Gambling

3/12/23

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Sermon Transcript

Good afternoon. Now that football season has come and gone, it’s probably a good time to talk about the subject of gambling. 50 million Americans bet on the Super Bowl this year, and that was a 61 percent rise over 2022. Legalize sports gambling? It’s a huge, huge business in the states where it’s legal, and even in the states where it’s not legal. Under the table, football wagers close to $100 billion each year. And let’s talk about the lottery. Here is how the Texas State Lottery describes its mission on its webpage. “The Texas Lottery is committed to generating revenue for the state of Texas through the responsible management and sale of entertaining lottery products.” But is that the whole story? You know, when the lottery came to Texas under Governor Ann Richards, and I know I’m not the only person who remembers that, we were told that our educational funding problems would come to an end very shortly. Is that what happened? And even if that had happened, would that have outweighed the tremendous evil that state-sponsored lotteries inflict on society? Would a benefit to our school system outweigh the children who show up to those schools hungry because their parents have spent their wages on lottery tickets? Would it outweigh the regressive tax that the lottery imposes on those least able to pay it. What do I mean by regressive tax? Well, not long ago an article appeared in the Houston Chronicle entitled “Newest Lottery Dreams Cost $50” and it described a new lottery game in the state of Texas that cost $50 to play but offered prizes in excess of $100 million. And this is the part of the article that really caught my eyes in the last paragraph. Said William Scott, age 64, a custodian in Austin who works two jobs, said he often spends $120 a day on lottery games and is eager to try his luck on the $50 game. That is what I mean by a regressive tax on those least able to bear it. For every dollar that comes into the state from the lottery system, three dollars go out to fight the increase in crime and to fund the social services of those who have lost their wages to legalized gambling. Legalized gambling especially hurts the poor, who are three to seven times more likely to bet on the lottery than others in our society. It’s a regressive tax that soaks the poorest of money that they can ill afford to lose. One study says that the lottery is equivalent to a 60 to 90 percent tax on the poorest people in society. And if anyone thinks that state lotteries don’t intentionally prey on the poor, let me ask a question. Why is it that check-cashing stores in 24 states also sell lottery tickets? And despite its grand promises, what does the lottery really do for our children when it takes food off their tables? Whatever you do, don’t fall for the lie, the lie that politicians care about our children when those same politicians sponsor the lottery.

Now, gambling is an important issue, not only for the church, but in our society. Roughly 13% of Gamblers Anonymous members have attempted suicide, and 48% have considered it. Suicide attempts are more common with pathological gambling than with any other addiction. They see no other way out. And the lures to play are greater now than ever before, and they’re getting worse every single day. Here is the title of a very recent article within the last week or so. Here is the title of the article. The Next Opioid Crisis. Online sports betting has put casinos in the pockets of millions of Americans, tripling rates of gambling addiction and threatening a flood of bankruptcies and suicides. Now you tell me, can the church remain silent on an issue like that? Gambling affects people’s lives every single day and the church cannot sit on the sideline when it comes to something like that. It’s important that we know where we stand. It’s important that the world know where we stand when it comes to gambling. So where do we stand when it comes to gambling?

