Insurance comes in many forms. You can buy just about any type of coverage you want. Many types of insurance that people choose to purchase are optional, while others such as auto insurance are required (based on the laws in the United States). Does the Bible provide us with any type of guidance on whether a Christian should or should not buy insurance?
Life Insurance
(1 Timothy 5:8) Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
This Scripture is generally interpreted as being directed toward an individual such as a man who will not get a job to provide for the needs of his wife and children. While this is a good example, could other scenarios apply to this verse as well?
Let’s say a person is offered very affordable life insurance through their job. With the choice being optional, this person elects to decline the life insurance. Three months later this same man is killed in an automobile accident, leaving behind a stay at home mom with two young children. With this mother now having no immediate income to pay bills or buy groceries, could this now deceased husband fall under the category of a man who did not provide for his household? Life insurance is definitely something worth thinking about, depending on each individuals particular situation and how their death would financially impact loved ones that are left behind.
Auto and Homeowners Insurance
Having automobile coverage is most often required by law, and rightfully so. The many numbers of people who have been hit by an uninsured motorist can vouch for the inconvenience of being in this situation. Homeowners insurance can also fall under the required category for many who have a mortgage, with coverage being required by the lender.
Health Insurance
This one is probably the most debated. Some Christians fall on the side of saying that as a Christian we should trust God with our health instead of relying on health insurance, doctors, and medicines. It is certainly a good argument that we possibly miss out on many miracles due to an over dependence on the medical field instead of first and foremost always taking things to God with the knowledge and faith that he is our healer.
With that being said, does a person who chooses to have health insurance automatically prove them to be someone who is lacking in faith? Let’s take a look at the Scriptures to see if it is possible to have health coverage to help with the cost of doctors and medicines, and also have faith in God at the same time.
Doctors And Physicians In The Bible
(Colossians 4:14) Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.
(Mathew 9:12) On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
(Genesis 50:2) Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him,
(Luke 10:33-34) But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.
(1 Timothy 5:23) Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Doctors and physicians aren’t just a modern-day convenience. They have been around as far back as Joseph in the Old Testament. Jesus himself refers to the sick as the ones who need doctors, and Luke was called the beloved physician.
We read where the Samaritan used olive oil and wine to treat a man’s wounds. The Apostle Paul goes so far as to tell Timothy to use a little wine because of frequent illnesses. This would appear to be Paul’s prescription to help with Timothy’s ailments, therefore it can’t be argued biblically that using medicine is always a lack of faith. If so, Paul’s prescription for Timothy would have been showing his lack of faith in God.
The Right Balance
As it is with so many things, a Christian must find the right balance. Trusting in man and medicine alone can get you in a bind when you forget about God. On the other hand, not using the physicians and medicines that God has placed in our lives to assist us at times can prove to be showing a lack of wisdom as well. From a doctors knowledge of how to help fix a broke arm, to the antibiotics that help us get over strep throat, it all comes from God.
For those who are blessed with the ability to afford health insurance, it can be a wise financial decision. If affordable health coverage isn’t available for a Christian, God will always be the Great Physician! Our faith and trust should always be in God either way.
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