By Rev. Mark H. Creech
December 6, 2004

(AgapePress) - It produces an incredible challenge for Christian activists like me, who are determined to do what we can to keep gambling interest from succeeding in our state.

North Carolina's governor, Mike Easley, has promised to aggressively push for an education lottery in his second term. State Senator David Weinstein has announced during the next session of the General Assembly that he'll work hard to bring pari-mutuel gambling (horse-racing) to our state. In an effort to overturn North Carolina's laws against gambling and legalize a proposed "poker club" in Durham, attorneys are suing Durham County, arguing that denying their client the right to open such an establishment is unconstitutional.

What troubles me more, however, is the lack of conviction about the sin of gambling among professing Christians. Recently I spoke in a number of churches that were located along the North Carolina border, where it's easy to make a quick trip to a neighbor state. It saddened me to learn from the pastoral leadership of these churches that many of their people regularly cross the state line to buy lottery tickets.

According to a Barna Research study, there is very little difference between the churched and the unchurched on the issue of gambling. "The only difference based on people's faith commitment was that non-born again adults were marginally more likely than born-agains to have purchased a lottery ticket in the past week (24% vs. 17%, respectively)," says Barna. Dr. D. James Kennedy in his book, What If America Were A Christian Nation Again? has written, "Gambling has become so prevalent throughout our culture that even many professing Christians think nothing of gambling a dollar here and there or enjoying a 'junket in Vegas.'"

Nevertheless, whether it's buying a lottery ticket or playing the numbers at a roulette table, every time a Christian gambles, a grievous sin is committed. "Surely not," someone responds, "I thought gambling was only a sin if you let it develop into a problem." Hardly! To say gambling is a sin only if it develops into a compulsion is like saying watching pornography is wrong only if it results in an addiction. Gambling is always sinful because it emanates from a spiritual motive God summarily rejects.

"What spiritual motive?" you ask. Well, just as God would deny anyone the means for entertaining or generating the sin of sexual lust, God would also deny the means for facilitating the sin of covetousness. Gambling is essentially an expression of a covetous spirit. Covetousness is an inordinate desire for money, property, or something that belongs to someone else. Rex Rogers in his book, Seducing America, rightly says there are only three ways to legitimately acquire property: (1) as a gift, (2) as a payment for labor, and (3) in fair exchange. Anything else is but a form of covetousness, and gambling certainly doesn't fit any of these criteria. Covetousness is the motive that drives the gambling enterprise.

Gambling flows from what is depraved about human nature. It's a violation of the Tenth Commandment -- "Thou shalt not covet" (Ex. 20:17). Jesus strongly warned against this sin, saying: "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Lk. 12:15). The apostle Paul counseled, "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (I Tim. 6:9-10).

It's unfortunate that many Christians buy into the worldly assumption that money produces security, when, in fact, it often results in just the opposite. In an article titled "Unlucky in Riches," Ellen Goodstein tells the story of William "Bud" Post, who won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery. "I wish it had never happened," said Post. According to the article, a former girlfriend successfully sued Post for a share of his winnings. His brother was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit a share of his jackpot. Siblings pestered him until he agreed to invest in a couple of business ventures that failed and further strained his relationship with them. He even spent time in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector. Now he has lost all his winnings and is bankrupt, living off $450 a month and food stamps. No doubt, Post hoped and prayed for sudden wealth. His prayers were answered, but his life was also wrecked on a dollar sign. Certainly money in itself isn't evil. But whenever we try to obtain, improperly use or estimate the importance of money; it becomes a curse rather than a blessing.

Dr. D. Martin Lloyd Jones tells about a farmer who one day reported to his wife with enthusiasm his best cow had given birth to two beautiful calves, one red and one white. He told his wife his intention was to dedicate one of the calves to the Lord. "When the time comes to sell them," he said, "we'll keep the proceeds that come from one calf and give the proceeds from the other to the Lord." "Which calf do you plan to give to the Lord?" the wife asked. "No need to decide now," said the farmer. "We'll treat them both the same and later sell them as I said." Several months later, the farmer entered the kitchen looking very sad. When the wife asked what was troubling him he said, "I have bad news. The Lord's calf is dead." "But you never decided which was to be the Lord's calf," his wife said. "Oh yes I did," he insisted. "I had always determined it was to be the white one -- and it is the white calf that has died."

It is always the Lord's calf that dies -- unless we are clear about the true nature of our possessions. Everything we own, not just a part of what we own, God provides to use for His purposes -- the health and well being of our family, for aid to others, and for the great task of promoting Christian verities -- not to throw down the rat hole of games of chance.