BIBLICAL ETHICS:
GAMBLING
November 20, 2016
OBJECTIVES
•  Examine some facts and figures
regarding gambling and its
societal effects
•  Discuss moral reasons for
Christians to oppose gambling
•  Discuss Biblical reasons for
Christians to oppose gambling
•  Discuss how Christians should
evaluate whether they should
participate in gambling
personally at any level
GAMBLING DEFINED
•  “ . . . An artificially contrived risk, taken for selfish gain at
another’s expense, with no constructive product or social good
as its goal.”
Kenneth Kantzer, Christianity Today, 1983
•  “Gambling involves the transfer of something of value from one
person to another on the basis of mere chance.”
Henlee Barnette, Baker’s Dictionary of Christian
Ethics, ed. Carl Henry, 1973
GAMBLING DEFINED
To gamble is to wager on a contest or to play at a
game of chance for stakes. When you gamble, you
are risking money (or something else of value) on
the outcome of something that involves an element
of chance, uncertainty, or hazard—for the
possibility of winning something someone else has
put at stake.
FOUR PRINCIPLES USED TO DEFINE GAMBLING
•  One, something valuable is put at risk.
•  Two, something belonging to someone else is at stake as a
prize.
•  Three, an element of chance is involved in determining the
outcome.
•  Four, no new wealth is created in the process.
GAMBLING IN THE US
•  Has been practiced in the history of most nations as far back as most
records go – Pompeii’s ruins have yielded gaming tables for example.
•  In 1776 the First Continental Congress sold lottery tickets to finance
the Revolution.
•  By the end of the nineteenth century in the U.S. all the states had
ended lotteries as both Baptists and Methodists denominationally
preached against gambling.
•  New Hampshire set up a public lottery in 1964 and most states
followed suit through the rest of the twentieth century. Today there are
lotteries in 44 states plus the district of Columbia.
WHO ARE THESE TWO MEN AND WHAT DO THEY
HAVE IN COMMON?
NORTH CAROLINA LOTTERY
The issue divided lawmakers and the public
alike for years.
At the time, the opposition of nearly every
Republican and a minority of progressive
Democrats lawmakers made the passage of a
lottery unlikely.
These groups denounced the lottery as a
regressive tax on the poor.
However, on August 30, 2005, two lottery
opponents had excused absences.
With this known, a special vote was called,
which was 24-24. Lt. Gov. Perdue cast the
tiebreaking vote, signaling the way for Gov.
Easley to sign it into law.
GAMBLING FACTS AND FIGURES
GAMBLING FACTS AND FIGURES
GAMBLING FACTS AND FIGURES
•  48 states have some form of legalized
gambling
•  About 40 percent of people with a
gambling problem started gambling before
the age of 17.
•  In Mississippi more money is spent on
betting than on all retail sales combined
•  In 2006, gaming activities generated gross
revenues of $90.93 billion in the United
States
•  The global market size of online gambling
was forecasted to reach over $56 billion in
2018, growing by around $20 billion dollars
in just five years. The largest share of this
industry segment is made up of casino
gambling and sports betting.
GAMBLING FACTS AND FIGURES – LOTTERY
WINNERS
According to multiple studies, about 70% of
all lottery winners end up going broke and
filing for a bankruptcy.
About 1% of lottery winners will go bankrupt
every single year.
In a recent study of lottery winners, only
55% of them felt like they were happier after
winning the lottery than before it – 43% said
that their money had no effect on their
happiness.
MARCH MADNESS : COLLEGE BASKETBALL
BETTING
ANY DEFENSE OF GAMBLING?
•  Isn’t investment gambling?
•  Isn’t purchasing insurance gambling?
•  Don’t we all “gamble” every day: getting on a plane, driving
to work, farmers investing all they have to grow crops, etc.?
•  “Casting of lots” was very common in the Bible (Numbers 26,
1 Samuel 10, Acts 1)
•  There is no Scripture that explicitly prohibits gambling
•  If one sets a reasonable limit for a loss when gambling isn’t
it just harmless entertainment?
MORAL REASONS TO OPPOSE GAMBLING
1. The lottery is a tax on the poor and
disadvantaged. The poor spend three times as
much money gambling (as a percentage of their
income) as those at the higher end of the income
spectrum.
NC LOTTERY STATISTICS 2011
•  All but two of the 20 most impoverished counties had per capita
sales that topped the state average
•  Figures on which counties in NC spend the most on the lottery:
•  Average North Carolinian $212 annually per adult
•  Mecklenburg County: $147 per adult
•  Edgecombe County (22.6% live below poverty line) : $469
per adult
•  Halifax County (25% live below poverty line) : $516 per
adult
MORAL REASONS TO OPPOSE GAMBLING
2)  Legalized gambling leads to an increase in crime.
3)  Other social costs of gambling include family
poverty, marital disharmony, substance abuse
4)  Suicide rates in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Reno
are up to four times higher compared to cities
where gambling is not legalized.
BIBLICAL REASONS TO OPPOSE GAMBLING
!  Work is ordained by God as the way in which we are to earn income
!  Our possessions are not our own to squander.
!  In gambling, existing wealth merely changes hands. In other words, one
person's gain always comes at the price of hurt caused to others.
!  Even “low stakes” gambling could lead one to greater sin.
!  Even gambling by “mutual consent” could be viewed as sinful.
!  Gambling is inconsistent with biblical virtues (see next slide)
ELEMENTS OF GAMBLING THAT CONFLICT WITH
BIBLICAL VIRTUES
•  Covetousness
•  Read Exodus 20:17
•  Greed
•  Read 1 Timothy
6:9-11
! 
Slothfulness
•  Read Proverbs 28:22
•  Oppression of the poor
•  Read Proverbs 22:16
WHAT’S A CHRISTIAN SUPPOSED TO THINK?
•  Should I go on a trip to Vegas with the guys?
•  Should I participate in a fantasy football league?
•  Can I bet money with my buddy on a ball game?
•  Should I ever visit a casino?
•  Is it OK to buy lottery tickets occasionally?
•  Can I play “low stakes” Friday night poker with my
buddies?
•  Can I participate in a reverse raffle fundraiser for my
child’s school or sports team?