crying. She began to wash his feet with her tears, and she dried them with her hair, kissing them many times and rubbing them with the perfume. 39 When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!”

40 Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

Simon said, “Teacher, tell me.”

41 Jesus said, “Two people owed money to the same banker. One owed five hundred coins[a] and the other owed fifty. 42 They had no money to pay what they owed, but the banker told both of them they did not have to pay him. Which person will love the banker more?”

43 Simon, the Pharisee, answered, “I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.”

Jesus said to Simon, “You are right.” 44 Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet. 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The people sitting at the table began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace.”

The Pharisees were only concerned with fitting in the customs of the day, but the woman who came in to show her extravagant love to Jesus was not concerned about complying to the temperature of the room. Instead, she came in to the dinner and changed the focus away from the faux righteousness of the Pharisees to the authentic love and forgiveness that Christ had to offer.

Each of us has the opportunity to change the energy of every room we enter. As we go about our work- day, we can be the person that uplifts and brings positivity and compassion to our clients and co-workers, or we can instead choose to absorb the attitude that is already present. It is completely up to us.

My hope for each of us is that we take the chance to make a change. May we be willing to do the hard work of loving extravagantly, demonstrating the forgiveness and grace that comes through being loved by Christ. May we be people of peace who help others succeed, bringing others with us as we raise the attitudes of those around us.