What
is the Scriptural basis for some Christians believing that the lottery is
sinful? And, is it in fact a sin to play
the lottery and gamble?
The
subject of gambling is not specifically addressed in Scripture, so we
can’t turn to a verse in the Bible that says, “Thou shalt not gamble,” or
“Blessed are those who bet”! But there
are many passages in the Bible that give us general principles of righteous
behavior that shed light on the subject.
For
instance, there are quite a number of passages that speak of our duty to be
responsible stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us. The parable of the Prodigal Son comes to mind
here (Luke 15:11-32). The prodigal
son is condemned precisely because of his prodigality (i.e., reckless
wastefulness). The Bible says he
“squandered his estate with loose living.”
When he “came to his senses,” he confessed to his father, “I have sinned
against heaven, and in your sight.”
His wastefulness was a sin.
This
certainly discourages gambling, for there is always a high risk of losing money
when you gamble. Any money used to
gamble, therefore, must be money that can afford to be lost (because it
probably will be), and it ought to be money that could not be put to a better
use (and it’s not hard to find a better use!)
Remember
that with many forms of gambling, especially casino gambling, the odds are
purposely stacked against you. Casinos make
money when you lose money. They
are hoping you lose. They are planning
for you to lose. Their whole set-up is
designed for most people to lose most of the time. Otherwise they would go out of business. It’s true, there are occasional winners, but
only enough to entice people to continue to throw away their money. The vast majority of people who visit a
casino lose money (many lose lots of it!).
A few break even. It is a rare
person that ever makes money.
Under
most circumstances, it’s difficult to reconcile gambling with responsible
Christian stewardship.
But is
gambling sinful per se? There are some forms that are clearly sinful,
others that are clearly not, and still others in which it is somewhat difficult
to tell.
Under
the heading of those forms that are clearly sinful we would have to place
compulsive gambling, gambling with borrowed money, or money needed to pay for
the basic needs of one’s family (rent, groceries, utilities, etc.), or money
owed to God in the tithe.
Under
the heading of those forms of gambling that are clearly not sinful per se
we’d have to include such things as raffles, low ante bingo games, or a
friendly wager on a golf game: “If I win
you buy me a soda; if you win I’ll buy you one.”
Recreation
is a lawful human activity, provided it is done in moderation. Gambling may be a legitimate form of
recreation. What’s the difference,
really, if one person spends ten dollars on a slot machine, and another spends
ten dollars in a video arcade? Each is
plugging quarters into a machine for recreation. The problem comes when the time and money
spent, is time and money that cannot afford to be spent. This is true whatever
our recreations might be.
Recreation
is a gift of God; but like all His gifts it can be corrupted by our sinful
hearts. There are temptations to sin
with all forms of recreation, but the gambler is susceptible to a particularly
ensnaring sin—the love of money. A
lawful and innocent hope of gain can easily be transformed into a monstrous
obsession. “The love of money is a root
of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away
from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim. 6:10). We must not think too much of our strength to
resist this temptation. The love of
money is an insidious evil. It makes us
do all kinds of very foolish things—like being overly optimistic that we can
beat the odds that are stacked against us.
It
would be a very difficult thing to try to justify the operation of a casino as
an honorable profession, because in promoting themselves, casinos fill would-be
customers with unrealistic hopes of winning.
Their promotional advertisements are built on lies. When Kansas first came out with a state-run
lottery, the slogan was, “Someone’s always winning!” But truth in advertising would require them
to say, “Thousands are always losing!” The fact that so many people play the
lottery and really hope to win big, gives credence to the old adage that a fool
and his money are soon parted.