The gambling topic always seems to surface when the Powerball jackpot grows to some incredible number. Now that we have a millionaire winner in New Castle, PA, Marty and I went a few rounds on-air about this.
First let me say I am not against gambling. I put it in the same category as smoking or drinking. It can be dangerous, addictive and can rule your life. However, they are all legal and I do not condemn anyone for participating as long as the money you spend is not needed to support your family or other obligations. The Bible does not call gambling evil or forbid it. What scripture warns us about is the intentions of the person gambling. Remember money is not the root of all evil it's the LOVE OF MONEY that is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10) You can argue this all you want but nowhere in the Bible does it directly speak against gambling.
This all goes back to yet another Catholic/Protestant debate. Those who follow the Protestant tradition view gambling as a sin. Catholics simply do not. Why is there a difference if we are all reading the same scripture? You will not find gambling condemned anywhere in the Bible. This "manufactured sin" comes from opposition to those who "feel" it is wrong. But what gambling amounts to is paying money to be entertained, and there is nothing wrong with that. People do it for every other kind of entertainment (books, movies, plays, operas, videos, etc.).
The Catechism, the book of collected teachings of the Catholic Church, spells out, "the passion for gambling risks enslavement." It also says games of chance are not inherently immoral unless they deprive someone of essential support for life and family. One thing we all must understand, no matter what side of the debate you are on, you should not condemn another Christian for doing something his Church, Bible and conscience approve. We can not base sin on our own standards. Doing so bypasses the authority of God.
7 comments:
It springs from the desire to make money without working. It takes money away from investments in efficient charities, genuine business stock, retail
purchases, and savings accounts. If people invested in the stock market what they put into gambling, they wouldn't need Social Security money.
In gambling there is only one winner. In stock market, everyone is a potential winner. In lottery you have a one in 10,000,000 chance to win. In stock there is about a 5% or so chance to lose. What a lack
of logic gambling is! What hypocricy! Jesus said, "Woe to them who choke on gnats and swallow camels!" Every dollar spent for gambling is
a vote for organized crime, or for Gov. Rendell! My church will receive no donations from known lottery winnings for these reasons.
Tom
Tom:
Newsflash ... The Stock Market IS GAMBLING! You put money in hoping to get more out, not having done a thing to earn it. You approve of gambling and don't even know it.
Best of luck!
What is the difference between gambling and investing? There is risk associated with everything including waking up in the morning.
I give 10% of my winnings.
Pete
I don't see anything wrong with buying an occasional lottery ticket for fun. Gambling becomes a sin when it controls you, you are addicted, or you are spending money on gambling that should be spent on other obligations. If all my obligations are met, what difference is there between taking the $1 in my pocket that is available to be spent any way I want and buying a lottery ticket or a Snickers bar. Neither one has any real benefit to me except for the enjoyment I get from it. Why doesn't Marty take all the money that he spends on pizza and save it up and give it to the homeless shelter. It would be better than being a glutton and pigging out on pizza.
Phil
I get somewhat irritated when I hear people run down “money” as if it could come into your house and grab you by the throat. Money is only a tool, but it won’t replace you as the driver. Besides, the Bible does not say that money is the root of all evil as one caller suggested. It says the love of money is the root of all evil, and a better translation might be the lust for money is the root of all evil. That makes more sense. The lust for anything is wrong.
I have a particular interest in the field of economics, and if there is one thing I’ve learned in my 56 years on this earth is that most Christians have no conception of the value of a dollar or even what it represents. "Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another - their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun"...Ayn Rand
Regards,
Richard Gideon
The Bible has this to say about gambling:
"A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent."
(Prov. 28:20)
Who can argue with that?
~Mary
I listen to your show every day on my way home from work. Yesterday you spoke about gambling. I am not all convinced that the scriptures Marty read are for every aspect of gambling. If his thought of covetousness is yhis bases, then you are leading people into sin yourself when you give things away on your show. For it is something that that do not have but desire and as Marty stated, they are not working for it. It is a small act of gambling but it is still gambling for many are calling from a cell phone which it cost them to call per minute, and they do not know if they are going to be the winners, it is by chance!!! This is a form of gambling. Those who drink socially are they sinners for drinking alcohol? I think not, but those who drink excessively would be. But then another question has to be answered, those who are alcoholics are they sinners, for it is a disease just as gamblers who are addicted to gambling. To make general comments on the show is not helpful to your listeners. Marty needs to really research and study all areas of the topics before putting them out on the air.
Dave Ernst
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