{"id":220,"date":"2013-06-02T21:03:52","date_gmt":"2013-06-02T20:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=220"},"modified":"2013-06-02T21:03:52","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T20:03:52","slug":"what-is-wrong-with-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=220","title":{"rendered":"What is wrong with gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Baptist Assembly I was reminded of an amusing story of the time London Bible College was redeveloping its site and obtained a grant from the Sports Council towards building some tennis courts. There was some embarrassment when the plaque arrived bearing the legend, \u201cSponsored by Littlewoods Pools.\u201d But then, some people might ask, what\u2019s wrong with that?
\nShould Christians buy tickets for the National Lottery? What about raffle tickets at the school fete? Or a fiver on the Grand National? What about the Football Pools? Or online bingo, or online poker? What\u2019s wrong with gambling? In the interests of honesty, perhaps I should say up front that this sermon could equally be entitled \u201c20 reasons why Christians shouldn\u2019t play the National Lottery and another 50 reasons why the National Lottery should be banned\u201d!
\nI could just make a general statement: \u201cgambling is just wrong.\u201d But we need to think more deeply than that. What does the Bible say about gambling?
\nI could also make a \u201cslippery slope\u201d argument. We once helped a man who had a gambling habit. He had a good job, a good income and a lovely home, but his debts through betting on sporting events amounted to \u00a380,000. It is self-evident that in some cases like that gambling completely wrecks lives. And the argument goes that even simple betting like playing the National Lottery is not just \u201ca harmless flutter\u201d but rather the start of a slippery slope which can become an obsessive habit which can lead to ruin. This is true. But then I believe there are other even more powerful arguments we can make that gambling is wrong, not only for Christians but for everybody.
\nGAMBLING IS BAD STEWARDSHIP
\nListen to the parable of the Talents from Matthew 25.
\n14 \u201cAgain, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master\u2019s money.
\n19 \u201cAfter a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. \u2018Master,\u2019 he said, \u2018you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.\u2019
\n21 \u201cHis master replied, \u2018Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master\u2019s happiness!\u2019
\n(You will remember that something similar happened with the man who had been given two talents.)
\n24 \u201cThen the man who had received the one talent came. \u2018Master,\u2019 he said, \u2018I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.\u2019
\n26 \u201cHis master replied, \u2018You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
\n28 \u201c \u2018Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
\nAs Christians we are accountable to God for how we use the treasures He has entrusted into our keeping. I remember a discussion we had as young people in our Youth Group forty years ago. Should Christians invest in Premium Bonds? Answer \u2013 no! Because we would be robbing God of the interest that money could be earning in the bank.
\nWe may say, \u201cIt\u2019s my money.\u201d But the truth is it is all God\u2019s money given to us to use wisely. Any form of gambling, even buying a lottery ticket, is a waste of God\u2019s money.
\nWhen it comes to the National Lottery, the advertisements will tell you that it is just another way of giving to charity. Up until now around 30 billion pounds has been raised for \u201cgood causes\u201d by the National Lottery. But in fact out of every pound spent on lottery tickets more than 50p is paid to winners in prize money. 12 pence goes to the government in Lottery Duty, or tax. Retailers earn around 5 pence in commission and operating costs are around 4 pence in the pound.
\nSo out of one pound spent on the National Lottery only 28 pence goes to the famed good causes. Of that, around 15 pence goes toward sports, the arts and heritage projects. Leaving around 8 pence in the pound for health, education and environment projects. All non-charitable. Only 5 pence in the pound of National Lottery tickets actually goes to charities. So of those 30 billion pounds given to good causes, only \u00a35 billion has gone to charities. 50 billion pounds has been paid out as prize money. And the government has collected more than \u00a312 billion in Duty.
\nSo buying a lottery ticket is not giving to charity. If people want to give to charity they can give the whole pound directly and get an extra 25 more back in Gift Aid. Not just giving 5p. And I mustn\u2019t get started on the big questions which need to be asked about the kinds of charities which Lottery money supports. Some of those are Christians definitely wouldn\u2019t want to be associated with or give money to!
\nThe argument around stewardship does not only apply to Christians. There are many families and individuals struggling with poverty yet some of them would spend money on gambling before they would spend it on food. For them a big win on the pools or the lottery or a bet on the horses is their false hope of escape from poverty. In reality the gambling habit is part of their problem.
\nGAMBLING REINFORCES WRONG ATTITUDES TO MONEY
\nSo many people in society think that money is all important. Money is the answer to all their problems. Money is the way to happiness. And gambling just reinforces these wrong attitudes.
\nPeople should not put their trust in wealth or possessions for their happiness or their security. People should put their trust in God. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us this.
\n19 \u201cDo not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. <\/p>\n

