We started a study of Philippians at RiverChurch this past Sunday. Preparing for this series has hit me harder than most with a greater sense of conviction than I’ve encountered in a while.
I guess the preacher’s preaching to the preacher on this one.
Paul’s writes his letter to the Philippian followers of Christ, and he’s reminds them that they are first and foremost Citizens of Heaven – a timely reminder, I might add, to the American Church. Especially as we start the haul down a rocky road of another election cycle in our country.
(I dread election seasons in our country because they tend to bring out the worst in so many people, not the least of which, those who claim to follow Jesus. Sadly, there are “Christians” who are more “Republican” or “Democrat” than they are “Christian.”)
I digress. . . Paul writes from prison and his words are hopeful, encouraging, saturated with love and courage – not at all how I think I would sound if I were writing from a prison cell. Paul is truly writing to his brothers and sisters as a Citizen of Heaven – and he reminds them that they are too.
Down the road from Chattanooga, another apostle wrote a letter from prison back in 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter to Christian brothers and sisters who had taken issue with his quest for civil rights in our country. King’s words seem to echo Paul’s call for those who claim to follow Christ to live like citizen’s of Heaven.
Read this . . . .
“There was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A thermometer or a thermostat?
That’s the question I asked our church family on Sunday.
That’s the question I’ve been asking myself for days now.
A thermometer tells what the temperature is around it. It fluctuates with cold and hot temperatures. A thermostat sets the temperature in the room – it says “this is the standard temperature in the room” and it influences the source of heat and air in a space to make sure that standard is met.
If I am a thermometer, I simply reflect the temperature around me. My demeanor, my faith, my interactions with others all fluctuate with good times and bad. If the day is good, I’m good. If its’s bad I’m bad. If I’m a thermometer, I tend to accept and reflect the standards, belief systems, and actions of the world around me. I may even blend in – living like the world around me. As the weather changes – trouble comes, chaos ensues in the world around me, negativity, and jaded living impact the thermometer in drastic ways, causing my demeanor and attitudes – even my very testimony of being a disciple of Jesus – to be negatively impacted.
If I am a thermostat, I determine the atmosphere around me. I influence rather than being influenced. The weather changes? I don’t. I am not controlled by my environments or my circumstances. I can reflect the Kingdom and Character of Christ in any circumstance.
That’s what Paul does – in prison or as a free man – he knows He is a citizen of Heaven, and he calls his brothers and sisters to be the same.
So I ask . . . are you a thermometer or a thermostat?
B E H I N D / T H E / B A R 
“If I am a thermostat, I determine the atmosphere around me. I influence rather than being influenced. The weather changes? I don’t.”-Shannon G.
This part was thought-provoking, so it got me thinking about how difficult it can be to be a “thermostat” if you struggle with spiritual discipline in your walk with Jesus.
“My environments or my circumstances do not control me.”(paraphrasing) this is good stuff that greatly influenced me to take a look at the environment in my life…