May a Christian Gamble?
Editor’s Note: This week’s mini-series on the Grace and Truth blog addresses the issue of gambling. In this first article, Jim Newheiser considers the question of whether Christians are free to participate in gambling. In other contributions to the series, Andy Farmer offers a biblical reason not to gamble drawn from the eighth commandment, and Josh Weidmann explores how gambling is an affront to God’s sovereignty.
Several years ago, while I was awaiting a connecting flight in the Las Vegas airport, I passed by a slot machine that said the current jackpot was tens of millions of dollars. I had a brief impulse to put in a few quarters just for fun. Then the thought occurred to me of what could happen if I were to win. I could imagine my picture in newspapers and on billboards with the headline “Pastor wins mega-jackpot.” Was I free to participate?
Many believers sometimes spend a few dollars on lottery tickets, especially when the prizes are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Others occasionally go to casinos with the intention of spending only a limited amount on gaming. Are they sinning?
While I would like to say that gambling is always sinful for everyone, I can say that it would be sinful for me because I cannot participate in good conscience. “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). While some would argue that buying a lottery ticket costs less than a coffee at Starbucks and that many of us spend (or waste) more money on expensive hobbies and other non-necessities than they would in a casino, I believe that there are solid biblical reasons not to gamble.
1. Gambling Is a Growing Problem
Americans spend over 200 per person or 50 billion a year in casinos. Sports betting continues to expand through the internet and through apps, with many advertisements running during live events.
2. Gambling Undermines the Work Ethic
God’s design for humankind is that we labor to provide for ourselves and our families. Even before the fall, God put man into the garden to work, not to act like he was relaxing on a Caribbean cruise (Gen. 2:15). The fourth commandment (Ex. 20: 8-11) calls upon us to imitate God’s pattern of work (which is 6/7 of what is commanded) and rest. The book of Proverbs teaches us that prosperity comes through working hard (Prov. 10:4) and working smart (with skill Prov. 22:29). Gambling is an attempt to circumvent God’s way of gaining wealth. Even if you do not expect to become wealthy personally through gambling, you are participating in a system that undermines the work ethic of our entire society.
3. Even if You Win, You Lose
Only two things can happen when you gamble, and both are bad. You will probably lose, which is poor stewardship of the resources God has entrusted to you. But even if you win, you will lose because you are receiving unjust gain by taking the money of the foolish losers without providing them with any benefit. I have had counselees claim they could support their families playing poker. Over time they were proven wrong to the detriment of their families (Prov. 26:12). But even if they had been successful, they were in violation of God’s design that we provide valuable goods and services which benefit those from whom we receive money. Gambling produces dishonest (unearned) gain, which we take from the losers. Proverbs warns that such gain will dwindle as opposed to what is earned through hard work and thrift, which leads to an ongoing increase (Prov. 13:11).
4. Gambling Is Dangerously Addictive
Many claim that they can spend a little bit on gambling without it having a major impact on their finances. But gambling is designed to become addictive, and the casinos (and those who run the lottery) do everything they can to entice you to keep playing. Few people who have ruined their finances through gambling thought that this could happen to them. “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
5. Gambling Harms Others, Especially the Poor
Those who lose the most money gambling are those who can least afford it. Low earners spend far more on lottery tickets than the rest of the population. Some are driven to poverty and bankruptcy. Many people foolishly believe that the only way they will escape poverty and debt is to win the lottery rather than through working hard, working smart, limiting their lifestyle, and saving. Even if your finances are not significantly impacted by gambling, you are participating in a system that is destroying the lives of others.
6. Gambling Is Often Associated with Other Sins
Gambling is often motivated by sinful greed (Luke 12:15) and the idolatrous delusion that wealth brings happiness. Casino gambling is typically associated with drunkenness, gluttony, violence, and sexual immorality (Prov. 23:21). As with other addictions, failed gamblers often resort to theft to feed their addiction or dig out of their financial hole. Gambling has caused significant marriage problems and sometimes leads to divorce. We had a case in which a Christian husband lost his job and couldn’t quickly find more work. After reading a book about a system for winning at blackjack, he would tell his wife that he was going to work and then head for the casino. Weeks later, when a collection agency contacted the wife because of unpaid credit card debts, she confronted her husband, who finally admitted everything. Not only were their finances negatively impacted, but trust had been broken because of his lies.
7. Gambling Promotes Numerous Lies
Governments entice people to play the lottery because they claim that it benefits education (how ironic!). They advertise that the lottery is the path to fulfilling lifelong dreams, even though the chance of winning is infinitesimal. Casinos rebrand gambling as “gaming” and promote themselves as wholesome family destinations. The biggest lie is that the riches gained through gambling will make you happy. The reality is that many lottery winners end up being worse off in the long run. There are reports of former winners who are broke and miserable.
Christ Offers Much Greater Riches
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food” (Isa. 55:1-2).
Worldly wealth, like other idols, cannot satisfy. Yet Jesus offers Himself to us as the bread of life who forgives our many sins and satisfies our souls.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).
Questions for Reflection
- What is the impact of gambling on our society? Why is it growing?
- How will you make your decision on whether to gamble?
- How would you counsel someone who is in financial trouble because of gambling?
- Should church leaders confront members who gamble, for example, buying a lottery ticket for a few dollars each week or taking a vacation in Las Vegas?