The Sin of Gambling

Note: This is an article that I wrote back in 2009 for The Conservative Standard, published by Brent Madaris. It is available in tract form and an audio sermon is available as well.



Exodus 20:17 says: Thou shalt not covet…any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Each and every year, Americans spend more on gambling than they spend on every other form of entertainment combined!

We live in a society that is absolutely permeated by gambling, from state lotteries to riverboat casinos, to internet gaming, to dog and horse track betting, to entire cities such as Atlantic City and Las Vegas that are given over to gambling. What does the Bible have to say about gambling? The gambling ads scream loudly about the winners, but what about the losers?
Gambling is built on losers!

Gambling researcher Chad Hills defines gambling as: “…three components. A consideration or something of value that serves as a deposit; chance, skill or the opportunity to win regardless of the odds; and a prize or reward, which usually consists of the sum total of the other participants' losses.”

There is no direct command that says “thou shalt not gamble,” however there are plenty of Bible principles that apply. Gambling is rooted in covetousness, breeds discontent, and ruins multitudes of lives! Sleaze, corruption, and vice ooze out of gambling like a disease! Gambling attracts organized crime like garbage attracts flies and rats! The Bible declares the love of money to be the root of all evil! 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says:

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The Lottery

He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live. Proverbs 15:27

The first state run lottery came into being in 1964 in New Hampshire, followed by New York in ’67, New Jersey in ’69, and the lottery was off and running. Lottery revenue was over $500 million in 1973, and had passed the $1 billion mark by 1976, and multi-state lotteries were legalized in 1985. Lotteries are promoted as a boon to education, but in reality state spending on education actually decreases once the lottery is in place! The lottery is used for the education spending, and the money that was otherwise budgeted for education gets diverted to other projects. Greedy politicians buy votes from greedy voters with promises of big winnings and free education! Where does the money really go?

In Tennessee, for every dollar spent on lottery tickets, 50 cents will go toward prizes, 30-35 cents will go toward scholarships, 6.5 cents will go to the retailer, and the remaining 8.5 to 13.5 cents will go to operational costs. Lottery chief Rebecca Paul receives a $350K per year salary, along with bonuses for a total of 750,000 per year! Sounds like Rebecca hit the lottery!

Who really goes to college with lottery scholarships? According to the Chattanooga Times Free-Press on 2-12-06, nearly 21% of scholarship recipients are from households that make more than $100,000 per year! The average recipient is a white female from a household making $60,000 per year.

The lottery is a fools tax, taking money from the poor to pay for the college education of those who could well afford to pay for it themselves! A study by professors from Duke University found that those who earn less than $10k per year spend more on lottery tickets than any other group. Lottery advertising targets the poor with ads that promise quick riches and an easy life. Often lottery promotional drives are timed to run during the time of the month that welfare checks are received. There truly is a “sucker born every minute!”

1. The first Bible principle violated by gambling is the principle of work!

Remember that gambling is the act of trying to get what belongs to someone else without working for it. Exodus 20:9 says “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work.” When God created Adam, He placed Adam in the Garden and commanded him to dress and keep it; Adam had work to do before sin. An honest day’s work is very rewarding. The Bible promotes work and business. If you and I gamble money changes hands, but no new wealth is created. Business produces goods and services that people wish to buy. The consumer gets a desired product, and the businessman earns a profit. This involves the investment of time, money, work, and some amount of risk, without which you can’t operate a business or run a farm. See Ecclesiastes 11:4. There is nothing wrong with taking a risk in business, and there is nothing wrong with making a profit. The Bible commands work and commends profit through hard work and diligence. See the following scriptures: Proverbs 10:4, 13:4, 21:5, 22:29, 27:23, and 28:19.

The lottery however scorns work.

In a Massachusetts Lottery ad work is ridiculed as heart-attack producing drudgery. The first thing most people say they would do if they won the lottery is quit work. Young people are duped into believing that the ticket to success is not hard work and diligence, but a lottery ticket and a little luck. Young people also come to believe that the State owes them a college education. Nobody owes you and education!

Scripture is very plain that laziness is not to be rewarded. Christians ought to help relieve the poor, but we ought never to reward laziness. In fact, scripture supports the idea that a man who will not work should be allowed to bear the consequences of his inactivity. See the following scriptures: Proverbs 20:4, 6:4-11, 2 Thessalonians 3:10

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.


2. The second Bible principle violated by gambling is the principle of honesty!

Gambling is dishonest by its very nature. Gambling is a form of thievery.
The eighth commandment is “Thou shalt not steal.” When you try to get what belongs to someone else without paying them for it or working for it, you are in effect stealing from them. Two men who gamble are two thieves at heart.

Dueling is murder by mutual consent. Gambling is theft by mutual consent!

At the very heart of gambling is covetousness. The tenth commandment is “Thou shalt not covet.” Gambling is built upon greed. Our text in 1 Timothy 6:6-8 exposes the greedy heart. The lottery breeds discontentment which is contrary to scripture.

Advertisements constantly tell you that you need more, and the only reason that you don’t have more is because you haven’t won the lottery yet. The lottery targets the poor in this area, and instead of encouraging them to work and try to get ahead, they are encouraged to spend money that they can’t afford to lose on a false hope of big bucks. It is a documented fact that some state lotteries run advertising promotions during the time of the month that the welfare checks, Social Security checks, and other payments are received. The biggest thing that the lottery consistently produces is losers, playing on the discontentment of the poor.

3. The third Bible principle violated by gambling is the need to depend upon God!

See Matthew 6:25-34

Gambling depends on luck. We are to depend on God. For the child of God, we have the promise that He will supply all of our need according to His riches in glory. We are to place our faith in the Providence of God, not games of luck and chance. If God is able to clothe the grass of the field, surely He is able to clothe you and me. The birds and animals out in the woods give no thought for what they will eat, and God provides for them and cares for them so that not one little sparrow will fall to the ground without the watchful eye of Almighty God seeing.

Paul reminded Timothy that godliness with contentment is great gain, and that no one will take anything of material value from this life to the next, and he admonished Timothy to be content with what he had.

Could less be expected of Christians in our day? Dear Christian friend, if you are guilty of the sin of gambling repent today!

If you are one who has not trusted Christ for your salvation, today is the day of salvation! Seek out the counsel of a godly Christian or a godly pastor, or else open the Bible for yourself and see what Christ has done for you!

Matthew 6:19-21, & 24 says:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also…No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.