Well, our first question, similar to our first question this morning, is what is gambling? Before we decide whether or not we should gamble, I think we should know what gambling is so we can know whether or not we’re doing it. What is gambling? What is not gambling? Well, those questions aren’t easy to answer, and I’m not sure we can come up with a bright line division between the two. But we can come up with some activities that are very clearly gambling under anybody’s definition, and I think we can also see some that are not gambling. Chapter 47 of the Texas Penal Code defines gambling. Let me pause at this point and say, yes, I am a lawyer, but no, I’m not your lawyer. This is not legal advice. A bet is defined as an agreement to win or lose something of value solely or partially by chance. That’s the Texas Penal Code defining a bet. Gambling is defined as making a bet on the partial or final result of a game or a contest. Now, there is an exclusion if the act occurs in a private place, if no person at that private place receives any economic benefit other than their winnings in the game, and if the risks are the same for all participants in the game. That would cover what some people might call a friendly poker game, if there is such a thing. But of course, saying that some types of gambling is legal, that doesn’t really answer any of our questions, right? It doesn’t mean gambling is approved by God. I mean, here’s a newsflash. Getting drunk and committing fornication, those things are legal. Legality has never been a proxy for morality, and it’s certainly not the case with gambling. But for those types of gambling that are illegal in the state of Texas, that is yet another reason not to gamble. So what is gambling? Well, the following factors have been proposed to help us answer that question. Gambling involves the determination of the ownership of property by some appeal, either partially or totally, to chance. Typically, the outcome of that wager is evident within a very short period of time, like the roll of a dice. Some games are governed solely by chance. Others are governed by a combination of skill and chance, while others, such as sporting events, are really a lot of skill where people with a greater knowledge of the game have a better chance of winning the game and prevailing. Gambling is a zero-sum game. That’s important, a zero-sum game. It merely takes money from the loser and gives it to the winner, from the loser and gives it to the winner. That’s very different from, say, playing the stock market. You’ll sometimes hear people say, oh, well, playing the stock market is gambling. It’s not, because in playing the stock market, it’s possible that everybody will make money. or [AUDIO OUT] some game. Gambling involves trying to get something for nothing without rendering any service or exchanging any goods for the value received, getting something for nothing. Gambling involves risking the loss of what you have in your effort to get something for nothing. Some have argued that farming is gambling or insurance is gambling, but we know that’s not the case. Farmers are not trying to get something for nothing. They don’t prosper at the expense of someone else. Insurance does not involve artificial risk and the insurer is selling a service. They’re not getting something for nothing. They’re selling a service. Like our discussion of gossip this morning. I think we all know what gambling is. I think if there’s a problem with gambling in our society, it’s not because we can’t define it. So what’s wrong with gambling? Well, let’s look at 15 reasons why a Christian shouldn’t gamble. I just saw everybody look at their watch. We got time. I know a lot of preachers have three points and a point, but I got 15 points and no point.

Reason number one, gambling has a negative effect on our society. It has evil fruit. Often linked with prostitution. Crime rates in casino communities are 84% higher than the national average. It’s been estimated that 40% of all white-collar crimes are committed by compulsive gamblers. Domestic violence, child abuse increase dramatically when gambling comes to an area. Teens are three times more likely than adults to become addicted to gambling once they’re exposed to it. And one in 10 teenagers engage in illegal activity at some point to finance a gambling habit. There are eight times as many gambling addicts among college students as among adults in general. Matthew 7:17-18, “Even so, every good fruit, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Gambling is a corrupt tree. Gambling brings forth evil fruit. When we look at what gambling does to our society, I’m not sure we need 14 more reasons not to do it. But we’re going to get 14 more.

Number two, gambling is wasteful. Wasteful. Gambling encourages the reckless use of God-given resources. We are, in effect, gambling with someone else’s money, God’s money. Someone might say, well, I have the right to do what I want to do with my own money. And that might be true if it were if it were your own money. But it’s not. It’s not. If I am Christ and so is my money, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “I am not my own. I was bought with a price.” As Christians, we are stewards. 1 Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover, it is required that in stewards that a man be found faithful.” 1 Peter 4:10, “As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” To risk money haphazardly in gambling is to completely disregard what the Bible has to say about our possessions. They are not our own. We hold them in trust. We’re stewards. We must someday give full account to God for how we use those blessings. Is gambling wasteful? Let me just give you one example, one you’ve probably heard of. Nick the Greek, famous gambler. He once won as much as $50 million in a single night. By his own account, he went from rags to riches and back again 73 times in his life. During his lifetime, he won and lost more than $500 million and he died broke on Christmas Day in 1966. Yes, gambling is wasteful. Gambling involves the reckless use of money which we have been given stewardship by God.

