Is gambling an OK thing for Christians to do? And, are their different degrees of gambling of which some are OK and some aren't?
Please let me know what you think! I am still processing my thoughts...
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19 comments:
Hmmm, interesting topic, Keith. Do you think drinking alcohol is an ok thing for Christians to do? I think that I've seen families destroyed by both - alcohol and gambling. Does that mean that ALL drinking or gambling is wrong? I don't know the answer to that. It takes me back to the whole Romans 14 discussions at Lennys about food sacrificed to idols and doing something that causes a fellow christian to stumble.
It may come as a shocker, but I don't know the right answer to this question, but I can tell you how I have approached it. We have gone to the river boat casinos many times and even to Vegas last year. When we go we usually go with friends and stay the night as a getaway from the kids. When we are in the casino, we play some but never spend more than $100 or so. I have even won alot of money once, like $1300 on a slot machine. It is just something fun to do and it is not like we are not buying groceries or paying rent in order to gamble. With that being said, you do not have to spend more than 5 minutes in a casino to realize that there are plenty of people there who are litteraly spending thier last dollar. In fact, while we were in Vegas I found the whole place to be a bit sad. The hotels were glamourous and beautiful, but there was a sense of defeat that loomed, almost a palbable sense of loss. So can I say it is right for me to gamble because I have the means to and it is something I do seldom for fun, but wrong for others who don't have the money or have addictions to it? It doesn't sound like a very convincing arguement.
When you find out the right answer, could you let me know. And while you are asking could you also check on drinking, rated R movies and the music I listen to. Always knew I could count on you:)
Love ya!!!!!
Keith, we've talked about this before, and I have a hunch you may be baiting me, but here goes:
If by gambling you mean any of the publically sanctioned forms of wagering money on sports or at casinos or playing the lottery (there may be others I'm not aware of), then I say uneqivocally, Yes, gambling is sinful (not to disparage anyone who disagrees or has gambled in the past). At the root of gambling is greed and lust for what we do not have. It is the acquiring of what we have not earned--and usually, if we win, the acquisition of what others poorer than ourselves have lost. Gambling disproportionally affects the poor (see: http://74.125.95.104/search?q=cache:vTai1Rukf6MJ:www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/gambling.html+gambling+disproportionally+effects+poor&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us), and even if it were for only this reason gambling can be considered a moral issue of great consequence. Gambling thrives in the soil of organized crime and all its attendant vices and evils. It's purveyors say it's a harmless diversion, but ask most of those who've ever been caught in its web just how harmless it is. Again, I'm not trying to be judgmental, but this is where I stand.
Having said all of that, I might make exceptions for bingo and raffles, but I'll have to get back with you. ;-)
Emily - You are not allowed to answer my question with a question:)
Heather - I don't know that there is a "right" answer. I think that this may fall into the catagory of "Disputables" that I blogged about earlier. Anyways, maybe we can get answers to all of your life questions in a later blog:)
Andy - You are such a Right Wing Democrat.....figure that out. So are you saying that it would be SINFUL for me and you to wager a Dr. Pepper on the OSU game? (Which btw, I would never wager on high school games like they play.) I don't know if I buy that. Let me know what you think, Obama..ahem....I mean Andy.
Like I said, I'm talking about publically sanctioned forms of gambling that do millions, perhaps billions of dollars a year in revenues, survive in a milieu of crime and evil, and sqeeze the elderly and poor.
Betting a pop on a game isn't in the same category. Still, all the teens involved in seemingly innocent games of Texas Hold'Em at an early age can lead them into further types of gambling later on. I just think it's a moral issue that Christ would have decried.
Did I answer your question with a question? ;-)
So I pose the question again...
Is gambling an OK thing for Christians to do?
And, do we have the authority to differentiate the "publically sanctioned forms of gambling" and "seemingly innocent games of Texas Hold'Em" or are we forced to lump them together?
I'm not saying that if I bet you a pop that I could beat you in a game of C.O.D. that that would be sinful. I'm simply saying that the legalized forms of gambling that have become so rampant in our society are a vicious evil preying on innocents and the guilty alike, and are therefore immoral and thus sinful.
Proverbs 13:11: "Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow."
