The Christian and Gambling

Since it's wee into the night, I am not sure how much of this I can get done on this topic, but here goes...

Many, many years ago, when we had many more employees at work than we do now, they started a lottery pool (which exists to this day), as typical in many corporate offices, and people pitched in. When I was asked to participate, I politely declined. It wasn't until a few years later that someone approached me and asked why I didn't participate. I simply told them I don't gamble, and they said, "it's not gambling". Well, what can I say? I respectfully disagreed, and responded that what do you call it when you put money into something where the odds are heavily against you that you will get anything back? In my view, this is the opposite of wise investing, where you put your money into something that generally appreciates in value and although there may be slight risk, the general trend of investments tend to rise (I know that there is a grey line here, since some investments are extremely volitile (ie. sector investments), while others are fairly sound (money market, bonds, etc.).

Aside from the addiction part and the documented broken marriages and families arising from gambling's worse by-products (this is not really the scope of this blog entry, so I won't touch it here), my biggest beef with gambling is that it plays on unrealistic hopes and dreams of peple. Notice how the lottery companies will spin this - "what would you do with a million dollars?" Or "imagine the freedom..." Problem is, the chance of winning anything is very, very, very remote. Unfortunately, some people will tend to be so desperate as to try to make money the easy way that they don't think through the process that is working against their favour. My Dad has always taught me that there's no such thing as easy money, and I have seen the truth in that. I literally know people who hinge their future hopes and retirement on "hopefully" winning the lottery. Until then, they keep working, but put away money into lottery tickets. Imagine what they would have if they actually had put that money away in mutual funds or some other appreciating investment, growing their money along the way.

These days, gambling does not simply take the form of slot machines and baccarrat tables at a casino. People can gamble online, through the lottery, sports betting, and the most disturbing trend, the charity lotteries. The justification here is "oh, but I'm supporting a good cause". OK then, how about you simply donate to that charity without going through the lottery? My educated guess is that nine out of ten people will not do that. And I think you know why - they are in it for themselves - to win cars or houses or whatever the charity is giving away via the lottery, under the guise of "supporting a good cause". No different than people giving to churches in order to get a tax receipt (the question is whether you would give to your church if there was no tax benefits for yoruself?) It's sort of like horse racing. I was flipping channels one weekend while my son was sleeping and saw the Kentucky Derby coverage, even though I don't follow horse sports at all. I find it absolutely laughable that they participate in such a ritual like singing some silly song and then watching horses run for less than a 5 minutes. But the place is packed, and you know why? Everyone there is betting on the horses. Take betting out, and how many people would spend a couple of minutes (literally) watching horses run around for the fun of it? Yet, the Derby (and the other Triple Crown events) are made out to be some horse-loving sport (and I don't deny that there are people who watch it for the horses themselves or to see how many Hispanic jockeys there are).

For the Christian, I have some food for thought, and while I am not so stupid as to simply tout, as true as it may be, that "gambling is a sin" like some believers will blatantly state, I will pose several questions to the Christian pondering this issue, keeping in mind that it is true that the Bible has more to say about money and money management than any other topic, theological or otherwise (God, in His wisdom, I am sure, knew that money management would be an issue for people):

First and foremost, what does it say about your faith in God providing for your needs when you are trying to take a shortcut to what is supposedly easy money, rather than rely on Him to supply your needs? What does it say about your willingness to believe God's promises such as Matthew 6:25-34 (one of my favourite Scripture passages of all time) which indicates for people not to worry (and these sentiments are all from Jesus' own mouth) when you decide to play the lottery? Jesus says that our Heavenly Father takes care of the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the field, and He certainly cares more for people than these other things. In the book of Malachi, it is the only place where God has ever explicity asked people to test Him. Guess what He asked to be tested about? Money! As a personal note, my wife and I can absolutely attest to God's goodness when we had our son, and she went on mat leave and our monthly budget showed that we were going to be taking a financial hit month after month to no end. Well, several amazing things happened during that time where it was really a leap of faith to trust God in light of what we thought was contrary evidence - not only did He take care of our needs, He surprised us by supplying more than enough so even during those times, we had money to put away in mutual funds, etc. (some of the things that happened will astonish you and I am convinced there is no other explanation than God's providence). When we are in a tight financial crunch, I look back and know that God indeed takes care of us, and so when I am telling you this, I am not just paying lip service here - I truly believe this myself!

