Is Your Church a Thermostat or a Thermometer?

An article by Matt    No Comments

Over the last two weeks it seems that a theme has been pursuing me.  The idea of how the church should be interacting with our changing culture started at the Willow Creek Summit, and have continued to grow since then.  Last week I wrote about my thoughts on living outside of majority culture, and has only grown since then.

Earlier this week I reread a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from a Birmingham Jail:

There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period when the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed in. 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. Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators”. But they went on with the conviction that they were a “colony of heaven,” and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” They brought to an end such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest. Things are different now. The contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.

– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by James Melvin Washington (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986), pg. 300.

While reading John Dickson’s book Humilitas (great book, by the way) earlier this week I learned the story of Daniel and Janet Matthews.  Daniel Matthews was a successful merchant until God broke his heart for the Aborigines, and the way that they were treated.  The Matthews  family began to dedicate their time, talent, and treasure towards caring for the Aborigines and fighting for them to be treated with dignity.

The Matthews family were thermostats: they went to work, looking to change the climate of the area in which they lived.  In Matthew 5:13-16 we are called to be the same thing:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

 

Is YOUR church affecting the culture of the community around you (thermostat), or is it just reflecting that culture (thermometer)?