Brother Bob Pellien: Every smartphone today has the ability to connect us with online gambling and sports betting. It’s so easy now, right? So is gambling really wrong then?
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Brother Bob: The Bible. The basis of our faith in the Church Of Christ, which answers questions about proper worship, the right relationship with God, and most importantly, salvation. That’s in the Bible!
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Brother Bob Pellien
Minister of the Gospel
Brother Bob: I’m Bob Pellien, and welcome to the program, That’s in the Bible.
Dear friends, you know, because online betting is available through every smartphone and it’s legal through most of North America and maybe also in your part of the world too, it’s becoming such a convenient pastime for millennials, and even Gen Z and younger, those who in the past didn’t have access to it.
Sports betting apps have started national ad campaigns attracting younger and younger and more casual betters. Considering all of that, it would be so easy just to ask: Is gambling morally right or wrong?
So for the sake of being concise and accurate, let’s frame our topic of discussion around these questions:
- What is gambling?
- How are we to earn money for our needs?
- What should we not do with the money we have?
So, dear friends, to start with, our first question was: What is gambling? If we do a quick search we can find out from Encyclopedia Britannica, it says:
[Source: Encyclopedia Britannica]
Gambling, the betting or staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain, on the outcome of a game, a contest, or an uncertain event whose result may be determined by chance or accident or have an unexpected result by reason of the bettor’s miscalculation.
Brother Bob: So we could see here that gambling it’s, well, it’s the practice of risk-taking, risking something of value with the hopes of winning something of more value, or relying on luck or random chance. And of course, more often than not, the something of value is simply money.
People bet money in hopes to make more money, right, by relying on chance. And I think everyone would agree, there’s nothing reliable at all about random chance. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. And every time someone wins, consider this, everyone else loses, and it may even send those that lose into distress. And, you know, we can all recall how Jesus taught to love our fellow man. He didn’t say send them into distress.
Now that we have a clear understanding, actually, of what gambling really is, let’s find out what has God instructed in the Holy Bible as the way for us to gain something of value, or to gain money, so as to provide for our needs or the needs of our family? So we begin turning to the Bible, and we do so going all the way back to the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, chapter 3, verses 17 and 19 reads this way:
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. … In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
[Genesis 3:17, 19 New King James Version]
Brother Bob: So, dear friends, what we read here is God setting the policy of how man will eat and secure the necessities of life. Let’s understand that before this pronouncement of God to Adam, the couple that God had created, well, they already had everything that they needed. They lived in paradise, right? But because of course, and we know this from past studies, they disobeyed God’s command, then what’s the way that God set for men henceforth then to get what he needs? As we just read, God said, “In toil” or ”in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread …”
So what exactly did God mean that in order to eat, or to meet necessities in life, or make a living, that a person has to “sweat,” has to “toil?” How are we to earn money for our needs? Well, let’s turn again to the Holy Scriptures, this time II Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 12, and this is what the Bible says about that:
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we command these people and warn them to lead orderly lives and work to earn their own living.
[II Thessalonians 3:12 Good News Bible]
Brother Bob: So, dear friends, we can see that in order to provide for one’s necessities, or to earn a living, what was God’s instruction? He said, “work.” He did not say gamble. “Work to earn” your living. People who are able-bodied then and choose not to work, but instead just simply depend on other means, and depend on other people, or just random chance or luck by gambling, are those who are not leading orderly lives. Because it is by working that one should earn his own living according to the instruction of the Lord.
So to our young viewers that maybe would want to ask, or maybe would be saying, “Well, wait a minute. I’m not old enough yet to be in the workforce.” Well, we advise simply that, study well! Use the opportunity you have now to go to school, in order to prepare yourself to follow God’s instruction to work for a living. And make sure that whatever job or whatever career field that you choose to work in, it follows not only the laws of the land or the laws of the government, but all the more and more importantly, it stays within the laws of God. Why: This is to ensure that you will have a clean or a righteous means of living and that will be blessed by God.
So what then should we apply always when we finally do start working and earning our own living in whatever job or career field that you end up choosing, dear friends? Any guidance from the Lord? Absolutely! Ecclesiastes, chapter 9, verse 10, the Bible says this:
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
[Ecclesiastes 9:10 New International Version]
Brother Bob: Anything should be applied when it comes to earning a living? Answer of the Bible: Yes, work with all your might. The Bible teaches that, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Therefore, we should not just simply work—we need to do our best or work hard for a living.
We don’t agree with this modern trend of “quiet quitting” and things like that. No, no, no. What’s the value of working hard? What’s the reason for working hard? Additional information from the Lord, recorded in the Holy Scriptures, in the book of Proverbs, chapter 20, verse 13:
If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Stay awake, work hard, and there will be plenty to eat!
