When the Chips are Down—Gambling & the Bible
Acts 19:21-29; 1 Timothy 6:9-6:18 ; Col. 3:2
Powerpoint and formatted sermon at
http://www.gbcdecatur.org/sermons/WhenChipsAreDown.html
The Governor’s budget speech this week left some unanswered questions about gambling expansion. Dozens of bills are in the works now to raise more money for the state and other causes thru expanding riverboat gambling, online casinos, and video gambling. IL was the 2nd state in the US to jump on these opportunities years ago, and yet today 60% of our residents are against it. I think the “higher ups” would love for us to be ignorant so they can again make a red state blue!
We need to know what we believe, and why we believe it.
What if someone came to you and said, “what’s wrong with going to the casino, if we’re just going for a little fun?” what would you say?/lottery tickets?/betting on the ballgame?
Paul was always in the middle of the action. For that reason he had a lot of confrontation. Whenever Paul preached, there was always either a revival, or a riot! When the Word is preached, people ought to feel something, right? (glad/sad/mad)
Paul here preaches Jesus and the people became very mad! Because his preaching damaged the very occupation of these people, who worshipped the false goddess Diana.
It is important to know that these people had made a lot of money as a result of their worship of Diana. If you really want to offend someone, talk about their money. His preaching hurt their business…selling statues and shrines to diana…and when people got saved, they renounced these false gods, and didn’t buy them. Well, a riot ensued, and about 25k people filled the local amphitheatre in opposition to Paul.
Notice the mob mentality in this text:
v. 24-25 they had a profit motive
v. 26 they had a propoganda machine
Demetrius is going to smear Paul’s name, and rally the troops against him.
Paul is a bigot, narrowminded, intolerant, doesn’t accept us, has no respect for our historical beliefs.
v. 27 now he’s appealing to their patriotism…and he’s using the “bandwagon” method of advertising…everyone believes in diana! This guy’s a master of manipulation!
The big problem in all of this is how he’s leading people to believe in something for all the wrong reasons…mostly from a profit motive. And he is a master of rationalizing it, and giving them “good reason” to feel ok with what they’re doing.
Today, people don’t worship Diana, no, we worship a different god, that goes by the name, “lady luck”. And they worship lady luck under the guise of gambling.
Anytime you deal w/ the gambling crowd, and anytime you hear someone try to defend the practice of gambling, you always come up against these same 2 elements:
Profit motive
Propoganda machine
It all results in the mob psychology:
v. 28-29a
I want to say that 2,000 years ago, 25k people chanting a lie didn’t make it the truth! Today in 2005, millions of people chant the lie, but it doesn’t make it true.
Many times christians say, “show me a verse in the Bible that prohibits gambling."” (thou shalt not.…?)
The Bible is not a book of minute laws, it is a book of great and grand principles.
For example: you won’t find a scripture that says, “thou shalt not use cocaine” so is it alright? Of course not! Biblical principles take care of that.
(Thou shalt not drive 80 thru school zone)
I’m glad the Bible is not a simple list of don’t’s, because if it were, it would be so large it would take a freight train to haul it around, and secondly, you can always find loopholes in laws. Laws are for the immature, for children.
For example:
1908, Carlisle institute and Harvard University were football rivals. The Harvard coach believed in a straight-forward, hard hitting game…he depended upon the basics. But the coach at Carlisle was different, he depended upon the razzle dazzle…trick plays, ways to bend the rules to his advantage…
well, the week before Carlisle was to play Harvard, they played Syracuse, and when they came out on the field, Coach Warner of Carlisle came up w/ an ingenious scheme which won them the game. He took brown material, the same shade as a football, cut that mat’l into shapes like a football, same size, and had them sewn on the jerseys of his offensive players. So, when all 11 men were out there on the field, it looked like they all had a football!
He had checked the rules, and had found out it was not against the rules.
It wasn’t breaking the letter of the law, but it certainly broke the spirit of the law…violating the principles of good sportsmanship…
Well, the next week, they faced Harvard. The day before the game, the Harvard coach met w/ Coach Warner and said, listen, are you gonna use those trick jerseys tomorrow? “There’s nothing in the rule book against it!”
