Gambling

We are called to be good stewards with our resources (money included).
Gambling itself is not the issue, per se, but what people will do and how far they will go to get "something for nothing". As a previous poster said, we aren't going to close down all the restaurants because some people overeat (guilty party here!!), should we ban all gambling because some people "overgamble"?
I don't gamble, not even a $1 lottery ticket. IMO, it's a foolish waste of my money.
Others may not think so, to each their own. Yes, people get crazy and throw away their entire paycheck on a chance to win millions. They need help. They need to realize that if they can't afford it, they don't need to do it.
As it says in 1 Timothy, the LOVE of money is the root of evil.
There have been stories of people losing everything they have in the stock market. Why? Love of money. Losing their life savings at the horse track. Why? Love of money. It's their actions that hurt them. People choose to gamble, like they choose to drink, or smoke, or play the violin. No one forces them to do it. Ads for casinos and lotteries appeal to the human nature of greed.
If we can convince people to love God more than money, the gambling problem will eventually go away (not likely, though).

 

wizofoz said it GREED

The reason people gamble is to get what they want without working for it.

Christians who gamble are guilty of unbelief. God said he will supply all our needs yet for some that isn't enough they want more than needs.

 

I don't know about you all, but pulling those slots for hours sure feels like work to me.

A question for all my non-gambling brothers and sisters:

You say we shouldn't take money that we don't work for. Well, wat if a relative dies and leaves you some money? Would you not accept it? You didn't work for it, they did.

And:

If God provides for all of our needs, why do we work at all? Shouldn't the money just fall down from heaven? Do you think He may have been referring to our spiritual needs here?

 

I also wouldn't bet money on whether they were going to leave it to me or someone else.

Blessings,
Sue

 

Here is my own scriptural answer:

"...whatsoever is not of faith is sin".

HankD

 

I've heard it said that God provides our needs, we work to provide our wants.

I believe that if we are living for Him, and doing our best to do His will, He will make sure our needs (clothing, housing, food, basics for survival) will be met, usually by us having a means of income to provide those needs.
Everything else is a "want".
With gambling, you usually "want" that extra few million or so, but you really don't "need" it.

 

If gambling is a sin, then:

Is purchasing a raffle ticket a sin?

Is entering drawings that say "no purchase necessary" a sin?

 

[ May 26, 2003, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: 3907 ]

 

Yes, we waste much of God's time.

When we are saved we are bought by the blood of Christ to serve him. Many whine when asked to spend more than an hour on Sunday in service ti him.

According to the Bible, there
is no such thing as "mother luck," and "easy money" is a fable that only fools pursue. God warns: "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven" (Prov. 23:5). The high cost of the gambling folly is evident even to those who do not believe the Bible. A recent study by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, one of the world's gambling meccas,
looked at members of Gamblers Anonymous. They had lost an average of $112,400 on gambling during their lifetimes; 45% had been forced to declare
bankruptcy; 57% had written bad checks to cover their losses or to feed their gambling frenzy; 65% of those who were divorced said the cause of the divorce was gambling. That is only a part of the high cost of gambling.

 

And what were the corresponding stats among those gamblers who were not members? Naturally, these number are going to be skewed higher than average because people who belong to GA, by their very nature, gamble to an unhealthy extreme.

As sad as those numbers are, and I don't doubt them, you can't judge the effects on the whole by the actions of a few extreme cases.

 

This thread begs all kinds of questions:

* What about state college scholarships funded solely by a state-run lottery?
* What about investing or buyng stocks? Surely you are gambling that a stock will go up or down (if you short the stock).
* What about buying mutual fund shares?
* How about commodity markets?

 

What about state college scholarships funded solely by a state-run lottery?

indeed, what about any type of scholarships? Has the recipient worked for it, using the definitive question some here ask? Probably yes; at least some work. But other candidates for the same scholarship may have worked harder, but did not get it because the one who did has the ability to achieve more with less effort-- besides 'affirmative action' and other things that may come into play to reward the one who did not work harder than the one who 'lost.'

What about investing or buyng stocks? Surely you are gambling that a stock will go up or down (if you short the stock).

Definitely. If someone gains on an investment, then someone has to lose-- another of the defnitive questions here.

What about buying mutual fund shares?

I have gambled and lost so far on that one.

 

I know that I played the Devil's advocate.

I thought perhaps somebody would give a good answer about stockmarket investments.

Ideally this is what is supposed to happen:

You buy stock in (let us say) MicroSoft.
What you are doing is buying a piece of the company. They use your money to buy raw materials and pay the overhead (salaries,etc) to manufacture their products.

If they make a net profit then the value of the company increases and so therefore does the value of your piece. You then sell your piece and realize a profit because someone worked to increase the overall value of MicroSoft.
In addition you may also realize a piece of the ongoing net profit in the form of dividends as long as you own the stock.

I know this is a gross over simplification of what a stock purchase is, but the essential is that someone works for the increase just not the investor (although that scenario is possible).

One could say that someone works at the Casino, the race track, the Lottery booth etc.

For the most part gambling has been associated with evil and/or organized crime.

Then again, Wall Street has not been without sin either. It can and does happen quite frequently that some people gain a fortune at the expense of others playing the stock market by the rules and according to the law of the land.
It does become less of a "gamble" the more you study the market.
Basically the Stock Market has its roots in the Protestant work ethic.

Then there is what some consider another form of gambling - life insurance (or any kind of insurance)...

Take health insurance for instance. Those who don't get sick pay for those who do.

Those who stay well loose their money while those who get sick gain that money. It's a kind of lottery.

Then there is this...

Matthew 6:
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

HankD

[ April 25, 2003, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: HankD ]

 

Buying Insurance is really a Gamble....

The Ins. Companies are betting you're not going to die and you're betting you are. They're basing their "bet" on facts (actuarial tables) and you're basing your "bet" on the fear that you'll die and leave your family unprovided for.

Talk about NonBiblical - did they have insurance in New Testament times? I don't think so.

 

If ya lose, ya win, and if ya win, ya lose!

 

And life insurance plans generally exclude deaths from suicide, so if you are going to attempt the one thing that can fix this bet for you, you better be clever about it.

My current "gambling," with the stock market down, has been to review penny stocks and select about 10-15 to buy, 'betting' than one or 2 of these will hit; not necessarily big, but make a profit. My net gain since February right now is $2906. But I may lose $600 or more by buying a few that have fallen and can't get up, and one so far that has faded out of sight.

 

Have I read this correct? Did you say casino gambling is not gambling?

yours, Jon.

 

I am seriously concerned about anyones discernment skills if they can't figure out whether gambling is right or wrong. It doesn't make any difference (in principle) if you are betting $1,000,000 on the Super Bowl or betting your buddy a "Coke". Gambling is gambling and it is wrong.

 

How far do you want to take this principle?
If you put your money in a vending machine, you're taking a gamble (although the odds are in your favor) that you'll get something out of it.

If you lend your friend 5 dollars, you're gambling that he'll give it back.

How far do you want to go?