[Proverbs 20:13 The Living Bible]
Brother Bob: Dear friends, the Bible instructs us to “work hard.” Also tells us what will be the result. The result is there will be plenty, “plenty to eat!” Working hard is what will lead anyone to have a prosperous livelihood. This is the morally correct way to gain the things that we need in life, according to the words of God. Gambling is not relying on hard work, but gambling is simply relying on chance to gain much, at the expense of another gambler’s loss.
That’s the opposite of how Jesus taught us to love our neighbor, right? And what will happen to the money that is gained, even if it’s large amounts of money, if it’s not earned through the hard work that God instructs, but just hoping on luck, hoping on chance, gambling? The Bible, Proverbs, chapter 13, verse 11, responds to that question like this:
Money gained in the wrong way disappears. But money gathered little by little grows.
[Proverbs 13:11 New International Reader’s Version]
Brother Bob: Dear friends, we can see this biblical truth being fulfilled, really, in the lives of those who gamble, right? We read very clearly here, “Money gained in the wrong way disappears.” And there are many who have fallen into debt due to gambling and continue to fall deeper and deeper as they put their hope in the chance that, well, random luck. They will even say things like that, right? They will say, “My luck will change. It will change in my favor.” Well, what’s another biblical truth that we see? Well, when one toils or works hard for the money instead, what did the Bible say? “… Money gathered little by little grows.” It grows.
Let’s consider though, there might be those watching on the program today that might argue and say something like, “Well, the style of the gambling that they’re doing, it’s not to earn a living, it’s not for their livelihood. It’s just entertainment.”Or maybe they would say, “It’s just for fun. It’s just a hobby. It’s just a pastime.” But in all honesty, isn’t the fun part of gambling winning, not losing right? Especially because it’s money that one did not work for. They will say “It’s just fun.” No one has fun losing money.
Others might argue by saying, “I’m using my own money that I work hard for. I can do whatever I want with it.” Well that may be true, but it still does not make it morally right. You know, another definition of gambling, according to dictionary.com, is this. Take a look:
[Source: dictionary.com]
the act or practice of risking the loss of something important by taking a chance or acting recklessly:
Brother Bob: So, dear friends, part of the definition of gambling includes acting recklessly. What example then does the Lord Jesus Christ used to teach us about the danger of acting recklessly? Well, we can turn to Luke, recorded here in chapter 15, verses 11 through 13 reads this way:
Jesus went on to say, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger one said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the property now.’ So the man divided his property between his two sons. After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living.
[Luke 15:11-13 Good News Bible]
Brother Bob: So, dear friends, what did Jesus say will happen if we live recklessly, an example of which is gambling or wasting our money? What then should we not do with the money we have? Well, as we read here in this parable of our Lord Jesus Christ, regarding the lost or the prodigal son, what kind of life did he lead? He was into “reckless living.” Because that was his lifestyle, what did he do with the money he inherited? Well, we also read, “he wasted his money.”
This is an example, then, of what we should not follow. Gambling, even though one can say, “It’s just for fun,” it’s reckless living, and those who choose to live and act recklessly will end up wasting their money.
So, dear friends, we started this discussion with three main questions in mind. Let’s review what we have learned from the Bible about all three. First of all,
- What is gambling?
Well, we learned it’s the practice of risking the loss of something important or valuable by taking a chance or acting recklessly in hopes to win something of more value.
- How are we to earn money for our needs?
This was our second question. Well, we’ve learned that we’re taught to work for our own living, work hard. Working in order to provide our needs is morally correct and based on God’s instructions.
- We also learned, what should we not do with the money we have?
We should not live recklessly or gamble with what we have. Doing this would put us in that same category as the son, the prodigal son, who wasted the blessings from his father, as in the parable we read from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gambling, dear friends, is widely considered a vise, which has been made much more accessible nowadays due to modern technology, right? But as tempting as it may be—it’s still a sin, like it always has been.
If you’re currently addicted to gambling, we hope that what you have heard today from the Bible will help you receive true blessings from God. And remember this last instruction from the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can read it together in the book of Matthew, chapter six. What was the counsel of the Lord Jesus? I quote Matthew 6:33:
But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
[Matthew 6:33 Contemporary English Version]
Brother Bob: This is what we should all do, dear friends, because That’s in the Bible.
We’d like you to continue learning about Iglesia Ni Cristo, Church Of Christ.
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Brother Bob: Do so by visiting us online and browsing the different topics. Set up an appointment to meet with a minister of the gospel. If you have any questions about the Bible or salvation, please email them to us.
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Brother Bob Pellien
Minister of the Gospel
Brother Bob: I’m Brother Bob Pellien. Thanks for watching. See you next time, right here on That in the Bible.
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