Money won\u2019t buy happiness or peace or eternal security. Many people who have won big prizes of the Lottery or the Pools have discovered that money does not make them happy but instead wrecks their lives.<\/p>\n

31 So do not worry, saying, \u2018What shall we eat?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we drink?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we wear?\u2019 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. <\/p>\n

The Parable of the Rich Fool is a solemn warning to anybody who rests their hopes on money or wealth or possessions.
\nLuke 12 16 And he told them this parable: \u201cThe ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, \u2018What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.\u2019
\n18 \u201cThen he said, \u2018This is what I\u2019ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I\u2019ll say to myself, \u201cYou have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.\u201d \u2019
\n20 \u201cBut God said to him, \u2018You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?\u2019
\n21 \u201cThis is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gambling encourages greed. There is something truly obscene about somebody being given in an instant more than they could earn in a lifetime, or ten lifetimes. I cannot imagine how a Christian who bought a winning lottery ticket could accept that kind of prize and square their conscience except by giving all that money away. Gambling just panders to greed.
\nAnd gambling contradicts one of the very important purposes of work.
\nGod\u2019s plan is that people should earn their keep. In 2 Thessalonians 3 Paul gave this rule.
\n6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone\u2019s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: \u201cIf a man will not work, he shall not eat.\u201d
\nGod did not create human beings to be idle but to be active. Not to be lazy but to work for their living. Winning money by gambling subverts this purpose of work. Whether it is by \u201cgames of chance\u201d like the lottery or so-called \u201cgames of skill\u201d such as poker or betting on the horses, gambling is all about obtaining money without effort, without rendering a service or exchanging goods or even receiving a gift from the generosity of others. Gambling is receiving a gift from the gullibility of others. In this way gambling is a perversion of the good uses for which money and wealth are intended.
\nThe apostle Paul warns us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
\n1 Timothy 6 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
\nGambling encourages people to love money more than God!<\/p>\n

GAMBLING IS WORSHIPPING FALSE GODS
\nPaul encourages Christians to live a new life and become like Christ.
\nColossians 3 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
\nHere is a list of serious sins: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires. And then at the end Paul adds another sin which is just as serious: greed, which is idolatry.
\nThe ten commandments in Exodus 20 end with covetousness.
\n 17 \u201cYou shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s house. You shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.\u201d
\nBut they begin with idol worship.
\n2\u201cI am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3\u201cYou shall have no other gods before me.
\n4 \u201cYou shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. <\/p>\n

And here in Colossians 3:5 Paul tells us that greed is actually idolatry. People worshipping wealth and possessions are actually worshipping false gods.
\nDoes anybody happen to know what the logo of the National Lottery is?
\nIt is the hand of fate.
\nIt is a hand with the first and middle fingers crossed, a superstitious symbol for luck. With the name \u201cThe National Lottery\u201d and the strapline \u2013 \u201cLife changing\u201d. The hand of fate saying \u201cIt could be you.\u201d Registered Trademark.
\nGambling encourages people to put their trust in the false gods of luck or fate or destiny instead of in the one true God, Creator of heaven and earth.
\nVery many people would say they have their own \u201clucky numbers\u201d, which they would choose if they were buying a lottery ticket. Some people would also have their own \u201cunlucky numbers\u201d and they would avoid living in a house with that number, or staying in a hotel room with that number, or avoid doing important things on that day in the month. Living your life by lucky numbers and unlucky numbers may just be superstition, but for some people it can become an evil trap!
\nYou may remember that when the National Lottery started in 1994 one of the regular features was Mystic Meg, an astrologer and psychic who made her predictions of which numbers would win. Many gamblers look to astrology or psychics or other forms of fortune telling to choose their numbers or their winners. We should not forget that all forms of fortune telling are condemned in Scripture.
\nDeuteronomy 18 9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.
\nIf gambling leads a person to experiment in fortune-telling, that is a very dangerous doorway into danger.
\nSo what\u2019s wrong with gambling? It can be a slippery slope. It is bad stewardship and it reinforces wrong attitudes to money. Gambling can even be an expression of worshipping false gods. So should Christians gamble? Of course not! Should Christians ever buy a Lottery Ticket? I think not. Should we buy a raffle ticket at the school fete? I never would.
\nBut what about churches or Christian organisations applying for and accepting funding from the National Lottery to repair their buildings or to fund charitable works with the community? Again, I don\u2019t believe that is right. Lottery money is tainted with the debts of all the people who could not afford the tickets they bought and the greed of all the people who thought life could be different if only they got lucky.
\nSo what\u2019s wrong with gambling? There\u2019s plenty wrong with gambling!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Baptist Assembly I was reminded of an amusing story of the time London Bible College was redeveloping its site and obtained a…<\/span><\/p>\n

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