Is Gambling Right?

“Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”
Ephesians 4:28

Americans are gambling today more than ever. Casinos are more available and have expanded into attractive luxury vacation getaways for the average person.  A lot of growth is due to its availability with lottery tickets available everywhere (even dispensed in machines) and online gambling you can do from home. And you can gamble on almost everything (someone noted one site offers gambling on the second coming of Jesus). All professional sports offer and advertise betting on games. Our governments encourage gambling to fund programs. It’s everywhere. But is it right for a Christian?

Let’s start with the positives in Scripture. Ephesians 4:28 says that our source of income should be primarily, “…working with his hands what is good…” The Scriptures approve of things like inheritances (Pr 13:22; 2 Co 12:14), investment (Mt 25:27); and doing honest business trading (Ro 12:17). So, to begin with, where does gambling fit into how God tells Christians to live, work, and support themselves, their families, and the poor?

There are so many negatives about gambling that even those promoting it do so with constant warnings. As Jesus warned in Luke 16:8, “…the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.” Unbelievers see dangers where Christians sometimes do not! So, there’s addiction, loss, poverty, corruption, waste, and sinful environments that flood our senses with lust, materialism, and sins that usually accompany gambling. But for me there is a single major problem that is greater than all other objections: I cannot love my neighbor as myself and gamble.

Loving our neighbors as ourselves is the second greatest command and is actually like the first command to love God, “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mt 22:37-40). Jesus said this. I just don’t see how I can love my neighbor as myself when I want to harm him or her by winning at their expense. If I gamble, I have to want to take a person’s money when they don’t want to give it to me (they do it reluctantly because it was agreed they would, but they don’t want to give it). I know it’s a game. I know it is entertainment for some people. I know some people can even afford the loss. I know sometimes it isn’t much money. But that’s not really the point. “Love does no wrong to a neighbor” (Ro 13:10). Love gives, it doesn’t take what causes loss or harm to another. Love hopes the other person profits in all things – including what we do together. Can we desire this and gamble? I don’t see how. Is it right for a Christian to gamble? Don’t bet on it.   dd