© 1999 Rev. Paul A. Wolff
Q: What is so bad about gambling anyway?
A: Some people might say that the problem with gambling is that it is too easy to become a compulsive gambler, or to become addicted to gambling. I'm not convinced by that argument, and I suspect that few people are. That might keep some people out of the casinos, but not the people who are most at risk to becoming addicted to gambling.
If someone is really overtaken with the excitement of gambling they will find ways to justify their behavior and will never admit to being out of control until it is far too late. Besides, this argument is like saying that alcohol is bad because some people become alcoholics. However, most people are able to drink in moderation and never get to the point of being intoxicated. Likewise, some people have enough self control that they can gamble their money without getting into financial trouble, so if this were the only argument against gambling it is not very convincing.
Also, there are different forms of gambling, and each has its own special problems. Lotteries are bad because the promise of a large payout blinds people to the fact that the odds of winning are next to impossible. State run lotteries are particularly immoral because they lure people who can least afford to throw away their money, it is, in effect, a tax on the poorest people who are too ignorant to understand just what it means that the odds of winning are three million to one. Casino gambling has better odds, but the casinos are designed to make losing your money fun so while you are having the time of your life you don't realize you have lost the farm until it is too late.
Q: You didn't answer the question. So what is so bad about gambling?
A: Gambling is a sin against the Seventh Commandment, "You shall not steal."
Q: I don't believe you. How can gambling be stealing if people willingly put their money up for the bet?
A: No one gambles their money with the intention of losing their money. People only risk their money in order to lure others to throw their money into the pot so they can take other people's money. Since stealing means to take something that doesn't belong to you, then gambling is stealing. If you remove the possibility of taking someone else's money then gambling loses its appeal real fast.
Q: But the other gamblers willingly let you take their money, so that can't be stealing.
A: No one willingly lets you take their money in a casino. Players may consent to the rules of the game, but they only do this because they tell themselves that they will win it back later. If people really wanted to give away their money they wouldn't play a silly game and risk taking other people's money if they accidentally won the game.
Q: What about people who can afford to lose? What can be wrong about rich people gambling their money?
A: It is still wrong for rich people to gamble because in doing so they raise the stakes in the game and their money lures others to risk their money in trying to win the jackpot. So it is still wrong to gamble if you can afford it because it tempts others to risk their money, and they may not be as able to afford losing their money.
Q: Where does the Bible condemn gambling?
A: I have already mentioned the Seventh Commandment, "You shall not steal" above. Jesus says in Luke 12:15, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Jesus was responding to a dispute over inheritance, but his response applies to gambling as well. The main motivation to gamble for money is greed, otherwise if it were just for the thrill of the game people would be content to play for worthless colored plastic chips which they would return freely at the end of the game.
Also Ephesians 4:28 says, "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need." Gambling is not a productive way to earn money. A Christian ought to get his/her money the old fashioned way, earn it.
Q: Are there any exceptions?
A: Possibly. The LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) came out with a report on gambling in 1996 and it stopped short of declaring that all gambling is a sin. It may be possible to get together with friends for a friendly game of poker without causing or taking offense, but one must be careful, the line is often finely drawn and it is easy to cross it.
Q: Why are you writing this article?
A: My purpose is not to give you ammunition to go and attack friends or family members who gamble. I don't wish to be self righteous, nor do I wish to make anyone else self righteous. That attitude usually causes hard feelings, and unless the topic is very carefully applied it will likely push people away from Christ, instead of bringing them back into the fellowship of Christ. You may be able to gamble with a pure heart, and not steal. I cannot look into your heart and know what your motivations are, that is only between you and God. Only don't fool yourself, you may be wrong.
Instead I wish to help you grow in understanding of God's laws concerning your possessions, and how to manage them in a God-pleasing way. We pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread." We pray this because we recognize that God provides us with all that we need, and we should be satisfied with that. To take God's blessings and selfishly risk them in pursuit of easy riches shows a lack of faith that God will provide you with what you need, or it shows contempt for the good things which God has already provided you.
Q: Is there anything good about casino gambling?
A: I suppose it depends on how you look at it. The early news reports on the opening of the Casinos told about all these suburban Detroiters coming and spending their money in the casinos. Anything that reverses the decades old trend of cash flow out of the City of Detroit to the suburbs can't be all bad, but only if a sufficient amount of money is used to help poor folks out of their poverty. But even if this is done (and I doubt that it will) that doesn't justify stealing. The end does not justify the means, so even if some good is done that doesn't justify stealing.
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