Gambling

Gambling is a hard word to define, and in some sense everyone gambles everyday.

Maybe it's like other subjects we've discussed: only sinful for one personally if they believe it is, or if they are abusing it.

 

Well, I personally believe gambling is about the most wasteful thing you could ever possibly do with your money. We're called to be good stewards of what God gives us, and although gambling isn't explicitly forbidden in the Bible, I think that it's very poor stewardship.

Eric

 

It must be done in moderation. I see very little difference between spending $50 to see a sporting event for enjoyment and spending $50 on gambling for enjoyment. If it becomes an addiction, then it's a problem just like getting hooked on alcohol(drunkenness), chocolate(gluttony), etc.

Ken

 

Gambling is not a sin. Abuse of gambling is a sin.

In other words, budgeting $50 for card cames or slots while you're vacation in laughlin is not a sin. Forcing your family into starvation so you can take the money and put it down on a horse is a sin.

Be aware, however, it's my opinion that gambling can be easily abused.

[ October 10, 2002, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: Johnv ]

 

Gambling is a tax on folks who are bad at math!! It is robbery in slow-motion!!--folks above have already claimed that it is not a sin! That it doesn't make one a sinner!! Well--if what they say is so--that's OK with them! They have a right to be wrong!! Gambling may not be for sinners--but it fits right into the "sucker" groove!! You ain't a sinner for doing it, so the above posters say--but I say--you're a sucker beginning with the first quarter wagered! Put your money in the bank or in some other financial institution--watch it grow--

Last, God's word teaches us that "Unjust weights are an abomination unto the Lord." What does that mean in gambling terms--it means God hates it when the table is "stacked" against or if the odds are against His little ones! God's word also teaches that we are not to give our money to strangers!! And there are a lot of "Strange Rangers" running those casinos!

Your friend,
Blackbird

 

It's not a question of how much money, folks, but of whether or not that is what God wants you to do with it. Going against His will is what is a sin...

Let me know when gambling honors God, OK?

 

How does spending $50 or $100 to go to a sporting event honor God according to your definition?

Ken

[ October 10, 2002, 03:58 PM: Message edited by: Ken Hamilton ]

 

gam·ble Pronunciation Key (gmbl)
v. gam·bled, gam·bling, gam·bles
v. intr.

1. a. To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
b. To play a game of chance for stakes.

2. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
3. To engage in reckless or hazardous behavior: You are gambling with your health by continuing to smoke.

v. tr.

1. To put up as a stake in gambling; wager.
2. To expose to hazard; risk: gambled their lives in a dangerous rescue mission.

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How many here drive to work on a busy freeway?

How many here have stocks, 401(k)s, etc?

How many here would fly on an airplane in the USA?

Gamblers, all of you!

[ October 10, 2002, 04:08 PM: Message edited by: BrianT ]

 

Johnv said:

Gambling is not a sin. Abuse of gambling is a sin.

Covetousness is not a sin. Abuse of covetousness is a sin.

 

These issues like gambling, alcoholic beverages, etc. keep coming up because evangelicalism has a tradition against these that has arisen over the past 200 years.

The apostles used gambling(casting lots) to determine Judas Iscariot's replacement. The Lord's Supper was instituted using an alcoholic beverage(wine).

It is often said that we should be silent where the Bible is silent. Since gambling existed when the Bible was written, yet it is silent about it being a sin, perhaps we should be silent as well. We certainly should not be attempting to force tradition on fellow Christians where there is no Biblical warrant for doing so.

Ken

 

To borrow from Martin Luther on another subject - Since men can go wrong with women and gambling, should we also ban women?

Ken

 

To borrow from Martin Luther on another subject - Since men can go wrong with women and gambling, should we also ban women?

Ken</font>[/QUOTE]Your analogy is flawed. Gambling is always a bad idea. Women are only a bad idea in the context of sinful activities. A better analogy would be to compare cards with women. I will go on the record and say that neither cards nor women should be banned.

Eric

 

Ken Hamilton said:

Since men can go wrong with women and gambling, should we also ban women?

You miss my point. Gambling is covetousness: the unlawful desire to possess someone else's property. Those who win in games of chance gain because everyone else loses.

Neither women nor drinking (the other activity to which Luther alluded) are sins in themselves. But covetousness is not permitted in moderate amounts; all coveting is unlawful.

You also said in an earlier post:

The apostles used gambling(casting lots) to determine Judas Iscariot's replacement.

The apostles were not gambling. They were relying on God's providence to reveal to them which of the two was the correct replacement for Judas (Acts 2:24). There was no risk.

[ October 10, 2002, 05:18 PM: Message edited by: Ransom ]

 

Not me. God knows what is going to happen to me. There is no such thing as chance or luck... these concepts presume that God does not know or is not in control of what will happen.

My biggest issue with gambling is that the excitement is built on "chance" or "uncertain outcome"... things that in reality do not exist.

 

Yeah, I agree. Baseball is evil.

 

Yeah, I agree. Baseball is evil. </font>[/QUOTE]Baseball is not a game of chance.

As noted earlier, if someone gains money in gambling someone else must lose money. For a Christian who believes that God is control of his life, this is tantamount to expecting God to steal for them.

 

Baseball is not a game of chance.

Clearly, you have not been following the Anaheim Angels.

 

Investing in the stock market is not gambling.

Let me illustrate.

When I put a dollar piece or a token into a slot machine and I pull the lever--that piece or token is no longer mine! I become a loser!!

When I buy a certain stock--say, ExxonMobil--that stock will always belong to me! I own a certain stock/percentage in that company that folks call a "Share". Now, the share might depreciate in value--it might go from 44 dollars to 43 dollars. But the share is still mine. I can choose to keep it, or to sell it!

Now, the opposite is true for the gambling industry. If I put a dollar in the slot and the numbers don't come out to my "likeing"--I will never see that dollar again! If I try to break into the machine to retrieve the dollar--I will be burglarizing the machine just to get a dollar that no longer is mine!!

But the stock in the 401 is mine!

Gambling is a tax on those who are bad at math. It is Robin Hood in reverse!! Robbing from the poor and giving to the rich!!

Your friend,
Blackbird

 

if someone gains money in gambling someone else must lose money.

If you wager, you do so knowing that losing is a good possibility. When you spend money at sporting events, you are losing money. When you see a movie or pay for a massage, you're losing money. When you go skydiving, or rock climbing, you're losing money.

The question is not the loss of money. The question is, is there value attached to that? If wagering/gambling is done as part of liesure, I I do not see it as sinful.