Let me begin by sharing with you some important facts about gambling in America today found on a search of Bing. As I did my research for this topic I was amazed at the things I learned about gambling in America today. Here are a few of the things I learned from online sources.
Gambling is indeed one of the fastest-growing industries in America.
The U.S. gambling industry generated approximately $71.92 billion in revenue in 2024, with casino slots and tables games accounting for a significant portion of this revenue.
Sports betting has surged, with Americans placing over $220 billion in sports wagers, reflecting a significant growth trend in the industry. Only about 3% of gamblers are successful in the long run, meaning the vast majority end up losing money. Gambling addiction leads to significant financial problems, including massive debts and financial ruin. Compulsive gambling causes mental health problems and severely damages personal relationships, causing mistrust and emotional strain within families, higher divorce rates, and social isolation due to the shifting priorities from loved ones to gambling.
Raffles are considered a form of gambling in many jurisdictions. This classification arises because raffles involve the sale of tickets, which require payment, and the selection of winners is based on chance. In the U.S., raffles are regulated at both federal and state levels, and they can be heavily regulated or even prohibited in some states.
Raffles often require nonprofits to obtain a license or permit to operate legally, and they must comply with specific rules to avoid being classified as gambling.
I am sure that some would be very glad to hear that there is no scripture in the entire Bible that says, “Thou shall not gamble. Sadly for some this is the only criteria they will use for doing or not doing something. Imagine the wide range of activities available to us if we are to apply this principle for all of our lives. The Bible is not a book of insignificant rules, instead it is a book of grand principles. God did not need to set down innumerable laws or rules for you and I because he knew that the principles He gave us would be enough to guide the lives of those who wanted to serve Him and please Him.
Some people like to justify gambling by saying that gambling is just taking a risk and people take risks every day. You have probably heard this idea expressed this way, “All life is a gamble.” I just want you to know today this is a very false and shaking foundation. Gambling is not the same thing as taking a risk. The farmer who plants his seed in the ground is taking a risk but he is not gambling. When you get in your car and drive away from church today you are taking a risk but you are not gambling. Most of what we do day in and day out involves a risk of some kind but that in no way implies that we are all gambling every day. Here is what you need to know. The definition of gambling is this: the activity of playing games of chance for money, or betting on the outcome of future events such as the results of races or games:
GAMBLING CONTRADICTS GOD’S HONESTY PRINCIPLE.
Gambling is taking from another person what does not belong to you. The fact that someone willingly participates in an action that is wrong does not make that activity right. When two people who are married agree to involve themselves in an illicit sexual relationship that we call an affair, their mutual consent to the act does not therefore make it right. An affair is adultery by consent, but it is still wrong. The fact that a group of people are willing to bet, take a chance on winning an item. What is right about that according to God’s word? NOTHING!
Proverbs 11:1NIV
11 The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him.
Listen to what the Bible says in Romans 13:7-9-NIV
7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Now some might want to say, “Well I didn’t force them gamble so it’s not my fault that they lost their money.” It that what love says?
In my dad’s lesson he wrote “If one is able to secure his neighbors possessions by means of skill or chance is that just the loser’s tough luck? Such an attitude makes havoc with thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.”
GAMBLING CONTRADICTS The Stewardship Principle. We should be good stewards.
1 Peter 4:10-NKJV
10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Corinthians 4:1-2-NKJV
4 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
“The bible concept is simply this: God is the owner of the entire universe, everything is His. Our purpose is to glorify the Almighty God. Everything we have is used directly or indirectly for the service of God.”
Isaiah 43:7-NKJV
7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory;
I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
One of the arguments for gambling that I hear over and over again is this, “It is just entertainment.” “We are only doing this for fun.” Great, then why don’t you gamble for pretzels or toothpicks? If winning money is not the objective then why are you using money? If it is just for fun why not use something else as your winnings? Why shouldn’t we make it that the winner gets to serve a day in a soup kitchen, or help with some other compassionate ministry? If gambling is just about the entertainment factor then let’s see what happens to these casinos if all the money is removed. How many lights do you think will still be on in Vegas if they removed money from the slot machines and poker tables? It’s addictive and can make a slave of the participant.
John 8:34-NIV
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Rex Rogers said, “Gambling is an equal opportunity destroyer.” Why should you or I take the chance of being destroyed?
GAMBLING CONTRADICTS THE PRINCIPLE OF TRUST.
Here is what the bible tells us, Matthew 6:32-33-NIV
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
God Provides For His Children. If we try to provide for our needs in a way contrary to what God has commanded what we are doing is saying, “God I really do not trust you to meet my needs, so you need to step aside and let me handle this.”
1 Timothy 6:10-NIV- 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Here are principles that violate all the various reason we give for excusing our desire to gamble. The Honesty Principle, the Stewardship Principle, and the Trust Principle.
I will tell you honestly that what causes the greatest fear in me these days is something I see in much of the church today. I think I can call this the spirit of “Rationalism”. It seems more and more that I hear Christians using all sorts of arguments to rationalize behavior that the bible tells us we should not be involved in.
It is time that we who call Christ our savior develop a Christian Worldview and Christian worldview is nothing less than “To see as God sees.” George Barna a Christian researchers says that only 4% of those who call themselves Christians hold a Christian Worldview and only 9% of those who call themselves Born Again hold a Christian Worldview. It is time for those who name themselves as flowers of Christ to leave this world behind and follow Him, no matter what the rest of the world says or does. We should not take a chance or gamble on our salvation!
James 4:17-NKJV
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Can I give you a few “sure things” today?
God loves you. No matter what you have done or what kind of a mess your life is in right now God loves you deeply.
God forgives. 1 John 1:9-NIV
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God will empower you to live for Him. Here is what God says in
Titus 2:11-12-NIV
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
In a speech made in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."
