A few years back I went in search of the origin of both the term and the concept of 'Pay It Forward'. Wikipedia states that the phrase may have been coined by 'Lily Hardy Hammond in her 1916 book In the Garden of Delight.' Its earliest usage as a concept seems to be a play by Menander, Dyskolos. Wikipedia sums this up as;
"Sostratos scolds his father, pointing out that wealth is inherently unstable, "and everything you have is not yours but luck's." Therefore, Kallippides should not begrudge sharing wealth with others; money can't be held forever, and luck will simply assign that wealth to someone else someday, perhaps to someone less deserving. Sostratos argues out that wealth imposes upon its owner a responsibility to act nobly, and to "make rich as many people as you can by your own efforts. For this act never dies."
Wikipedia goes on to say that;
"The concept was rediscovered and described by Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Benjamin Webb dated April 25, 1784:
I do not pretend to give such a deed; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money."
As a Christian, I have read and reread the New Testament with emphasis on the Gospels several times. I have read perhaps a dozen or so books by Lucado, Yancey, and others on the topic of Christianity. One of the things that has struck me is how much the teachings of Jesus resemble that older philosophy; 'Pay It Forward'.
Much speculation has gone into the early life of Jesus. We simply do not know what happened to Him between the time He gave them a scare at twelve ("Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?") and His baptism by John.
He was clearly a knowledgeable man, probably well read, and likely would have had access to the knowledge of the Greeks including the play by Menander as well as the works of Socrates and Plato. Jesus expressed familiarity with Greek actors by using the Greek name for actor, hypokrites, to describe Pharisees on many occasions. Wikipedia states that "[t]he word hypocrisy comes from the Greek ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis), which means "jealous", "play-acting", "acting out", "coward" or "dissembling". Jesus knew this well enough to feel comfortable using the term.
Whether He had actually attended or had read plays or not is not necessary knowledge to accept that He had knowledge of the Greek culture. Certainly He would have been in contact with Hellenists during His life. It is obvious from His style of rhetoric that He was familiar with the methods of Socrates. I personally believe He may have been captain of His High School debate club... but that is a minority opinion and only speculation on my part!
In Matthew 7:12 (NIV) Jesus tells us; "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." I would argue that this is as clear a statement of the philosophy of 'Pay It Forward' as any, and Jesus told us that it entirely 'sums up the Law and the Prophets'!
John 6:9-13 is one of the many stories where Jesus feeds the masses. In this particular story there is a boy with 'five small barley loaves and two small fish' among a crowd of five thousand men. Note that only the men were counted, so there could have well been ten to twenty thousand including women and children!
Can you imagine how this boy felt? Of a crowd of thousands he was the only one who had thought to bring food, but clearly not enough to feed even a small fraction of the crowd. Now the disciples of the Teacher are asking him to give them his food! Are they just going to eat it themselves? Had I been a young person in that crowd I know I may have doubted the sincerity of the disciples. In the words of John Lennon, would I have wondered; "Maharishi, what have you done? You made a fool of everyone." But this young boy gave up his food and Jesus fed the masses once again. The act of generosity of this young man has to be one of the greatest acts of the philosophy of 'Pay It Forward' recorded.
In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus tells the parable of the unmerciful servant. A servant, forgiven the equivalent of millions of dollars, immediately goes out and persecutes someone that only owes him a few dollars. His fellow servants tell their master of his treachery and he is thrown into prison to be tortured. Jesus message was clear. In verse 35 he states; "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
I don't think that Jesus was the originator of the philosophy of 'Pay It Forward'. I do think He perfected it. The philosophy has been stated and restated in hundreds of ways. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
12 Step programs include the statement that; "We only keep what we have by giving it away." Science fiction author Robert Heinlein used it in the 1951 novel "Between Planets". Our very DNA is built on the philosophy; each strand splitting itself in half in order to procreate and spread life.
Pay It Forward is perhaps, in its various permutations, the most genuine statement of life and morality possible.
12 Step programs include the statement that; "We only keep what we have by giving it away." Science fiction author Robert Heinlein used it in the 1951 novel "Between Planets". Our very DNA is built on the philosophy; each strand splitting itself in half in order to procreate and spread life.
Pay It Forward is perhaps, in its various permutations, the most genuine statement of life and morality possible.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that the philosophy of 'Pay It Forward' is the atheists equivalent of the message of Christ. I would go so far as to say that you cannot truly follow His message unless you understand and practice the philosophy.
What if Jesus really meant all that stuff He said?
"Freely you have received; freely give." Matthew 10:8
"Freely you have received; freely give." Matthew 10:8
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