Pay it Forward

State Bank and Trust in Fargo, ND gave their employees a really cool Christmas gift. You can read about it here and watch the video. Basically they gave their employees $1000 ($500 for part-time employees) and a video camera. The employees can’t spend the money on themselves, their family, or other families at the bank. They have to “pay it forward” to people in the community. They were also asked to video tape their good dead. Wow! What a great and original idea. As I thought about what the bank had done it kind of reminded me of Jesus. Didn’t He do the something, ask his disciples to “pay it forward”? I know when I get a Christmas bonus I immediately think of what I can do for myself or my family. I never really think about paying it forward. Most Christians are the same way when they receive God’s grace. Just like a Christmas bonus, God’s grace isn’t something we earn or should expect. It’s a gift from God. Unfortunately, Christians and the church don’t feel it their responsibility to “pay God’s grace forward”. Once they’ve got it they do very little to tell others about it. Jesus, right before He ascended into heaven, told the disciples to “pay it forward”.

One of the things that keep me going a lot of the time is watching the baptisms that happen at our church. It’s cool that we tape all of them and show them on occasion. It helps us all refocused our attention on what we’re here for. Our church is doing it’s best to pay it forward (and we have much room for improvement), and we’re video taping it. So I guess the bank’s idea isn’t so original after all. I think it would have been cool if Jesus had given the great commission to the disciples and then handed them video cameras. I can just hear them all saying “Is the red light on?”