Is gambling sinful? Is all chance-taking gambling? For instance, is marriage a gamble? Is life a gamble? Is driving on the highway a gamble? Some would answer “yes” to these last three questions. But stop and think for a minute; is there not a difference in taking a chance and gambling?
It is true that one is taking a chance when he gets behind the wheel of an automobile and gets on the freeway; but, the driver is able to avoid an accident by his driving skills; he can control the outcome.
What is gambling? It is creating a chance where none existed before. One creates a chance where none existed before when he puts up money or some item of value whereon more than one person takes a chance on winning or losing and he is unable to control or alter the outcome.
All gambling is chance-taking; but not all chance-taking is gambling. When you get married, you will begin a new home; your ideals, character, attitudes and conduct can control the outcome. The two of you, working together, can determine what kind of home you establish. Of course there is chance-taking involved, but neither partner is gambling; they can control the outcome.
Some people argue, “Gambling is not mentioned in the Bible; why condemn its practice?” Does a thing have to be specifically named in the Bible as sin before it becomes sin? None of the following words are specifically named in the Bible either: rape, manslaughter, cocaine, marijuana, larceny, suicide, embezzling, bootlegging, racketeering. However, the evils involved in all of these are clearly and repeatedly condemned in the Scriptures. The same is true of gambling. It is not specifically mentioned by name in the Bible, but the word of God sets forth principles which are in direct conflict with the practice of gambling.
(1) Don’t take the short cut. Paul tells us to “labour, working with our hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Eph. 4:28). He even went so far as to command the Thessalonians “that if any would not work, neither should he eat” (II Thess. 3:10). Far too many want to take the short cut; they want to get rich without putting forth any effort. Gambling is an attempt to make a living without honorable work.
(2) Give value received. This principle is taught in both Old and New Testaments by the demanding of fair and just weights and measures. Read Genesis 43:21; Leviticus 19:35-36; Deut. 25:13-16; Matthew 7:1-2; Luke 6:38. In gambling when one man gains, he does it at another man’s loss. In all of our transactions with our fellowman, we should be sure that our gain in material things does not come at the other man’s loss.
(3) Love one another (John 13:25; I John 3:18, 23; 4:11-12, 20-21). The religion of our Lord is a religion of helpfulness, of service, of unselfishness (Gal. 6:2, 9). Every individual Christian is under obligation to assure that his success in life does not mean another man’s failure, and that his table of plenty at his house does not mean a table of emptiness in the home of his neighbor or fellowman. However, when one gambler leaves the table with his pockets full, the gambler across the table from him leaves with an empty pocket. Does the successful gambler ever stop to think that while his family is enriched by his success, the family of the losing gambler must suffer? Love demands better of us! Remember Jesus said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:39).
(4) It violates the golden rule (Matt. 7:12). I doubt that any of us would want everything taken from us by someone else.
(5) We are taught to “mortify your members which are upon the earth,” and one of them is covetousness (Col. 3:5). Gambling is a direct action that comes from a wrongful desire to take what the other man has.
(6) Gambling stems from the “love of money” which is the “root of all evil.” Read and study carefully I Timothy 6:6-11.
Paul M. Wilmoth
(January 18, 1944 – April 5, 2021)