Gambling and Lotteries - Is it sin or not?

Biblical perspective in opposition to gambling. The church believes gambling is an artificial and contrived risk taken for selfish gain at another’s expense. It is done without a fair return for "creative effort, useful skills, or responsible investment." A careful study of the Scriptures indicates that gambling is a form of evil that the Christian seeking to live by scriptural principles should avoid.

Scripture (Isaiah 65:11) recounts that during the Babylonian captivity of Israel some Israelites succumbed to the influence of their captors and worshiped heathen gods of "chance" or "luck." In their idolatry they denied the providence of God, trusting in luck rather than the living, sovereign Lord of the universe. Verses 12-16 shows God does not accept such activity.

Scripture further condemns the practice of gambling by showing it to be inconsistent with its teaching on work, stewardship, and love of one’s neighbor. Gambling avoids honest labor in an effort to "get something for nothing" or to "get rich quick." Thus, it violates the scriptural principle that teaches man must work for his sustenance. (See Proverbs 12:11; 28:19,20; 2 Thessalonians 3:10.) The Christian should recognize all that one possesses belongs to God (Psalms 24:1). In the Parable of Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Jesus teaches that a person’s resources are given as a trust to be used wisely. No candid appraisal of gambling can endorse it as such. Finally, Jesus taught that love is what earmarks the Christian as His disciple (John 13:35). No Christian who seeks to love his neighbor as himself (Matthew 22:39) can justify profiting from greed and addiction that motivates so much of gambling.

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