Bob Prichard

Topic(s): Christian Life, Sin

Gambling means “to play games of chance for money or other stakes, to take an artificial risk to gain some advantage.” Life itself often contains risks, but gambling involves an artificial risk undertaken to gain some advantage over another. Gambling is not the same thing as buying insurance, or planting a crop and hoping for rain, even though risk is involved in these activities. Sixty per cent of all Americans gamble, and many forms of gambling are now legal. Most people see nothing wrong with gambling if not done “to excess,” but it is nevertheless wrong because of the many biblical principles it violates.

God has from the very beginning expected man to work, but gambling promotes a “something for nothing” philosophy. The gambler hopes that by risking a small wager, he may “strike it rich” and take what others have for his own benefit. Paul advised, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28). Gambling is stealing from others. It has been called “robbery by consent,” because the loser voluntarily gives up what the winner receives. Jesus said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). How can this be done when the gambler tries to take from his neighbor by his cunning?

Peter advises all Christians to be “good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Since all that we have comes from God, we must use our resources wisely. The foolish risking of resources by gambling is certainly not practicing wise stewardship. Even if the gambler feels as if he can “afford” to gamble, he is still robbing other good works by his gambling. Statistics show that the people who gamble the most are frequently the people who can least afford to gamble. The gambler frequently robs his children and family of necessities, including food, to feed his urge to gamble.

Gambling provides such a strong compulsion to some that they find it almost impossible to stop. A person can become so psychologically addicted to gambling that he loses all sense of reason when it comes to gambling. The gambler may become virtually enslaved to his gambling. Paul reminds us that we must choose whether we will be the servant of God, or the servant of sin. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). The gambler, hoping for that big win, often keeps on until he has lost everything. Dishonesty, deceit, drug abuse, organized crime, and a host of other terrible things are the fellow travelers of gambling. Even when gambling is state run, the criminal element always finds a way to get involved because of the huge amounts of money generated by the legal gambling.

But what if a person just gambles in small amounts, or for “fun,” or for a good cause such as a charity raffle, church bingo, or a lottery in support of education? That it is legal, or for a good cause does not change the fact that it is sinful and addictive. Those interested in serving God and being good Christian examples will not gamble.