Previous page | Main ALOVE site Archive   Issues : Gambling ... : back to culture page    What is so wrong with gambling? It is a victimless crime, surely? Both parties enter in willingly. No one is forced to place a wager, and both sides have a chance of profiting. How can this be wrong? Is it not just harmless fun, a way to make an event or life more exciting? Then there is the chance for people to become very rich and have their lives changed instantly. Can we honestly begrudge someone money that will make for them a better life? And of course gaming corporations give away a lot of money to charities, don’t they? In some places it is actually legislated that a percentage of the profits be used to support charitable causes. Is this not a win-win situation all the way around? So why do Christians get so uptight about gambling? There is no “Thou shalt not Gamble” in the Bible. Leviticus does not contain any obscure laws specifically concerning Poker, and Jesus simply did not weigh in, so far as we know, on the matter of National Lotteries. So given that there is no strict, specific command against gambling in the Scriptures, what’s the big deal? The first issue is the potential harm that gambling can cause. No one will say that everyone who drinks an occasional glass of alcohol is an alcoholic, but everyone would agree that it is an addictive substance. In the same way, there are many people who gamble infrequently, and we would not call them addicts. But to infer from this that gambling is not addictive is simply not true. The gambling industry, which in the UK is said to make a £42 billion per year, makes money from those for whom gambling has become an unbreakable habit. That may not be where most of the profit is coming from, but the impact on the addicts’ lives and on society cannot be entirely measured in financial terms. Aside from the danger of becoming addicts, there is also the moral consideration of supporting organisations that take advantage of others. If we gamble, are we participating in the creation of a just and loving society when we are buying into the notion of making gain strictly at another’s expense? Even lottery winnings are simply the combined take of millions of people buying tickets, the overwhelming majority of whom will never see a return on their money. The whole gaming industry is concerned solely with profit. This is not news, and may not seem wrong at first. But perhaps that is because we have become so inured to the win at all costs mentality of our world, and gambling is the last say in the worship of money. “No one can serve two masters….You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matt 6:24) There is no real social or spiritual benefit to gambling. Some would say it gives people a chance at a better life, hope that they might strike it rich. But this is fool’s gold. Everyone knows the miniscule chances of winning, and yet still there are people who live their lives dreaming of the big payday. As Christians, we need to consider the negative implications and harm that gambling can cause and how we should support those whose lives are negatively impacted through gambling addiction. : back to top : back to culture page Youthwork - The Partnership ... ALOVE, Youthwork Magazine, Youth For Christ, Spring Harvest and Oasis are working together to equip and resource the Church for effective youth work and ministry.