Subject: Is it a sin to play the lottery? |
Bible Note: "Gambling is a bankrupt abandonment of reason and religion, and in the long run everyone loses." You ask: "Did not the Apostles "gamble" when casting lots to see who would replace Judas." No, they did not. The Apostles were not "gambling." "What appears to be chance to the finite human mind is known to a sovereign God. Casting of lots, for example, is a biblical illustration not of gambling (for no money or other value was placed at risk in hopes of greater gain) but of individuals trusting a sovereign God to direct the "chance" disposition or direction of the lay of the lots. People used "chance" to understand God’s will. Their faith was not in chance but in God. But belief in chance as fate stands in direct opposition to a purposeful creation, ordered and directed by the Sovereign God of the universe. Chance without God is the personification of anarchy and nihilism. God controls, not chance (Amos 3:6)." (...) "Summary "If baseball once was America’s national pastime, it’s been replaced by a 550 billion-dollar-per-year obsession — gambling. Gambling feeds the self-indulgent, instant-gratification mindset that has plagued America in recent decades. Beneath its glittery surface lurk the parallel tragedies of increasing addiction and a decreasing devotion to spirituality. Most Christian churches have been silent about gambling. Scripture is not. Even without a direct commandment, "Thou shalt not gamble," the Bible offers numerous principles that militate against the practice. Informed Christians will challenge such social evils as state-sponsored gambling and the use of gambling for fundraising. Gambling is a bankrupt abandonment of reason and religion, and in the long run everyone loses." (www.equip.org/free/DE209.htm) |