The Bible warns against dishonest gain and not working for one's wage (I'll have to look up the passages for these ones, but trust me they are there - it's just getting late and I'm starting to doze off here). The fact of the matter is, like it or not, God has given us the ability to work, and working for one's money (obviously in legal ways) is honouring to Him. Not really wanting to work for money, or taking shortcuts in making money is not, and it's been shown in several places in the Bible. There is even a certain expectation that we work - I believe it's in 2 Thessalonians 3 that it says if we don't work, we don't eat. Likewise, being good stewards of the money that God entrusted to us is absolutely important. I think there's not much of a difference between gambling away the money to which God has entrusted you, and and farting the money away on absolutely stupid things (which I have been guilty of doing many times).

The Bible models wise investing through its accounts of Biblical people and through Jesus' parables. The book of Proverbs are full of examples of making wise decisions, taking time to plan, not rushing into things, etc.

Now, people may argue, what's the difference between putting money into a charity lottery and putting money into your kid's school fundraiser? I am not here to draw out lines in every situation, but I'd encourage you to ask yourself at those times: why I am I putting money into this? Am I expecting money back?

If not, well, I'd say you have nothing to worry about.

If so, ask yourself if this a wise investstment - ie. is it likely that my investment will grow as a result? In gambling, the odds are always against you and you are almost certainly always going to lose money, since the whole system only works if there are an overwhelming ratio of losers to winners. When people give to their kids' fundraising efforts, they are not expecting any money back - so it is considered a gift of charity. The child or their school wins as a result with added funds for programs, and you win since you are helping them out with a gift. If you are putting money into any kind of raffle or lottery, you are essentially wanting something back (otherwise, you would give through non-lottery channels), and you are giving to a system where the odds are against you.

Another question that has been raised, and for which I haven't spent an enormous amount of time thinking about, is the whole idea of signing up for stuff which gives away money and prizes but you don't have to put down any money. I would say that it's not gambling, since what is being gambled here? You're probably exposing your address, email and contact info to telemarketing companies, but because you're not putting in your own money towards an odd-on losing proposition, I wouldn't consider it gambling, though some people would still say it's not working so it's kind of lazy. As I haven't really worked out this in my mind, it would be foolish for me to comment further.

The next one is interesting - and again, I haven't thought this through, so this may not make sense (and I'm exhausted right now) - how about "friendly wagers" between people? Again, I look at it whether there is any money being put in? If so, then I'd say it is gambling but then again, most people make these wagers with some semblance of control over what they are wagering. For instance, if I were to bet you $20.00 that I would beat you in arm wrestling, I'd have to be an idiot to do so if I didn't think I could beat you. However, since it is never really guaranteed, you are still playing the unknown card, and as such, it is probably likely siding on the gambling definition. If it's one of those "whoever wins this game will buy the other one dinner" - I don't consider that gambling per se, but again, I haven't thought through this one as I said. Maybe when I'm more awake, I'll run this scenario through again.

Now, I don't distinugish levels of gambling, since gambling is gambling and I don't think there is such a thing as innocent gambling, even at many church-affiliated bingo halls where I am amazed that senior citizens (with generally fixed incomes which generally mean less disposable money to throw out) fart their money away under the guise of fun and fellowship. I also am not one to rank sins, since the Bible does not indicate certain sins being lesser or more than others, though of course, the consequences of sins will differ in their severity. In the end, it is really between you and God, but the Bible does have quite a bit to say about how to gain wealth and properity in a God honouring way, but sorry to say, gambling is not one of them.