I have, been reading Present Truth for several year, and I am glad to see that of late you have been inviting questions from those in difficulty; therefore I take the liberty to write and ask you what the Bible teaches that Christians should do with reference to Life Insurance, Fire Insurance, "Sick Benefit" Clubs, and Trades Unions.
The matter of Trades Unions was perhaps sufficiently dwelt upon a fortnight ago, (See Article 17, "The Labor Question.") before your question was received; but I am very glad that you have opened up the subject of Life Insurance and of the so-called benevolent societies in general, which are all, in principle, insurance companies. The Christian's duty with respect to them is very clear, although very many follow the custom of the world, without a thought as to the inconsistency of their course.
Let us first consider the matter from the lowest point of view, that of economy. How many people there are who pay into these societies more than they ever draw out even if they meet with reverses, and thousands pay in the course of years large sums, for which they never realize anything whatever. Where is the gain in such cases?
You may say they are providing for a possible contingency. Then the business is really of the nature of a lottery. It is a species of gambling, in which the players hope to get something for nothing; for if people did not expect to get from any of these various forms of insurance more than they invest, they would not have anything whatever to do with them.
Put the managers of the business on one side and those who are "insured" on the other, and you will readily see that both parties cannot make a profit, as in ordinary buying and selling. A merchant sells goods on which he makes a profit, but he gives to every customer an equivalent for his money, and so all are equitably dealt with.
But it is not so in insurance of any kind. Here the company has nothing with which to meet a loss, except the sums paid in as premiums by those insured. Therefore the people insured must pay their own losses. No company starts in with a fortune which it is desirous of distributing to persons in distress. So the insured pay their own losses, in addition to supporting the insurance companies, which, as everybody knows, always do well for themselves.
If therefore one wishes to lay up something to provide against a possible future loss, it would be a matter of economy for him to put the money in a savings bank. Then, barring accidents, he will have his money at his own disposal, instead of not getting any of it again. "But ought we not to be willing to help others who are in need?"
Most certainly; but every man ought to be the distributor of his own liberality, and not to put his means into the hands of somebody else, to be applied without any reference to his judgment as to the necessity of the case. No one will claim, however, that any feeling of generosity prompts him to join any "benevolent" association or to engage in insurance. People do it with their own personal profit in view, so that it is idle to defend the system on the ground of benevolence.
Don't you think it is a strange sort of benevolence, that gives only to those who have first given something, possibly an amount equal to or greater than the sum received? But the case is even worse, for it often happens that those who have paid in large sums can get nothing whatever in return. If they have not paid up their premium or their dues in full, it is the same as though they had paid nothing. All that they have paid in is lost, if they have failed to meet the last payment before their reverse.
The inherent and obvious selfishness of all these societies is sufficient reason why every Christian should keep clear of them. There is no society in existence that would accept people who are already ill. That is to say, there is no really benevolent association, that looks out for poor, afflicted people, and gives to them freely of its own funds. In all these societies which are called "charitable," from Free Masons and Odd Fellows down no one is accepted as a member, who is not in apparent good health, and who has not some visible means of self-support.
Life Insurance companies subject every applicant to a severe medical examination, and if he has any ailment, he is rejected. This is to guard as much as possible against the probability of having to be put to any expense on anybody's account. So it is self-evident that they are wholly selfish and mercenary in their object.
Now Christianity is just the opposite of all this. The followers of Christ are to seek out "the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind," (Luke 14:13) and care for them, "hoping for nothing again." (Luke 6:35) "[Love] seeks not her own;" (1 Corinthians 13:5) but in all these societies each person is actuated solely by the desire to get something for nothing, and that something, if he gets it, quite often comes from those who are more needy than he. Nothing that savors of selfishness has any connection with Christianity, and therefore Christ's true followers can evidently have nothing to do with any such thing. "Shouldn't we provide for the future?" you ask. Yes, most certainly; and the Bible tells us how: "Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded, nor trust in ascertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, Laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come,that they may lay hold on eternal life." (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
If you say that this charge is only to the rich, then read the words of Christ to a certain rich man: "If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
When he had sold all, and given all to the poor, he would no longer be rich; and then he could be a follower of Christ. Here is Christ's instruction to everybody: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." (Matthew 6:19-20)
I do not find anywhere in the Bible any instruction to the effect that we must "provide for a rainy day;" but I do read: "Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek." (Matthew 6:31-32)
The societies under consideration, therefore, belong to heathenism, not to Christianity. "For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall he added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow; for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:32-34)
How can laying up money for the future, no matter in what way, be reconciled with these scriptures? It is the Lord's work, and not ours, to provide for the future, even as He alone can provide for today.
The whole teaching of the Gospel is trust in God day by day: "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)
We live moment by moment, just as we breathe. And do not forget that those who by faith are just are to live, and not to die.
In the giving of the manna, God gave His people a lesson for all time. None were to lay up anything for the next day; and those who gathered more than they needed were to divide with those who had not been able to go out to gather, or who were less active. Thus it came to pass that "He that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered little had no lack." (2 Corinthians 8:15; Exodus 16:16-18)
So can we pray: "Give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)
If we have enough for today, we are not to worry about the future. He who gives us strength for today's need, will furnish strength wherewith to gather tomorrow's supply. Note the expression in: "Willing to communicate." (1 Timothy 6:18)
That is, willing to have things in common, as the early disciples did. Instead of joining a society to secure themselves a support for the future, none of them "said that ought of the things which he possessed was his own." (Acts 4:32)
God has specially charged himself with the care of the poor, as the Bible everywhere testifies; and: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in men." (Psalm 118:8)
Well, we might talk a long time over this matter, but I will refer you to only one more portion of Scripture. It is the 58th chapter of Isaiah. Read the whole of it, and you will see that instead of planning to get something out of somebody else, for nothing, God's people are to be associated with Him in caring for the poor and the outcasts. Here is the Lord's own "sick benefit" society: "Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rearward. ... If you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noonday; And the Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." (Isaiah 58:7-8,10-11)
This is a "sick benefit" society worth joining; for instead of providing for one when sick, it promises to keep him in health. This is life insurance indeed. The Christian is not to make any plans for illness, because God promises to take sickness away from those who serve Him. "And you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread, and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you." (Exodus 23:25) "Blessed is he that considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth:" (Psalm 41:1-2)
And if by any means he falls ill, "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: You will make all his bed in his sickness." (Psalm 41:3)
A life insurance which assures one to all eternity is incomparably better than any system which offers only a paltry sum of money, and that after one is dead.
Does someone say that he wants something present and practical? Well, this is practical enough; for if God can keep us alive and support us in eternity, He certainly can do it a few years. This is a practical test of whether or not we believe the religion we profess. Then: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed." (Psalm 37:3)--Present Truth, December 13, 1900.