You Bet, You Lose!
October 16, 2005
by Harry Osborne

The advertisements saturate television and radio enticing us to participate. We see the signs on the highway. We hear about it on the news every week. We are faced with it up close with every visit to a convenience store. But we rarely think about it unless the jackpot gets high enough to make the news -- the lottery. This article will not discuss the political implications of the Oklahoma lottery, but will seek to examine the moral implications of gambling for the gambler and provider, including the sanitized and legitimized forms like the state sponsored lottery. Make no mistake about it – the lottery is just another form of the same gambling with the state government replacing the mafia as the one running the racket.

The word "gamble" is sometimes used so loosely we must define the word before we begin, so limiting the scope of our study. We will discuss this word in the sense of "to stake or risk money, etc., in the hope of great gain in a game in which success is solely dependent on chance" (see Webster and Oxford American Dictionary). When that gain takes place, it is at the expense of one or more who lose money without receiving any legitimate benefit or service of commerce.

We are not talking about the loose sense in which the word gamble is sometimes used. When one speaks of the farmer's craft as a “gamble,” the word is used to mean the same thing as “risk.” Risk is involved in any commercial undertaking where a legitimate benefit or service is exchanged for money or the expectation of gain. The farmer does not receive gain at the expense of others, but any gain he accrues is a result of others buying his crop because it also benefits them. The Bible clearly approves of this kind of endeavor. James speaks of the fact that the farmer must wait for the rain (which implies a risk) to make a crop. “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain” (Jas. 5:7). Other passages clearly show that God approves the acceptance of risk in the process of legitimate commerce.

The word “gamble” is also used in that loose sense when referring to an investment whether in the stock market, bonds or some other commercial arrangement. However, we are not using the word in that sense either. In an investment, regardless of the risk, something of value is exchanged for the buyer's money in an effort to cause both parties to gain. Jesus showed approval for gain by risk of investment. In the parable of the talents, a man of wealth left three stewards in charge of differing amounts of money expecting them to make a profit in commercial enterprise. Two showed a profit with the master's investment upon his return, but one did not because of his failure to attempt any business. The master said the steward should have at least drawn interest on his money (Matt. 25:14-30). Clearly, some risk was present.

“Gambling” such as the lottery, casino games, bingo, raffles, private poker games and the like is our topic. Such games of chance do not seek gain through the three means approved in the Bible: (1) wages of labor, (2) profits of investment or (3) free-will gifts. Clear Bible passages can easily be cited to show each of these means is approved of God. Remember that we must first prove a practice as right and good according to God’s word before we may legitimately engage in the practice (1 Thess. 5:21-22). The gain from gambling is never intended to be experienced by all parties as is the case in legitimate commerce. Gain in gambling can only come at the expense of others. Where is the passage of Scripture to approve gain from gambling?

The Bible does, however, have a term for the action of gambling. The Bible word descriptive of the practice is coveteousness. This action is not seen as commendable and worthy of state sponsorship in God's word. It is condemned! A brief look at the company of sins it keeps quickly shows God's view of it (Eph. 5:3-5; Mk. 7:21-23; Lk. 12:15). Such conduct is the very opposite of that commanded by the Lord in our dealings with others. He said, “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise” (Lk. 6:31). Is that what the gambler tries to do? Does the purchaser of the lottery ticket at the 7-11 hope that all fellow purchasers receive the same as he receives? Obviously not! Thus, the gambler stands condemned for his or her part in such action.

The individual gambler is not the only one condemned. The casino, bookmaker or other providers of organized gambling are condemned by the same principle. They set the games and the odds in such a way that the organizer is guaranteed from about 10 to 50% of the total amount wagered. State lotteries involve the government in this vice as the largest offender. Typically, the lotteries are intended to return to the betting public around 50 to 55% of the revenue received. In other words, the states set up the system to insure they will take about half of the money received in the lottery while they try to convince the gambler that he can become rich by the lottery. The lottery advertisements appeal to people's greed for quick and easy riches. The fact is that the odds of winning a million dollars or more is approximately 13 million to 1, far less than the odds of one getting struck by lightning (400,000 to 1). So add lying, or at least deception, to the list of those things produced by the state lottery. What a scam! It should be called “robbery,” not “lottery.”

And how is this theft justified by the state? After appealing to the public’s greed, they add a sop to the losers in their con game by saying that the “proceeds” go to benefit education. Really? The fact is that state governments where lotteries have been used to enhance state revenues have found numerous means of creative accounting to raid lottery proceeds to pay for various state programs of dubious benefit while claiming to have kept the lottery funds for education only. If the purchaser of lottery tickets really seeks to aid education, let the take the full amount and donate it to the school of their choice where the full amount can really go to education without helping to finance a state-sponsored scam. The truth is that the one going to buy his or her lottery ticket is not thinking about assistance to public education, but about becoming a millionaire with the money to satisfy self!

Think about the place of government ordained by God and it really becomes very simple (Rom. 13:1-7). Does God desire the government that He ordained as “a minister of God to thee for good” to raise money through the same means that organized crime has used for years? Or does He expect a higher standard from those whom He authorized to praise good and avenge evil? That is the bottom line! When we seek for God's answer to the question, we will see that gambling is not an effort approved by God for gamblers or the bookmaker -- whether organized by the mafia or the government.

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