More and more, gambling is becoming a part of the American way of life. Seems like every week we hear about another casino being built. In everything from buying a raffle ticket to betting on the outcome of a football game; from playing bingo to feeding the one-armed bandit; gambling is fast-becoming a permanent fixture in our society. The need for instruction on this subject is urgent in as much as it is better to teach now than to correct later.
Gambling attacks the principle of good stewardship. The dictionary definition of gambling is “to play a game of chance for money or other stakes” (Amer. Her. Dict.). Gambling involves creating a risk where none had previously existed. It may be argued that everything in life involves risk, but gambling creates risk without good opportunity for productive results.
At the heart of gambling is the desire to get something for nothing. Thus, gambling strikes at the core of a person’s work ethic. God wants us to learn the sweetness and joy of working for our livelihood (Eccl. 5:12; Prov. 10:4). The lesson is especially clear in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 where Paul says, “If any will not work, neither let him eat.” Our lives should be characterized by industry, hard work, and taking “thought for things honorable in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17).
In addition to violating principles of good stewardship, gambling breaches God’s injunction prohibiting covetousness. To covet means “to desire earnestly to obtain or possess; to desire inordinately; to desire with a greedy or envious longing; to long for; to hanker after” (New Webster’s Dict.). Covetousness is the basis upon which gambling is built. Without its strong appeal to greed, gambling would hold little attraction to its participants.
In the strongest language possible, God condemns covetousness as that sin which will keep us from enjoying the beauties of heaven (Eph. 5:5). Paul admonishes us to put it to death because it is tantamount to idolatry (Col. 3:5). Solomon reveals that greed takes away the life of its possessor (Prov. 1:19) and the one who makes haste to get rich will not go unpunished (Prov. 18:20). With warnings such as these, how can we ignore the danger gambling poses to our eternal well-being?
Gambling is gambling regardless of the amount wagered. It is still gambling even when it promotes a good cause. Shall we “do evil that good may come?” (Rom. 3:8). Neither is the legality of gambling the issue. Gambling is gambling even when it is called the “State Lottery.” We must avoid the temptation to make something that is wrong appear to be right (Isa. 5:20); but, instead, reprove and expose the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11). Though all the world endorses gambling as a wholesome form of recreation, we must neither support nor participate in anything that promotes covetousness and greed.
–Glen Elliott–