Number three, gambling is foolish, and some types of gambling much more so than others. Let’s talk about the lottery. The chance of winning the big jackpot in a typical state is one in 14 million, one in 14 million. Put those odds in perspective. If you buy 50 lottery tickets a week, you’ll win the jackpot once every 5,000 years. If you drive 10 miles to buy your ticket, you’re three times more likely to die in a car crash on your way to win the lottery. And if you take the Katy Freeway, I think those odds grow up dramatically. Suppose you’re in a stadium filled with 70,000 people. You’re in a stadium, 70,000 people. And then assume there are 200 such stadiums, each filled with 70,000 people. Your odds of winning that lottery are the same as your odds of being chosen at random in those 200 stadiums. That’s the situation for odds of 1 in 14 million. The odds of winning the Texas state lottery, 1 in 26 million. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot? One in 292 million. 292 million. To understand the odds of one in 292 million, I want you to think about writing your name on a sheet of typing paper. And then think about a stack of typing paper that is 17 miles high. and slip that paper into that stack, your odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are the same as your slip of paper being chosen at random from that stack 17 miles high. Now let me ask everybody this. Given that view of your odds, are you likely to wait up at night before you go to bed to see if your page is chosen? And yet people do that for the Powerball lottery. To put the odds of one in 292 million in perspective, your odds of dying from a lightning strike on a particular day are one in 10 million. Your odds of dying from a bee sting on a particular day are one in 25 million. Your odds of dying from an asteroid impact on a particular day are one in 75 million. What does that mean? It means on the day you buy your Powerball ticket, you are four times more likely to be killed by an asteroid strike than you are to win that lottery. You know, I used to teach probability in my math classes, and I used to tell my students that your chance of winning the lottery is about the same whether or not you buy a ticket. But someone has to win, right? You hear that a lot. Well, first, that statement’s just not true, is it? How many times does the Powerball roll over because no one won? That alone should tell us something about the odds. You’ve got people all over the country standing in line to get a lottery ticket, and nobody gets the right answer. Happens quite a bit. But second, more importantly, the probability that somebody will win, that’s not the one you should be interested in. That’s not of interest. the probability you should be interested in is the probability that you will win. And that is much, much, much lower than the probability that someone will win. 1 in 292 million, that’s the probability that you will win. Oh, but the lottery is so much fun, we hear. It’s only a few dollars, and I have so much fun staying up and seeing if my numbers show up on the news. You know, the lottery may be fun for you. And it may just be a few dollars for you. But that is definitely not the case for many who are following your example if you’re buying lottery tickets. For many of them, their children are going hungry because of their lottery purchases. It’s not just a few dollars for them. And it’s not just fun for them. They’re waiting up at night with hopes that they’re going to win the big jackpot so they can feed their children. And if you doubt that, just look at the long lines form on the day the Powerball ticket is at its highest, and look at the neighborhoods where they form. But what if, despite all the odds, I won the lottery? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Would it, really? Would it? I think we might want to take a look at the lives of many of those who have won the lottery, how they ended up broke shortly after winning, how their families broke apart, how they lost their friends, how they descended into substance abuse. Jack Whitaker won $315 million in a lottery in West Virginia in 2002, and he later said, I wish I’d torn that ticket up. But also, if I was a winner of the Texas state lottery, I think I would have trouble. I would have some guilt knowing that my winnings came from poor people all over the state of Texas. It’s a zero-sum game. It came out of their pockets. It came off their tables. I’m taking food from their children’s mouths and clothes from their children’s backs. Every dollar I win comes from somebody else, and the lottery targets poor people. Absolutely, it targets poor people. Our scripture reading today, Jeremiah 22:13, “Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness in his chambers by wrong, that uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work.” I told you this morning I was going to be on a soapbox. I’ve been preaching against gambling for 40-plus years.

Reason number four, gambling is addictive. It’s addictive. It’s estimated that close to 10 million Americans have a gambling habit that is out of control. Out of control. Compulsive gamblers, they are absolutely certain they’re going to win the next time, aren’t they? They live in a fantasy world where it’s only the other people who are going to lose. Psychologists tell us that the compulsive gambler is getting back at his parents for their work ethic. And oh, your parents may have told you honest work brings success, and gambling’s going to try to prove the opposite. The parents may have said nothing should be left to chance. The compulsive gambler’s going to leave everything to chance. Whatever the psychology, one thing is absolutely certain, gambling is addictive. It’s addictive. People get hooked. That’s another reason a Christian should steer clear of it, absolutely clear of it. 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

Reason number five, gambling is worldly. Gambling is worldly. I love how one ancient writer, you know, ancient, like thousands of years ago, writer described gambling for a Christian. He said, “If you say you’re a Christian when you are a dice player, you say you are what you are not because you are a partner with the world.” Gambling is worldly. Those who choose gambling have announced to the world their choice when it comes to God versus mammon. And they’ve chosen mammon, Matthew 6:24. Gambling is focused on the lust of the eyes, which 1 John 2:15-16 tells us is of this world. Gambling is worldly. It encourages a reckless approach to life. The easy come, easy go worldly philosopher, the gambler, that is opposed, absolutely opposed to Christian stewardship, Christian love and brotherly love in Christ. Gambling is worldly.

Number six, gambling is focused on getting rather than giving, getting rather than giving. The goal of the Christian should be to give, give, give. The goal of the gambler is to get, get, get. Acts 20:35, “I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Did you notice in that verse the phrase, “support the weak”? Those who play the lottery are trying to get, get, get from the weak, from the poor, the weakest in our society. when we’re tempted to place a bet, we should think of what Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” When we give rather than gamble, we’re making an investment in the account that matters, in our heavenly account, Matthew 6:19-20. “Oh, but some might say if I win the lottery I’m going to give so much to the poor. I’m just going to contribute so much to help the poor?” Well, the obvious point is that you’d be giving it back to the poor. That’s where it came from. But second, isn’t a better path to support, to not support a lottery system that takes it from them in the first place? So if our concern is really about the poor, we shouldn’t be praying we’re going to win the lottery. We should be praying that the lottery will be done away with. That’d be the best thing to help with for the poor.

