| Pastor, are you a thermostat or a thermometer? Get the idea? No? Here is the question: do you set the “temperature” or try to read the “temperature?” In Luke 4, Jesus has just returned from the wilderness temptation. He entered a first-century Judaism that had grown stale. Though God broke the silence of the intertestamental period with his birth in Bethlehem, the melody of redemption had taken some thirty years to be heard. Jesus returned to Nazareth and at synagogue, was given the scroll to read. He read from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” This text would have been read countless times in the context of synagogue worship. The listeners, aside from this fresh voice, might have yawned and nodded their way through the reading. Only this time, when Jesus finished rolling up the scroll he said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Mic drop! The temperature in the room went from cool to white hot! “This is Joe and Mary’s boy. He just walked in here and claimed to be the anointed one of Israel? Oh no he didn’t!” Oh, yes, he did. If Jesus was a thermometer kind of leader, he would have gone along to get along. His plan for salvation might have been left to vague hope and chance. But Jesus wasn’t a thermometer kind of leader. Jesus was a thermostat kind of leader. He set the temperature. He turned it up. He caused something to happen. Not everyone liked it, even in his hometown. They almost killed him right then and there, but he slipped through their panicked grasp. Pastor, it is ultimately exhausting to spend your time taking the temperature of everyone in your church and then trying to keep them comfortable. I’m convinced that our world needs some “Thermostat Preachers” who will turn up the temperature and lead with holy boldness in our churches, not just for excitement sake, but so that a soul-numbed culture awakens to the good news of Jesus. Pastor, I hope Sunday is your favorite day. I hope your enthusiasm for the gospel and worship is as contagious as a toddler with a cold. I hope you stand up Sunday and your church wonders what’s gotten into you. I pray you set the tone, the temperature, and the expectations as you call your people to life that is above all facsimiles—the life of Christ in us! I’m praying for you! Sam |