Ok, he said, no problem. The next day, Carlisle trotted onto the field, complete w/ their trick jerseys…then Harvard came out w/ their crimson red jerseys on. Of course, the home team, Harvard had to supply the footballs. When they pulled the first ball out of the bag, it was crimson red!
Spirit of law/letter of law
Ill.—kid told to sit down by parents, “I may be sitting on the outside, but I’m standing on the inside!”
It’s that Eddie Haskell mentality! On leave it to Beaver, he was always looking for ways of breaking the spirit of the law, w/out the letter!
Maybe you remember the episode when Wally promised not to take his little brother, Beaver, to see the horror movie. (Eddie said privately, your folks told you not to take him…they didn’t say he couldn’t take you!)
That’s the mentality prevalent even today, people seeing what they can get away with from the Bible’s perspective, how close can I walk to the line w/ out crossing it?…always trying to see how close they can dance around that grey area w/out violating the letter of the law.
Mature christians don’t live that way!
Well, there’s no verse in the Bible that says, thou shalt not buy that lottery ticket…but let’s look at some Biblical principles which show that it is clearly, undeniably, sinful!
Gambling is not the same as taking a risk. Not all risk taking is gambling. Nowhere does the Bible condemn adventurous, pro-active living. No where does the Bible in principle condemn categorically, all risk taking. You take a risk everytime you pull out from the church if you want to turn left down here at the south end! (quick and the dead)
Every farmer who ever plants a crop takes a risk. /start a business/
Jesus actually condemned a man for playing it safe, burying his treasure, instead of investing it! Investing in the stock market is not the same as gambling. There is all the difference in the world…
…for gambling winnings come from gambling losses. For every winner, there has to be a loser. One person gains because many others lose. Nothing is produced, nothing is created, no goods or services exchange hands.
With stocks, of course, something very different happens…businesses are built, goods are created, services are rendered, which in turn makes more wealth to reward everyone involved.
But gambling is simply one person trying to get into others pockets, without any discipline to earn the money.
Larry Burkett, “gambling consumes, but it doesn’t produce. It creates no new money, and no new goods.”
An investment is made to benefit yourself, as well as others, a wager, however, is a selfish attempt to benefit only yourself.
Of course, the devil pops in w/ his always present version of the situation…his lie, mixed w/ truth, to deceive:
This will benefit education, this will build roads, etc. No, it’s just another government tax…as the poor become even poorer as they try their luck. If you want to give to education, do it directly!
George Washington said, “gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.”
Bible principles which confound gambling:
1. Gambling contradicts God’s honesty principle
Ex. 20:15 “thou shalt not steal”
Gambling breaks the spirit of that command, because gambling is robbery by mutual consent…and changing of hands of wealth, not as a gift, w/ nothing given back in exchange.
Just because both parties consent, doesn’t make it right. It simply shows that they BOTH had covetousness in their heart.
Ill.—2 men walk into an alley/1 has a gun, walks out w/ the other man’s money…or he has a pair of dice, and walks out w/ the other man’s money!
What’s the difference? In the first case there was a thief, in the 2nd, there were 2! Because both of them desired to take what rightfully belonged to the other man.
“Thou shalt not covet”
The man who gambles and wins is a thief, the man who gambles and loses is a fool!
2. Gambling Contradicts God’s love principle
Mt. 22:37 and following, Jesus said all the commandments hinge on these 2:
Love God/love for neighbor
Nothing violates that more than gambling. Love your neighbor while you’re trying to get what belongs to them. Gambling is pleasure and profit at the cost of another’s pain and loss
3. Gambling Contradicts God’s work principle
In the Bible, honest work and wages always go together, hand in hand. The Bible does not support getting something for nothing.
II Thess. 3 “if any do not work, neither should he eat” God’s divine welfare program!
The American dream has changed, it used to be “just give me an opportunity”…now it’s, “oh God, give me the right 6 numbers!”
Then we say to God, “I’ll give most of it to the church!”
