Is Gambling a sin?

[pimike]

Question: "Is gambling a sin?

What does the Bible say about gambling?"

Answer: Gambling can be defined as “risking money in an attempt to multiply the money on something that is against the odds.” The Bible does not specifically condemn gambling, betting, or the lottery. The Bible does warn us, however, to stay away from the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10; Hebrews 13:5). Scripture also encourages us to stay away from attempts to "get rich quick" (Proverbs 13:11; 23:5; Ecclesiastes 5:10). Gambling most definitely is focused on the love of money and undeniably tempts people with the promise of quick and easy riches.

What’s wrong with gambling? Gambling is a difficult issue because if it is done in moderation and only on occasion, it is a waste of money, but it is not necessarily "evil." People waste money on all sorts of activities. Gambling is no more or less of a waste of money than seeing a movie (in many cases), eating an unnecessarily expensive meal, or purchasing a worthless item. At the same time, the fact that money is wasted on other things does not justify gambling. Money should not be wasted. Excess money should be saved for future needs or given to the Lord's work - not gambled away.

Gambling in the Bible: While the Bible does not explicitly mention gambling, it does mention games of "luck" or "chance." As an example, casting lots is used in Leviticus to choose between the sacrificial goat and the scapegoat. Joshua cast lots to determine the allotment of land to the various tribes. Nehemiah cast lots to determine who would live inside the walls of Jerusalem and who wouldn’t. The apostles cast lots to determine the replacement for Judas. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast in the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Nowhere in the Bible is gambling or "chance" used for entertainment or presented as an acceptable practice for followers of God.

Casinos and lotteries: Casinos use all sorts of marketing schemes to entice gamblers to risk as much money as possible. They often offer inexpensive or even free alcohol, which encourages drunkenness, and thereby a decreased ability to make wise decisions. Everything in a casino is perfectly rigged for taking money in large sums and giving nothing in return, except for fleeting and empty pleasures. Lotteries attempt to portray themselves as a way to fund education and/or social programs. However, studies show that lottery participants are usually those who can least afford to be spending money on lottery tickets. The allure of "getting rich quick" is too great a temptation to resist for those who are desperate. The chances of winning are infinitesimal, which results in many peoples’ lives being ruined.



1 Timothy 6:10 tells us, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." Hebrews 13:5 declares, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Matthew 6:24 proclaims, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Recommended Resource: All In: Gambling on Life, Love & Faith in a World of Risk by Michael DiMarco.


Peace to all, just to this for fun, do not get burrelled in

[RumpledForeskin]

in your case, yes

[The Seer]

God and the Devil gambling with our souls

[pimike]

Boys just don't gamble with your rent money, you should be ok

[wild willy]

Noway I 'm pretty sure when I was young my sunday school teacher would go over all the lines with us and then let us out early so we could call our bookie

[pimike]

Noway I 'm pretty sure when I was young my sunday school teacher would go over all the lines with us and then let us out early so we could call our bookie

[Tsoprano]

Noway I 'm pretty sure when I was young my sunday school teacher would go over all the lines with us and then let us out early so we could call our bookie

[slacker00]

http://www.gotquestions.org/gambling-sin.html

I was wondering the same thing this morning. It sounds like sports betting can be treated like any other occupation or recreation if done responsibly. The sin lies in worship of money or trying to make a big score, etc. Avoid the common pitfalls (sins) and God will shine his love on a good handicapper!

[jjgold]

If your Christian it is a sin definitely

I do not know about other religions

[slacker00]

If your Christian it is a sin definitely

I do not know about other religions

How is it a sin for Christians? Care to quote a bible verse?

[BeatTheJerk]

I hope it's not a sin because I'm not getting any pleasure out of it ...................

[Nicky Santoro]

i think it is a sin because how do you explain the 99.2% of gamblers that lose? God is punishing them by going broke for committing a sin.. and how do you explain then the 0.8% who win? well, those 0.8% are miserable as hell, even though they are winning..

so YES, gambling is a sin, or GOD would have made more winners gambling if it wasn't a sin, and would make the winners happy, instead of miserable, like they all are..

[pico]

god hates gamblers. that is why they're miserable losers like nicky said. mike, if you're a god person, you should probably quit.

[slacker00]

i think it is a sin because how do you explain the 99.2% of gamblers that lose? God is punishing them by going broke for committing a sin.. and how do you explain then the 0.8% who win? well, those 0.8% are miserable as hell, even though they are winning..

so YES, gambling is a sin, or GOD would have made more winners gambling if it wasn't a sin, and would make the winners happy, instead of miserable, like they all are..

Maybe God is simply punishing people gambling for the wrong reasons. Maybe 99.2% of gamblers are gambling for the wrong reasons. The 0.8% winners is proof that God does love you if you gamble for the right reasons, using your own logic. I suppose the big problem is that gambling is very difficult to do without sin creeping in one way or another.

[G's pks]

go directly to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200!

[pico]

Maybe God is simply punishing people gambling for the wrong reasons. Maybe 99.2% of gamblers are gambling for the wrong reasons. The 0.8% winners is proof that God does love you if you gamble for the right reasons, using your own logic. I suppose the big problem is that gambling is very difficult to do without sin creeping in one way or another.

according to some interpretation of the bible, making interesting off your money is a sin. it is a sin to have a extra money for not contributing to the society.

[slacker00]

according to some interpretation of the bible, making interesting off your money is a sin. it is a sin to have a extra money for not contributing to the society.

You are talking about usury, I'm guessing. Usury is making excessive profit from money lending, etc. I know we can quibble about what is excessive, but let's just say the bible is talking about swindling, hustling, or duping someone just because you can. Here's a list of bible quotes about usury for further reference.

