Is gambling a sin?
Five Arguments against Betting from a Biblical Worldview
One of the most startlingly rapid moral revolutions we have witnessed in the last decade is the normalization of gambling.
When I was a child in Kentucky, the state lottery was newly established and horse betting was a cultural tradition. But besides these two things, casinos were outlawed south of the Ohio River, video slot machines were unknown, and sports betting belonged to the world of the Italian mafia. As an avid baseball fan, I was steeped in the history of the Black Sox, who threw the 1919 World Series, and Pete Rose, whose star fell because of betting on his own sport.
Today, however, all that has changed. Every time I open up the ESPN app to check a score, I see odds and get offers to place my first bet on ESPN Bet, Fanatics, or a host of other gambling apps.
For sports-obsessed kids today, gambling is not portrayed as the curse that it was in my childhood. It is seen as part of the warp-and-woof of sports, part of the fun, and unfortunately many kids are growing up with dads—even Christian dads—whose consciences have been seared when it comes to betting.
With that in mind, I wanted to write down what I believe to be the five primary arguments against gambling from a biblical worldview. The truth is that we cannot open up the Bible to a specific chapter and verse and read, “Thou shalt not gamble.” Nevertheless, from the perspective of a biblical worldview it becomes clear that the practice violates our values and damages ourselves and our neighbors.
The Stewardship Argument
The first, and I think most significant, argument against gambling is that of stewardship. Gambling is poor stewardship of the limited resources God gives us. As Christians, our stance toward our limited resources ought to be summed up by Ephesians 4:28:
“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
While addressed specifically to the thief, the instruction applies to all of us. We should do our work honestly with our own hands that we might have something to meet our own needs and to share with anyone in need.
We believe all that we have has come from God as a gift, even if the means of that gift is through our labor. God is the one who provides “seed to the sower and bread for food,” and therefore, we act from faith when we utilize his gifts to meet our needs and the needs of others through our church.
By contrast, we devalue God’s gift when we throw it away in gaming. Certainly, there are many other ways we could devalue the gift of God and waste money, and it is also true that in some areas Christians will differ as a matter of conscience about the good stewardship of money. For example, is it good stewardship to take an expensive vacation? Christians might answer that question differently for different reasons.
On the other hand, there is no good stewardship justification for gambling. It is taking money that God intended to meet our needs and the needs of others and throwing it away. Gambling is to take for granted God’s gifts and waste them for purposes he never intended.
The Wisdom Argument
Related to the stewardship argument is the wisdom argument. Gambling is not wise. Why is gambling unwise? Because the house always wins. The gambling industry, whether in Vegas, online, or in your state lottery, is built upon the premise that you will lose and they will win.
Of course, some people do win, but rarely do they win long term. The industry has hacked dopamine to keep you engaged. While you might win in the short-term, you will in the end lose. The house always wins.
As some have said, “Gambling is a tax on stupidity.” Proverbs speaks against all such “get rich quick” schemes:
“Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it” (Prov 13:11).
“An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end” (Prov 20:21).
“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished” (Prov 28:20).
Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and understands that this is God’s world (Prov 1:7). The best way to live in the world is to live in accordance with the way God has designed it. God designed the world to generally reward production and perseverance. That is the way to wealth. People who try to hack God’s design and get rich quick will generally fail miserably.
The Greed Argument
While the stewardship and wisdom arguments focus on the practical problems with gambling, the greed argument gets to the heart, from which all sin flows. Even if someone tries to downplay gambling as a form of entertainment, we must still ask what is it about gambling that gives us pleasure? Isn’t it the thrill of making money? Isn’t it greed?
The best comparison would be with going to a strip club. Is a strip club entertainment? Yes. But what is it about this form of entertainment that gives pleasure? It is the thrill of lust. In light of this, the gambling is “just entertainment” perspective falls apart. Gambling is, in fact, commodified greed.
As is well-known and oft misquoted, Paul identifies greed or “the love of money” as “a root of all kinds of evils.” I think it is helpful to read this well-known verse in its context:
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim 6:9–10).
Paul reiterates the teaching of Jesus: you will either serve God or mammon (Luke 16:13). The craving for money will draw you away from faith in Christ and bring pain into your life. It is a “senseless and harmful desire” that brings about “ruin and destruction.” Don’t feed greed in your life with gambling. Abstain and destroy it.
The Predation Argument
The final two arguments are big-picture, worldview-level arguments. First is the argument from predation. Gambling is a predatory industry. It preys on the weakest, poorest, and least educated people in society and falsely promises them a chance at a new life. Gambling is a scam that entices the poor to spend money they don’t have on something they don’t need rather than spending it on essential needs or saving it for the future.
This issue would be bad enough if it was only coming from the gambling industry, but what makes it even worse is when it becomes the activity of state government through the lottery. When the government, which was instituted by God as an “avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom 13:4), consumes its most vulnerable citizens for profit, it becomes a partner in injustice rather than a punisher of injustice.
We should hope to see all predatory industries dismantled in society, from abortion to payday lending with its exorbitant interest rates to every form of gambling.
The Economic Argument
Finally, gambling is not an economically productive activity. Let me back up first and state that capitalism is a biblical concept. Sure, the term capitalism was not coined and the system was not identified until the Enlightenment, but the concepts of capitalism are embedded in the universe. While capitalism, like every human system, may be abused, the simple truth is that capitalism works because it was the way God designed the universe. God created a world where hard work is generally rewarded, and therefore, the Torah itself is quite concerned with private property rights and fair markets, while nevertheless ensuring a safety net for the poor.
But what about the communistic sharing of the Jerusalem Church in Acts, someone will object? That sharing was completely capitalistic because it was voluntary. Peter affirms that in his rebuke to Ananias who sold his property but lied about the price: “When it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal” (Acts 5:4)? Even when the church had all things in common in Acts, they did so voluntarily within the capitalistic concepts of private property.
Now back to gambling: In one sense, gambling has a capitalistic impulse. The industry’s argument is this: People want to gamble. If it is illegal, they will find ways to do it anyway. We might as well make money, provide jobs, and pay taxes within a legal framework.
At first glance, that seems like a sound argument. But there remains the question of production. What product does the gambling industry actually create? It creates addiction, poverty, and a vacuum sucking money out of the pockets of the vulnerable into the accounts of the wealthy.
True industry is industrious. It creates products of value that contribute to the good of society. Certainly, industry is not always altruistic. Capitalism takes this into account. But even industry engaged in for base reasons like greed ought to provide for society a product that benefits society. Gambling does not create wealth like industry does. It merely transfers it from the foolish to the clever.
It is for this reason that even in the most Libertarian states we outlaw certain forms of business. For example, the Ponzi scheme is outlawed across the country. We might object to this by arguing that people do make money from Ponzi schemes, but in the end, there is no real product that creates value. It is a scam. It is predation. It is merely a transfer of wealth from the victims to the scammer.
Gambling likewise does not produce value for the economy. It does not produce goods and services that can be traded for other goods and services and grow the economy. It siphons money away from streams of true production, and therefore is ultimately economically damaging.
Gambling is evil
For all the reasons above, we should not be afraid to call gambling both sinful and evil. It does not benefit ourselves, our families, or our neighbors in any way, and even if we can’t turn back the clock and make its various forms illegal again, we ought to socially stigmatize it in the same way we have done with tobacco. Something that is harmful and predatory ought to be hated by all men of goodwill.