Should Christians be a Thermostat or Thermometer?

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)  and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 

Ephesians 5:8-13

While going through a worldview class from Nehemiah Institute, I heard the instructor say something that caught my attention. He said that we as Christians are called to be thermostats, not thermometers.

On the surface, this is a good metaphor. After all, if all we do is condemn and never actually do anything praiseworthy ourselves, how are we glorifying God and shining our lights?

Still, is there a place for thermometers? Absolutely. We need to speak truth, expose lies, and condemn evil. Maybe we can’t always blame the night for being black, as my father says, but we are supposed to judge those who profess to be Christian — with a proper, humble mindset, of course. Remove the log from your own eye first. And wickedness is wickedness, no matter who commits it.

One example of being a good therometer is The Daily Wire. While not all of the members are Christian, they provide excellent commentary on the problems of today, socially and politically. Perhaps not all of them deal with these issues spiritually, but as a whole, the group is a great way to hold up what is happening in our culture today in comparison to conservative, Biblical truths and common sense.

On the other hand — and this is near and dear to my heart — good thermostats can be found among some of the best Christian authors today. People like S.D. Smith, Wayne Thomas Batson, Andrew Peterson, and more don’t necessarily make condemning contemporary fiction their focus. Instead, they put out fantastic, quality work of their own, ‘adjusting the temperature,’ in essence. Those like N.D. Wilson do both!

Another way to think about it is this — borrowed from points of a speech I heard from apologist Bill Jack of the Worldview Academy. He specifically mentioned how Jesus told Peter to ‘tend My sheep.’ Did you catch that? Sheep — not fish. The disciples had been fishers of men before. So why shepherds now?

What’s the difference between sheep and fish? You tend sheep, you don’t try to catch them. (Unless the fence breaks, but for the sake of the metaphor let’s assume it doesn’t.)

Being a thermometer is comparable to the catching part, which comes first. You’ve got to distinguish lies from truth, sin from righteousness. After all, you’ve got to start with recognizing your sin before you accept your Savior. This is witnessing, asking questions, defending your faith.

Then comes the time to be a thermostat — or, discipleship. This is an important part of writing from the Christian standpoint. Not everything you write has to lay out the Gospel message. Sooner or later, your readers are going to need solid food, not milk. This is where it’s time to turn up the temperature, time to dig into the individual issues, time to remind your audience of the Truth. And in so doing, you’re making more disciples, who will make more disciples, who eventually will make a Christian culture. So for my fellow authors, sure — an allegory is great to begin with, but you’re going to need more specific things addressed to — say guilt, persecution, patience, perserverance, joy, calling, etc.

This applies to all areas of Christian life, not just the writing element. You don’t have to be a writer. Reflect God’s light in whatever you do — be you artist, craftsman, office worker, student, or parent. Don’t be afraid to expose the darkness — but make sure you shine some light in and do something about changing that darkness. If you conquer the wasteland but do nothing to tend it, it’ll never flourish.

“To try to improve society is not worldliness but love. To wash your hands of society is not love but worldliness.”

~ Sir Frederick Catherwood

Be a thermostat. Be a thermometer. Be both. The world needs both. Be salt and light. Preserve and illuminate.

Alright, folks, that’s all for now. See you next week! Adios!