Capitalising on fear
Reflections on the insurance industry
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Now, on to this week’s blog post.
Have you ever considered that the entire insurance industry is premised on making money off of people's fears?
Think about it. Ramesh (a fictional character) is afraid of getting into an accident and getting his expensive car damaged. So Suresh (another fictional character) tells Ramesh, "Here's an idea. If you ever get into an accident, I'll pay for your car repairs. In return, you pay me two thousand rupees every year."
It's entirely possible that Ramesh never will never get his car damaged. In that case, Suresh earns perhaps thirty thousand rupees off of Ramesh. Let's imagine Suresh is asking 1000 such people to give him two thousand rupees each year. And perhaps 30 of them go through car damage repairs in 15 years. So Suresh gets 300 lakhs from people. And has to pay only perhaps 30 lakhs for the repairs of the people who got their car damaged in an accident.
But Ramesh is not just afraid of the cost of his potential car repairs. He is also afraid of getting sick and having to pay medical bills. He is also afraid that if he dies, how will his loved ones be provided for.
For each of Ramesh's fears, Suresh provides a solution. Pay two thousand rupees a year and be insured, or have a (in)surety of being provided for, during a season of need.
Insurance companies do perform a service to society. It is a blessing to have the cushion of having your potential future needs taken care of.
Having said that, it does make one wonder. If fear is removed from the equation, would there still be a need for insurance? Think about it. If I knew my father to be the richest person in the entire world, would I still feel the need to get insurance for my car, health, or even my life? I might still get insurance. But would I feel the need for it?
Here's an idea. I know it sounds crazy. But hear me out.
What if we Christians decide not to get insurance because we are told in the Bible not to be afraid? God tells us, his people, that he has our back. What if we took him at his word and decided not to get insurance and instead just trusted him to provide for us in the hour of our need?
Let's push our thought experiments further. If you think about it, savings are a form of insurance. I save up to be insured against future instances where I suddenly need a lot of money. If savings are a form of insurance, and insurance is built on fear, savings are built on fear as well. What if the people of God decided to not save money out of their trust in God?
What would we do with our money instead?
What if we gave all the money we would have given to insurance or used for savings to the church? And what if the church gave the money to those who were in need? Maybe due to poverty or sickness or accidents.
And what happens when we ourselves go through a season of need? Well, we would then trust God to provide for such a need -- maybe even through the church fund.
Doesn't that sound awfully similar to how the early church lived (Acts 4:32-35)? In fact, Paul seems to use a very similar logic when he encourages the Corinthian church to give as well. He says that one person's abundance at the present time should supply the other's need, so that the other's abundance (perhaps at a future time) may supply the one's need (2 Cor 8:13-15).
I believe many of us might be resistant to such an idea. But I invite us to question why that is the case. Is it perhaps because we do not trust God enough? Or is it perhaps humbling to ever be "in need?" Or is it perhaps due to the fact that we have accepted the values and practices of our culture without ever questioning what's behind them?
I know this is a crazy idea. But if it is biblical enough, should that matter? Shouldn't our lives be radical enough to appear crazy to a world that does not know the perfect faithfulness of our God?