1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Hebrews 13:5, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have"
As Christians where do we draw the line where gambling is a sin? If I lose $100 at home in a poker game, it is different than losing $100 at an "Organized Establishment of Evil" (Casino.)
Also, here is a slightly different question... Is it the gambling that is wrong, or the losing of money? For example, at Olivet we would play Texas Hold'em with just the chips. Is that wrong too? Because it could lead to a life of addicted gambling. But, there is no actual resources being lost...Riddle me that...
I guess if your goal is to be a legalist, then you've succeeded. If instead you're seeking a closer walk with Christ, then you might think again about gambling and its insidious effects on our society.
The Riddler
I don't agree with every single thing I was taught growing up - but I do agree that gambling is wrong - and even sinful.
In fact growing up I was taught that playing cards are wrong no matter what....now I disagree with that and will play games that involve playing cards for fun but not if they involve money. (In high school my youth group used to play for toothpicks just for fun)
Gallo - Did you play for toothpicks?
I can top the toothpicks. My cousins and I used to "wamble" instead of gamble. It was basically poker - with our own unique twist. We each had a virtual cat and instead of betting money or anything else, we would bet a certain number of pounds. And our cat would get huge or die. I once had a whole pride of lions! :-) We were special children...
Very interesting.....I bet they were wed(red) wats too.
Well, of course! I got to choose... :-D
nope I never played - even for toothpicks...Denise :)
I'm not sure there is a right answer to this question, either...at least one that isn't ridiculously radical and offensive to our sense of life.
I agree with Andy somewhat that the legalized forms of gambling such as lottery and casinos are largely sinful, though I would have questions about whether the responsibility for the "sin" lies on the person who gambles or the person who provides the opportunity, or somehow on both.
I'm not convinced necessarily that having a $10 buy-in game of Texas Hold'Em with your friends at home is a "sin." But then again, I'm not necessarily convinced that it is a good idea, either. It's like Paul said, "All things are permissible, but not all things are advisable" (rough recollection).
The bigger question that I keep coming to is, what would God have me do with my money to glorify His name and build his kingdom? I'm not sure gambling falls into either of those categories.
The common argument in favor of gambling is this: "What's the difference between spending $100 on dinner and a movie with my wife and spending $100 at the local casino?" It's the argument that I have used too many times to count. Here's the problem, though:
Does the gospel approve of spending $100 on a movie and dinner when there are people who cannot eat or who have no shelter?
Like I said, it's radical, and it offends my sense of "fair play," but it's where God seems to be taking me these days...
I'm curious where this came from. I bet you a video game that AP won't rush for 200yds on the Colts and immediately this is posted. :)
I will try to make this as short and to the point as possible.
I've used something in my own life to decide if I should be doing something or not. If I feel convicted about it, I don't do it. I don't condemn others for doing it, and I won't necessarily leave the premises if this evil (whatever it may be) is happening. The problem with this method is that if I stray from 'the path' then my convictions will become skewed.
For me, I don't have a problem with gambling in limited situations. You have to make sure that your bills are paid and you can live without the excess money. Simply put, live within my means and if I feel I can live without it, I will do so. I don't go to casinos, but I do play in a friendly $15 buy in of Texas Hold 'Em every once in a while.
Here is an interesting question to those of you who do gamble: Do you pay tithes on the money won?
Also, in reference to the comment by fool of god. You said: "I'm not sure there is a right answer to this question, either...at least one that isn't ridiculously radical and offensive to our sense of life."
Don't you think that sometimes the RIGHT things are ridicuously radical and possibly offensive to our sense of life?
Kevin...
Your question about tithing on gambling winnings made me laugh, if only because it has actually been a big issue in some churches (you know, instead of feeding the hungry, we fight about stuff like this)
I've heard two extreme responses - absolutely not, to allow someone to tithe on gambling winnings would be to take the devil's money. Of course, no one ever asks if it is "taking the devil's money" to accept tithe from the businessman whose business practices contradict everything the Bible clearly teaches.
The other response I have heard is, "Sure, we'll take your tithe - nothing like using the devil's money to pay for God's work."
In all honesty, I think it is a case by case basis...if an addicted gambler happens to get lucky and wants to use the church as a way of assuaging some of his or her guilt, I wouldn't take it. But if a local kid who just turned 18 went out and bought one lottery ticket - just because he or she could - and won, I'd certainly take it.
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