Gambling - Part 1
By Allan E. McNabb

What is gambling?  Is it a sin?  These are important questions we must answer to serve God faithfully, and lead others to Christ with the gospel.

“Gambling” Isn’t In The Bible
The word “gambling” isn’t in the Bible, as is the case with many other words associated with morality.  For example, marijuana, cloning, pornography, and cybersex are moral issues of our day, which aren’t specifically mentioned in the Bible.

The magnificent beauty of God’s word is that it sets forth principles, whereby every generation can know the mind of God, concerning every moral issue.

Can you imagine a Bible that specifically dealt with every issue, by name, that every generation has to grapple with?  Beside the fact that it would be so large we couldn’t read it in a lifetime, it would deal with things far in the future we couldn’t understand.

As we study this topic, we’ll review Bible principles relating to gambling to determine whether it’s a sin.

Gambling Defined
Gambling is “playing a  game  of  chance  for stakes” (Webster).  It involves the “betting of money or valuables on, and often participation in, games of chance” (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001).

Compulsive gambling (or pathological gambling) is “a psychological disorder characterized by a persistent inability to resist the impulse to gamble.  The disorder is progressive and typically results in difficulties in one’s personal, social, and work life; it may lead to bankruptcy or criminal activity to obtain money.  The prevalence of compulsive gambling in the United States has increased with that of gambling itself, and it has been estimated that up to 3% of the adult population may gamble pathologically” (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001).

Soldiers Gambled for Jesus’ Tunic
An example of gambling is found in John 19:23-24.  Here, the soldiers who crucified Jesus divided his garments into four parts, one part for each soldier.  But since Jesus' tunic was seamless, they gambled for it by casting lots.

We see some of the sins involved in gambling, such as greed and covetousness, which we’ll talk about later.

We also see some typical components of gambling in this example:

• It was a game of chance, by the casting of lots.
• It was a game where stakes were involved.  Each soldier owned a fourth of Jesus’ tunic, which they wagered for a chance to win the whole garment.
• Note:  Soldiers customarily divided the garments of the person they crucified.  Jesus’ tunic was a very valuable garment, made without seam, which each soldier would have desired more than all His garments.  If they had torn the tunic into four parts, the value would have almost decreased to zero.

Activities That Are Gambling
Anytime a person wagers money or valuables, for a chance to win something in a game of chance, it’s gambling.

Examples of gambling:

• Games found at casinos such as slot machines, video poker, roulette wheels, dice games, card games, and numbers games are gambling.
• Racetrack betting on horses and dogs are gambling.
• Betting on the outcome of sporting events is gambling.
• Playing the lottery, named for drawing of lots for a prize, is gambling.
• Games where players pay a fee or make a “donation” for a chance to win a prize is gambling.
• Such games include raffles.
• Gambling can also be involved with bingo, if money is paid for a chance to win a prize.
• Office pools, where betting occurs on things such as sporting events, are gambling.

Activities That Aren’t Gambling
Sometimes people try to justify gambling, saying, “Everyone does it!”  They cite activities such as investing in stocks, and farmers hedging investments with futures contracts, to prove that everyone gambles in one form or another.

Confusion exists when we don’t differentiate between risk and gambling.  It’s true, there’s risk in everything we do, but that doesn’t mean we’re gambling.

• Driving a car, walking across the street, and playing sports have components of risk, but they’re not gambling.
• They’re not a game of chance, and they don’t involve stakes.
• Owning a business is risky, but it’s not gambling.
• Many New Testament Christians owned businesses, including the apostles, but they weren’t gambling.  They weren’t playing a game of chance, and stakes weren’t involved.
• Investing in stocks is risky, but it’s not gambling.
• The ownership of a for-profit corporation is through stock, even if it’s privately held.  Investing in stocks is a form of ownership, not gambling.  It’s not a game of chance, and stakes (in the sense of gambling) is not involved.
• Buying an insurance policy is not gambling.
• The purpose of insurance is to insure against loss, such as experienced in a fire, flood, or auto accident.  It’s not a game of chance, and there are no stakes.

Confusion also exists when we don’t differentiate between a game with gambling, and a game without gambling.  For example, bingo is not sinful, but when gambling is added to the game, it becomes sinful.