Our state governments are promoting the idea of gambling, and at the same time, don’t know why we have this welfare problem!
Virgil Petersen used to be crime commissioner in Chicago. He said, “gambling produces no wealth, it simply redistributes it from the hands of the many to the hands of the few. Gambling invariably leads to higher police and welfare costs.”
Senator Alexander Wiley, WI: “the idea that legalized gambling will be a revenue raiser is an illusion. Every dollar raised from such sources means 5 dollars spent in higher police costs, court costs, penitentiary costs, relief costs.”
Nevada is the gambling capital of the nation, and the crime rate is twice the national average, and the suicide rate is triple! No wonder Harry Reid, chairman of the Nevada gaming control commission told U.S. News and World Report, “any state trying to follow Nevada’s lead will find that the social costs far outweigh any economic advantage.”
Herbert Jenkins, former president of int’l assoc of police chiefs: “for every dollar received from gambling, government spends $10 fighting problems directly relating to legalized gambling: including prostitution, embezzlement, bad checks, and police corruption. Racketeers and mobsters swarm to gambling communities, and bring w/ them other sordid businesses.”
Legalized gambling, including the lottery, is a regressive tax that preys upon the people that can least afford it!
Do you know what the biggest day of the month is at the Atlantic City gaming tables? The day the welfare checks come out!
4. Gambling Contradicts God’s Stewardship principle
What percent of your money actually belongs to God? Some think 10%, but it’s really 100% His.
Good stewardship says, don’t flush God’s money down the toilet/don’t throw it out the window. That would be wrong! So is gambling w/ God’s money. (If you heard the church was doing that, you’d be outraged!) “That’s God’s money”!
Some Christians will say, “to us, it’s just entertainment. We go w/ a certain amt of money, and when it’s gone, it’s gone” Yes, it’s gone…God’s money is gone, and you’re still responsible before God for who ends up with His money, and what they do w/ it!
It’s a well known fact that the mafia is in control of the casinos, and they depend heavily upon that revenue to support their lifestyle of immorality. What do they do w/ the money? Narcotics, prostitution, murder, intimidation, bribery, etc.
Milton R. Wessel, attorney in charge of government counsel on organized crime: “fully half of the mafia’s income from gambling is earmarked for protection $ paid to police and politicians…approx. 4.5 billion per year goes from gamblers to the mafia to public officials as bribes.”
Wouldn’t you agree w/ me that gambling contradicts God’s s’ship principles? “All I do is play the lottery, and the money goes to help the schools”
How dumb do I look? Again, give it directly to them! Why not admit you are motivated by greed and covetousness?/trying to get something for nothing
“Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished.”
5. Gambling Contradicts God’s Trust principle
Only Christians will care about this one. Gambling strikes at the root of our belief in an all-wise God Who provides for the needs of His people.
I believe that one of our greatest privileges as believers, is knowing we serve a God who cares!/has promised to meet my needs! I’m not depending upon lady luck, Lord, I’m depending upon you!
Some of the saddest faces you’ll ever see are in the casinos.
Christians justify it as just good, clean fun…not acc’d to the faces inside!
Even rare winners cannot help but play away their winnings, and then some!
Ill—g’ma in Hawaii./won $100 on first try/put it all back in a quarter at a time, plus $200 more!
6. Gambling Contradicts God’s Danger principle
Prov. 6:27 “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and not be burned?”
No alcoholic ever planned on becoming enslaved when he took his first drink./no rapist that planned on doing that when he first looked at porn/no gambler that planned on becoming enslaved w/ just that first nickel inserted!
Statistics show that upwards of 8% of those who say they gambled the first time just for fun, became compulsive gamblers.
Of those 8%, 22% will get divorced/85% will steal from employer to pay debts/79% will say they wish they were dead/17% will attempt suicide.
“Can a man take fire in his bosom, and not be burned?”
2 sure things: (no risk involved!)
1. You can be sure your sin will find you out (God has a way of bringing things out into the open, for the protection of His church!)
2. You can be sure that if you call upon the name of the Lord, you WILL be saved!
