Are you a thermostat or a thermometer? Are you the person that’s affected by the culture, or are you the person helping to create the culture? Many people go through life feeling like powerless victims of their environment. They reflect their culture because the culture happens to them, but they are unaware or unwilling to influence it.
Becoming a culture catalyst (a thermostat) requires you to gain influence by being valued by the gatekeepers of the environment. Remember, you only have as much influence in people’s lives as they have value for you. Therefore, you must find something that the gatekeepers need and get good at providing it. Or maybe you have a great gift in some area of your life and you figure out a way to use it to gain value.
This is the way Joseph and Daniel gained influence in their perspective countries. Joseph and Daniel both had the ability to interpret dreams, and Daniel was also incredibly wise. Their supernatural abilities gave them an audience with kings, which ultimately provided a platform to adjust the thermostat of their nations. Solomon put it like this; “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.” (Proverbs 18:16)
Which one are you – a thermostat or a thermometer? Tell me in the comments below.
