What about the Change?

One of my favourite songs is a song called The Change by the artist Steven Curtis Chapman.

The words of the chorus go something like

What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
I want to live a life that’s showing
I’m undergoing a change.

Everytime I hear this song, I think of my friend Ronke. Ronke was one of those girls that you see on super sweet 16. She lived this ridiculous charmed life, where everything she wanted was provided for her. She lived in a massive house in Hampstead, but had full use of the luxurious 3 bed flat in central London. She went to Cheltenham Ladies College and flew around the world on ridiculously expensive holidays. She wore her clothes like they were Pampers – everything was disposable. And speaking of her wardrobe, let’s do that for a minute. She pranced around in Jimmy choos, and Gina shoes. Her bag collection could pay off my student loan. I didn’t know her growing up, her circle of friends was way out of my league, there was no way that our paths would cross and no reason for it to, but from the moment she started attending my church we became firm friends.

That statement attending my church might not have meant anything to you, but to Ronke it was a revolution. Ronke’s family are strict muslims, now that doesn’t necessarily mean that they were religious per say, but the family is muslim dating back to the year 1920 to hear Ronke tell the story, yet Ronke is a Christian. The story of how she became a Christian, is a story for another day, but as a Christian she’s living the scripture that says you have to go against father and mother. At first when she became a Christian, she kept it a secret from everyone, she went to tiny little churches where there would be no chance of her running into anyone that knew her or her family, but as she learnt more, she grew bolder and that stood her in good stead when she was outed. Yes one day someone saw her at a Christian thing, someone that was a friend of her family, someone that couldn’t wait to tell her father the news. Full credit to her, when she was confronted, she didn’t lie, she didn’t deny, she told him the truth.. It wasn’t pleasant and it wasn’t pretty, and the long and short of it is that Ronke isn’t living that life on the mansion on top of the hill anymore. Her whole life is different, she is I guess what one would call a living testimony – she chose her faith before her comfort, and that dear friends is what I call The Change...


The Change

Well I got myself a t shirt that says what I believe
I got letters on my bracelet to serve as my id
I got the necklace and the key chain
And almost everything a good christian needs yeah
I got the little Bible magnets on my refrigerator door
And a welcome mat to bless you before you walk across my floor
I got a Jesus bumper sticker
And the outline of a fish stuck on my car
And even though this stuffs all well and good yeah
I cannot help but ask myself

What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
What about a life thats showing
I'm undergoing the change yeah
I'm undergoing the change

Well Ive got this way of thinking that comes so naturally
Where I believe the whole world is revolving around me
And I got this way of living that I have to die to every single day
cause if God’s spirit lives inside of me yeah
Im gonna live life differently

What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
What about a life thats showing
I'm undergoing the change yeah
I'm undergoing the change

What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
What about a life thats showing
I'm undergoing the change yeah
I'm undergoing the change