Personally, I don’t see gambling as a legitimate expression of my stewardship of what God has given to me.
There is no verse in the Bible that explicitly says, “Do not gamble.”(Somebody always says [referring to Acts 1], “Well, I mean, even the disciples cast lots. ”Right. That was a means by which they were able to determine the will of God because God spoke through that method — that’s a little different.)
But I do not believe that the Bible legitimizes gambling (including the Lottery) as a means of stewardship. I also feel on the social end of it that the Lottery is a disaster and I will tell you why. The people who buy the tickets are the people who can least afford to buy the tickets. An already poor populace are literally consuming those things. It plays into the hands of the people who need to learn how to work productively and not hope against hope. It is another expression of “They that would be rich fall into many snares and hurtful lusts.”
The Bible advocates gaining money by inheritance, by hard work, and by wise investment, but it never advocates getting rich by gambling or fast money. The Lottery is not a legitimate way to make a living or invest for the future, nor is it a good form of stewardship; and it is certainly not a legitimate way to fund education at the expense of already poor people who are going to waste their subsistence on that.
This Grace to You article originally appeared here.
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