“I was into them before they were big.” I hear this kind of thing a lot. I’ve heard it come out of my own month before. “I was into Relient K before they were big.” I said that before. I also said it in regard to Flight of the Conchords. “I was into them before they had their TV show on HBO.” And I was one of the first to discover that one Korean kid singing Jason Mraz with a ukelele on Youtube. I’ve heard people say this in regard to Converse shoes, and I’ve heard it said in regard to Jeremy Lin of the newly improved Golden State Warriors.
Why do we do that? What drives this urge to be “into” something before they become big?
I think that there’s something innate about human beings. Human beings like to be in. And the earlier they are in, the more they can boast about their in-ness, and the more they can show off how they amazing they were to have discovered this movement. We talk as if we ought to be respected more because of our in-ness. I think that if we break it down, we discover that it’s essentially pride that drives our desire for in-ness. And it’s addicting.
But grace can break this spell.
What do I mean? Think about this. Relient K, Flight of the Conchords, Converse shoes. In all of these cases, our in-ness depends on our own originality, or our own discovery, or our own volition. Therefore, we take pride. But what if there was something that we were into, but it was independent of our own originality, discovery, or volition? In that case, pride would be stripped of its place.
But what in the world could fall under that category?
God.
Those who are into God did not come to God on their own. In fact, the Bible says that we were like lost sheep, and God sought us out. While we were dead in our sins, while we were in rebellion against God, God sought us out and died for us. Is there any originality, discovery, or volition on our part? No. And with that realization, what is left of our pride?
The gospel is that God pulled us into Himself, though we did not deserve it. Pride did not drive our urge to enter this in-ness. It was solely God who drove us to enter into this in-ness. That is grace. And that destroys pride like nothing can.
- Larry
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