Romans 5

Have you ever been to a party that felt kind of lifeless until that one person arrived who just set it off? Some people just change the whole dynamic of a room. They talk, they smile, they laugh, and everyone just seems compelled to follow their lead. Every year, I locate that person in each class I teach and make it a point to engage them in conversation before class begins. It's like flipping a switch, they become electric and so does everyone else. They are "game changers."

It's not that the work we do in my classes isn't difficult. In fact, it's really challenging for most students. However, that one student sets the tone for the class, they "charge" the room with positive attitude because they talk, they smile, and they laugh while we are engaged in the difficult work of learning. The day-to-day life of the classroom remains the same but the perspective of the students changes radically. That's the role of the "game changer."

The day-to-day realities of the life we live remain very stable: God is perfect, we are imperfect, and the world is sinful. We live in a tough learning environment, where it is easy to feel ashamed, to feel hopeless, to focus on our imperfect character, to stop trying, to suffer the challenges of living in a sinful world. It is easy to look at life each day with that negative perspective. Enter the "game changer."

Jesus is the game changer.

Paul tells us that "we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame." How can we live this difficult life and experience joy and hope and the absence of shame? Because "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit," who assures us "that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us," making "peace with God" for us.

Day-to-day life can be hard, but the game changer wants to shift our perspective radically.

Follow the leader.

Joy. Hope. Peace.