Trust Christ

Are you trying to argue that if one trusts Christ, he should not buy insurance, wear seat belts, or save for retirement?

If so, to what conclusion would you argue this should go to?

 

I knew a man once who claimed he did not buy life insurance because he trusted in Christ.

I wonder how his wife and children felt about that?

 

How about, "trust Christ, and since you love him, keep his commandments about good stewardship, and honoring the temple of your body".

 

Great question. Here's my answer.

If I buy insurance, I provide for my family if I die.
If I wear my seat belt, the likelihood of being hurt in a car accident to an extent that I can't provide for my family is lessened.
If I save for retirement, then I have provided for my wife if I die before she does.

Trusting Christ is Biblical, but so is 1 Timothy 5:8.

It is unbiblical and irresponsible to not do what's necessary to provide for one's family.

 

I fail to see how buying insurance or wearing a seat belt is not trusting Christ. First of all, if he makes something good avaialble why not use it? (Or do you want to tempt him?:tongue3

We have been told that all our needs would be provided. But, we're also told that we have to work for them. (An example is the fields; the owners are told to leave the corners and the poor have to go pick for themselves.)

This reminds me of a man my wife used to work with. He and his wife had a new baby, and he would pray that the Lord would give them enough money to pay the bills. Every day he would be offered overtime, but he would refuse it so he could go spend time with his family. (I do think that a few luxuries could probably have been done away with, but that's beside the point.)

He just didn't understand why the Lord didn't provide the extra money for him when they lost their car and got evicted.

He expected something for nothing.

But, having faith, he would have seen the money being provided in the form of overtime being offered. (And this was a place that rarely offered overtime.)

Insurance is the same way. Seat belts. Motorcycle helmets.

I trust the Lord to keep me safe, as long as it's his will. But, when I went down on my motorcycle at Talladega at over 100 MPH, guess what? I was using the safety equipment provided, and I walked away from it without a scratch. (Although I did have a few bruises.)

I have faith that God has given my doctor (who is a Christian) the knowledge and wisdom and ability to perform surgery on me.

I have faith that my retirement will continue making enough interest that I will be able to retire and still provide for my family one day.

 

The problem with this term is that we have taken it and applied it to all this other stuff, when it was really talking about Salvation. That is the one thing we can never do by ourselves.
But we take it to mean "if times are tough, 'trust God', He will never let you fail". This then ultimately spins off into Prosperity Gospel/Health & Wealth teaching. Then, if we do fail, it is either our fault somewhow, or "God is doing it for your good, and we don't understand what He is doing". The entire modern Christian teaching industry thrives off of this, with teachers and preachers becoming rich celebrities, because it is so confusing to people, and they will pay to get the "Key to this Victory/Abundant Life", etc.
It then raises this question of whether or how we are to take care of ourselves. People used to be told not to protect themselves; just turn the other cheek and pray to God to "save" you. The Health teaches then take this to mean you should not even go to any doctors. But we are taking it way out of its original context.

http://members.aol.com/etb700/abundant.html

 

O.P.: //The phrase baffles me. Trust Christ but
buy insurance, wear seat belts, and save for retirement?//

I Trust Christ to save me from eternal damnation
and unto eternal bliss.

I trust liability insurance (required by the state of Oklahoma)
to pay some money if i'm found liable in a car/car incident.

I trust seat belts (required by the state of Oklahoma)
to lesson my injury in case of
one of thsoe car/car things.

I saved for retirement the 42 years I worked.
I am now collecting on it.
If the Lord taries, I'll get back what I paid in
in about 18 months (9 of them are left).
Saving for retirement was a job requirement.

Proof Text:
Matthew 22:21 (KJV1611 Edition):
They say vnto him, Cesars.
Then sayth he vnto them, Render therefore vnto Cesar,
the things which are Cesars:
and vnto God, the things that are Gods.