Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? It's a question Jesus would ask even though they didn't have them in that day. How many say thermometer? Thermostat? How many say what the heck am I talking about? A thermometer reflects its environment; it shows what the temperature is – if it's hot outside, it says it's hot; if it's cold, it says it's cold. A thermometer is in a constant state of fluctuation. It can be “up” and “down” within hours. It is a reactionary instrument. It is informational, relaying valuable news to the reader, but lacking the ability to change that news. It exerts no influence on what's around it – rather it is influenced by it. It doesn't take much to be a thermometer—all you have to do is be agreeable. All you have to do is to go along with what everyone else wants. All you have to do is think of your own comfort and ease. When others around you are joking – all you need to do is to be quiet, to not make waves – you may even join with them in a gentle put down. How many times are we caught up in thermometer life? God did not intend us to be mere thermometers. Paul said, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” He knew how easy it is to just reflect the world around us, allow our lives to be influenced by life's temperature around us. A Peanuts cartoon shows Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown. She says, “Guess what, Chuck. The first day of school and I got sent to the principal's office. It was your fault, Chuck.” He says, “My fault? How could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?” She says, “You're my friend, aren't you Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.” Peppermint Patty has a thing or two to learn about personal responsibility but she has a point. We do have an influence, for good or bad, on our friends, on our family, on those around us.
There is value in gauging and knowing what the temperature is around you; what people are thinking and saying. It can be helpful to know the current conditions that influence our society. But we are not just in the news reporting business. We can make news and create history. We can be thermostats, take initiative in changing what is wrong in the world. A thermostat has power, it sets the temperature, it changes things. Someone who lives a thermostat life is an influencer. It is well connected and cannot function alone. It has a power source to activate it and sends electronic messages to a furnace that supplies enough heat to raise the temperature in the room. The thermostat is set to a determined temperature regardless of room environment. It is in partnership with a furnace that can cause real change. We can be influencers or we can simply speak of how bad things are. We can lament the state of things and do nothing or we can become a catalyst for real and lasting change. Are you a thermostat or a thermometer?
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