Number seven, gambling brings unjust gain. Proverbs 28:8, “He that by usury and unjust gain increases his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.” Ezekiel 22:12, “Thou hast taken usury and increased, thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbor by extortion, and has forgotten me,” says the Lord God. But is gambling really stealing? Isn’t that a little harsh? Well, yeah, it is really stealing in a way. In fact, gambling has been called theft by permission. As with theft, the gains of the winning gambler are paid at the expense of the loser. In winning the gamble, one receives the wages that another person has earned without giving that person anything in exchange. Yes, it’s true that with gambling, each side is a willing participant. But is that really true? Remember, we talked about gambling addicts. A lot of them are addicted to it. Aren’t we taking advantage of their addiction when we gamble? And with anonymous gambling, such as the lottery, we don’t even know who’s gambling with us. So presumably, I mean, how do we know they gave consent? And in fact, those who suffer the most from the lottery are children who are unable to give consent. Doesn’t our state lottery steal food from their table? That’s theft. That is theft.

Reason number eight, gambling exploits the poor. States know very well that much of the money spent on lottery tickets comes straight from welfare checks and Social Security checks. They know that. They’re banking on that. In fact, in many states, the very check-cashing establishments that cash welfare checks also sell lottery tickets. Our political leaders offer untold riches to the poor and uneducated without telling them anything about the tremendous odds against them, the astronomical odds against them. Proverbs 14:31, “He that oppresses the poor reproaches his maker.” Proverbs 29:7, “The righteous considers the callous of the poor, but the wicked regardeth not to know it.” They just go out and buy a lottery ticket without thinking of the poor.

Reason number nine, gambling is covetous. When I gamble with you, whether anonymously or not, I am declaring to the world that I want what you have. And I will greedily grasp it at the very first opportunity. That is covetousness. 1 Timothy 6:10, “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.” Ephesians 5:3, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as become of Saints.” How far should we stay away from gambling? Let it not be want once named among us. That’s how far, because it is covetousness.

Number 10, gambling is idolatrous, idolatrous. Ephesians 5:5, “For this ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” We are all under God’s providential care. When a person gambles the focus is altogether different. Gamblers put their faith in luck rather than in God. And they worship in their man-made temples dedicated to that secular faith of luck. When we gamble we show a lack of faith in God to provide for us and instead we display our faith and luck and blind chance. That is idolatry. That is what it is, idolatry.

Number 11, gambling encourages a get-rich-quick wrong attitude about work. Gambling discourages honest labor and it encourages laziness. Proverbs 13:11, “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gathers by labor shall increase.” Proverbs 28:22, “He that hastes to be rich hath an evil eye and considers not the poverty that shall come upon him.” Proverbs 21:26, “He covetous greedily all the day long, but the righteous giveth and spareth not.” Proverbs 23:4-5, “Labor not to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt I set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” Ephesians 4:28, “Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that need it.” When we gamble away the resources and blessings that God has given us, we don’t have the money to give to those who need it. In fact, we’re taking it from those who need it. Christians have great riches to enjoy and great riches to offer this world, but the greatest of those riches are not monetary riches. We have all spiritual riches in Christ, and our focus should be on those spiritual riches and not on material riches, but the gambler is focused only on the latter.

Number 12. Gambling displays a wrong attitude about money. It encourages greed, it encourages materialism, it encourages discontent. Psalm 62:10, “Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” Luke 12:15, “And he said unto them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesses.’” Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave thee or forsake thee.’” 1 Timothy 6:6, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Is there any verse in the Bible, is there any verse in the Bible that is more directly counter to what we find in Las Vegas than 1 Timothy 6:6? Godliness with contentment is great gain. That is the anti-Las Vegas verse, isn’t it? Las Vegas is a city that was built on ungodliness and discontent. What about our own state lottery, though? It was brought to us initially by Democrats, but it’s been run ever since by Republicans. Does the lottery promote godliness? Does the lottery promote contentment? promises great gain but does it have anything to say about the only thing we’ve been told in the Bible will give us great gain, godliness with contentment? 1 Timothy 6:6, that is the path to great gain, not the lottery.