[pico]

You are talking about usury, I'm guessing. Usury is making excessive profit from money lending, etc. I know we can quibble about what is excessive, but let's just say the bible is talking about swindling, hustling, or duping someone just because you can. Here's a list of bible quotes about usury for further reference.

bible is pretty vague on a lot of things. which is no suprise, cuz bunch of smart and crazy people have been arguing about it for a long long time.

here is a quote i got from the usury link:

Exodus 22:25 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.

according to the bible, you should be lending money out at 0% interest for those in need.

if people don't need the money, why would they need a loan? so by that logic, anytime you lend out money, it should be without interest.

[pico]

one way to interpret the bible is that it is risk adverse. bible do not encourge any form of activity that might cause problems. for example, thou shall not fvck your neighbor's wife. or thou shall not steal.

so by that logic, gambling is risk taking activity...even though it is not specifically said in the bible that it is a sin, by increasing risks, you're going against what the bible intended to do...that is a tool to make the population easier to control and manipulate.

so there are two ways to interpret bible and gambling

1) bible is trying to teach people how to live a good life, so you should probably stop gambling.

2) bible is trying to brainwash people into sheeps, so you should gamble to keep your mind sharp.

[Rixsaw]

Gambling is not a sin unless it leads to cheating, lying, stealing and worse killing.

[slacker00]

bible is pretty vague on a lot of things. which is no suprise, cuz bunch of smart and crazy people have been arguing about it for a long long time.

here is a quote i got from the usury link:

Exodus 22:25 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.

according to the bible, you should be lending money out at 0% interest for those in need.

if people don't need the money, why would they need a loan? so by that logic, anytime you lend out money, it should be without interest.

The bible talks about helping the poor throughout the scriptures. This isn't specific to money lending, but a theme throughout the bible. Here's a link that might help explain in more detail. Interest free loans to the poor is simply a Christian virtue, similar to not screwing your neighbor's wife. I know it sounds foreign to help someone in need, in modern culture & times, but it is the fabric of the Christian faith to help one another in times of need.

[007Fatty]

yea gambling is a sin
i think in the bible there is something about dirty money or something.
but in the bible the gentiles were gambling in the temple
and jesus went in and thru all their money and tables over the place
and said something like keep the temple holy
and spending your money like this isnt holy or something i forget.
but yea its deff a sin hah..

[slacker00]

one way to interpret the bible is that it is risk adverse. bible do not encourge any form of activity that might cause problems. for example, thou shall not fvck your neighbor's wife. or thou shall not steal.

so by that logic, gambling is risk taking activity...even though it is not specifically said in the bible that it is a sin, by increasing risks, you're going against what the bible intended to do...that is a tool to make the population easier to control and manipulate.

so there are two ways to interpret bible and gambling

1) bible is trying to teach people how to live a good life, so you should probably stop gambling.

2) bible is trying to brainwash people into sheeps, so you should gamble to keep your mind sharp.

There are ways of gambling which manages risk. But I'll agree that it's a small fraction of gamblers that do effectively manage risk.

Defining Christianity in terms of risk is fairly missing the point, IMHO. But I do think it would not be Christian to be reckless.

[slacker00]

yea gambling is a sin
i think in the bible there is something about dirty money or something.
but in the bible the gentiles were gambling in the temple
and jesus went in and thru all their money and tables over the place
and said something like keep the temple holy
and spending your money like this isnt holy or something i forget.
but yea its deff a sin hah..

No, that was because they were disgracing the temple. Perhaps they were also hustling people. If anything, it might suggest that the bookies are the sinners, preying on people. I guess if it can be proven that bookies are indeed preying on people, rather than simply taking bets as a standard public service then I guess that would be a sin.

[Wrecktangle]

Question: "Is gambling a sin?

Yep, so's using condoms according to Joey Ratz. But no problems, you can buy an indulgence!

BUT, what about insurance? ...or...or...buying stock sure has been gambling these last 10 or so years...

My religion is Hawaiian, we throw virgins into volcanoes to appease our gods...lost a lot of slow eight yr olds that way, tho.

[Nicky Santoro]

i think we now know who the sbr's religious guy is.. and that is slacks.. good job slacks.. i used to go to church every sunday when i was young.. my father forced us to go every sunday and i loved it.. i think we should change your name to father slacks from now on.

amen, slacks..

[slacker00]

lol

I grew up being an agnostic or atheist or whatever. I've been in an actual physical church less than a dozen times in my life. Churches actually creep me out. Everyone seems to be partaking in these weird rituals, eating little bread wafers, chanting, ugh. I'm mostly just interested in Christianity in respect to how it has shaped the society & nature of the world's leading superpower nation. Realistically, I'd probably spent less than 1 hour total reading the bible before 2009. I'm still struggling about what to think about Jesus, but the closest way to understand Jesus is to read his actual words in the bible. I'm highly suspicious of organized churches, etc. I think it really just comes down to being a good person, at the heart, and don't be a douche, the bible just examines the finer points of that concept. It's not really rocket science or anything.

[InTheHole]

That's why I do it

Half my profit goto

[pico]

i think if you go super christian. you would consider trade stocks and buying insurance a sin too. because whenever you buy insurance, you're make a huge plus money bet that something bad is gonna happen.

[InTheHole]

Excellent point PICO

[CashMoney]

Religion LOL............

[pico]

now if you consider insurance a sin. think about this...massachusette state gov by law requires you to buy health insurance. and most states requires you to buy auto insurance. the gov is forcing you to sin. the gov should be going to hell.

[InTheHole]

[pimike]

It is a game of chance therefore we need to not put our whole minds and money into it or we will be all men most miserable.

For you can't love God and money for you will hate the one but love the other, you can't serve two masters.


Did you get my Braves pick today?

[pico]

mike you're going to hell for gambling. stop now and repent.