Ponder on This: The Lottery and Gambling?
Don't Bet On It!
The Bible is clear on this issue. The entire enterprise of gambling is opposed to the moral worldview revealed in God’s Word. The basic impulse behind gambling is greed—a basic sin that is the father of many other evils. Greed, covetousness, and avarice are repeatedly addressed by Scripture—always presented as a sin against God, and often accompanied by a graphic warning of the destruction which is greed’s result. The burning desire for earthly riches leads to frustration and spiritual death. . .
Finally, one of the most significant sins of the gambling industry is its treatment of the poor. Rather than offering genuine hope and a way out of poverty, gambling operators prey on those who are most desperate. The Old Testament prophets proclaimed God’s devastating judgment against those who “devour” the poor, and yet gambling proponents entice those at the bottom of the economic ladder to risk everything, though they end up with nothing. The concentration of lottery ticket outlets in lower-income neighborhoods is no accident. . .
R. Albert Mohler, When the Accounts Are Called: A Christian Understanding of Gambling
Now, notice this: all gambling involves four elements: 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. And four, no new wealth is created in the process.
And those four characteristics of gambling are the very reasons gambling is wrong. Each of the essential characteristics of gambling, when combined with the other three, violates one or more biblical principles. . .
Phil Johnson, Gambling: Some Definitions and Distinctions
There are a few questions worth considering:
• Does Jesus want to fund His programs through raffles instead of freewill offerings?
• Could such fundraising avenues present Christ’s church as people who are greedy and desperate for money?
• Could someone’s reluctance to freely give, coupled with a willingness to spend the same amount on a slim chance of winning a prize, indicate misplaced priorities?
• Does holding a raffle eliminate the opportunity to wait on the Lord and trust Him for financing?
When we have answered these questions, we are in a better position to determine whether or not our church should hold a raffle. . .
Got Questions, Is it wrong to have raffles in the church?
To all this, we should add that state-sanctioned gambling is a travesty in that it overturns the God-ordained purpose of government. That purpose, as outlined in Romans 13:1-5, is to protect the welfare of the citizenry and suppress evil. Legalized gambling does the opposite. It victimizes many people, especially the most vulnerable. It also condones and promotes a vice that has historically been repressed specifically because of its inherent debilitating and corruptive nature. . .
Focus on the Family, A Biblical Look at Gambling
I would say the rule is to do the diligence you can before you invest. Never invest in what you know is evil. But any thought that none of our spending and none of our investing will be misused by others is totally naïve. You’re not responsible for all that somebody might do to misuse your money any more than a salt manufacturer is responsible for high blood pressure. . .
John Piper, Is Investing in Stocks Any Better Than Gambling?
The lottery provides tools for political advantage. But it also creates social problems, and milks the very poor that it pretends to help. . .
Even without attacking the issue of gambling addiction and household fiscal damage as a result of spending hard-earned money on such a wasteful venture, the simple fact that today’s support for lotteries. It is not a simple Dem v Rep issue, but more often a Con v Lib issue, with more liberals giving support to the lottery, and so its results.
This is a social injustice to which we should speak. It is a wrong against the poor. It is corporate welfare to the gambling industry. It is a political tool to maintain unnecessarily expanded state governments. It damages the lives of those who think they might win. . .
Collin Brendemuehl, The Progressive Abuse of the Poor