Reason number 13, gambling displays a wrong attitude about the universe, the universe. You know the Romans worshipped a false goddess named Fortuna. She was the goddess of fortune, the goddess of chance. The Romans paid her great reverence every year, holding festivals in her honor, erecting temples to honor her, the goddess Fortuna. One of those temples was called Felicitas, which means good fortune or good luck. Her name or the name of her temple was invoked to wish someone well when that person was gambling. Goddess Fortuna. Isaiah described a similar situation in his own day, long before the Romans ever came on the scene. Isaiah 65:11, reading from the American Standard Version. “That ye forsake Jehovah, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for fortune, and that fill up mingled wine unto destiny.” Fortune and destiny rather than God. When we gamble, what message are we conveying to this world? When the world asks us whose people we are, what answer are we giving them when they see us gamble? When the world wonders who is in control of this universe, who set this universe in motion, who we look to, are we looking to God or are we looking to the goddess Fortuna, the Romans did?

Reason number 14, gambling destroys the home. Many gamblers take food away from their children to instead throw it away on games of chance. 1 Timothy 5:8, “But if any provideth not for his own and especially his own household, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” That so-called entertainment, remember we read the message from the Texas lottery webpage at the beginning? Remember what they said it was? It’s an entertaining game of chance. That so-called entertainment promised by the state, what does it result in? Hungry stomachs, lost wages, broken families, addiction, and crime. That doesn’t sound very entertaining to me, does it? Do you?

Reason number 15, gambling violates the golden rule. That’s another one we talked about this morning, wasn’t it? Matthew 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do even so to them, for this is the law and the promise.” The golden rule, Romans 13:10, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Worketh no ill to his neighbor.” But some might say, doesn’t any friendly competition violate the golden rule? I mean, if I play a game and I want to win, doesn’t that mean I want you to lose? Isn’t that a violation of the golden rule? Of course not. Of course not. A friendly game has its own rewards, regardless of who wins. And the game is fun only because each of us is trying to win the game. That’s how a game works. That’s not a violation of the golden rule. But when money is injected into that game, when that game is played for money, It infects that friendly competition. And soon, the love of the game, the love of friendship, is replaced by the love of money. You know, we may call it a friendly poker game. Oh, I’m just going to have a friendly poker game. Is it really? Is it really? Does everyone in that friendly game know the full impact that that game is having on the other people in that game? If I’m in that friendly poker game, do I know whether all the other people in that game can afford the losses? Do I know whether they’re struggling with an addiction to gambling? Do I know whether their children are going hungry because of what they’re losing in that friendly game? Gambling encourages a callousness toward the interest and the well-being of others, the very thing we are told by God to be concerned about.

We’ve looked at 15 reasons why a Christian shouldn’t gamble. I think any one of them would be enough for us not to gamble. Don’t you? We got 15 of them. In Matthew 5:12, Jesus said, “We are the salt of the earth.” In verse 14, Jesus said, “We are the light of the world.” In 2 Corinthians 6:17, Paul wrote that we are to “come out from among them and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing.” Philippians 2:15, Paul wrote that we are to be “blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom you shine as lights in the world.” Where do those verses leave any room for a Christian to gamble away the blessings that he has been given by God? Where do those verses leave any room for a Christian to support a lottery system that targets and exploits the poor and takes food from their tables. Not only should we never gamble, but we should stand up and be counted among those who are opposed to gambling in this state and in this nation. If we’re silent on this issue, who else is going to stand up against this?

Closing, let me say a few things about something that is not a gamble. You know sometimes we thank God for the chance of eternal life. Thank you God that I have a chance of eternal life. Is that what we have? Just a chance? Is my eternal destiny determined by some giant roulette wheel somewhere? Am I hoping it comes out red, that’s not the gospel of Christ. That is not the gospel of Christ. What we have is not a chance of eternal life. What we have is a blessed assurance from Almighty God of eternal life. And that is something that belongs to every faithful member of the body of Christ. Everyone who’s been baptized the remission of sins, and with living faithful and obedient life to God. We have that blessed assurance from God. 1 John 5:13 tells us that we can know we have eternal life. We can know it. We can know it. We are not asked to take a chance on God. We are not asked to gamble with our eternal destiny. Instead, we are asked to obey the gospel and then to trust and obey in God and then we can rest in the certainty of our eternal destiny with him forever in heaven. That’s not a chance. That is our blessed assurance in God Almighty and in Christ his Son. If there’s anyone here tonight who needs to obey that gospel or who needs to return to Christ, please come while we stand, while we sing. I’ll see you next time. - Thank you.