| |
The Subject is
"Gambling" MP3
printer-friendly
| Note:
I want to say, before we begin, that my primary thrust here
is not for or against gambling so much, as how the subject
is discussed. It is an extremely volatile subject. |
No sooner did I post my previous Notebook piece, "I
Just Won the Lottery!!...now what?
-an exercise in stewardship" than I received the question, "Is it
okay for a member to buy a lottery ticket?" This is not a simple
question with a simple answer. Believe I spent more than an hour
responding to that question. It has multiple facets and several
principles are involved. Many terms and concepts need to be
defined or explained for us to really have a grasp of the subject.
Let us begin.
1] Personal element of belief
For several reasons, as you will see below, no church doctrine can be
written on this subject. The bottom line is going to be that this
whole subject comes under the heading of "Personal
element of belief" rather than a "thus saith the Lord doctrine."
As I have written previously, the church
cannot legislate faith. It can and does speak to some of the
concepts we will discuss here but not all.
Below you will see a number of tactics used in various arguments and
debates about gambling. These tactics THEMSELVES are elements of
personal belief. This adds to the futility of the whole subject
and its debate.
2] What does "Gambling" mean?
This subject is the cause of GREAT debate within and without the church.
Most of the confusion arises from the fact there are so many different
definitions and meanings for the word "gambling". Most arguments,
both for and against, gambling are faulty and do not hold up under
common logic or
good systematic theology. Why? For the simple fact that
this is a personal element of belief and there is no real argument for or
against a personal element of belief. I have often used the example
of my personal belief that I cannot eat tuna fish sandwiches on Tuesday
afternoons. To me, it would be a sin. How could you possibly
argue with my personal belief? I merely need to quote Romans 14:23
[for whatsoever is not of faith is sin] and I win the argument.
So what does "gambling" mean. What you see following may not be
dictionary definitions but they are definitions I have gleaned from
scores of individuals speaking on the subject.
Gambling is...
A) Betting something of value against an unknown outcome.
B) Walking into a casino or attending a race track.
C) "Getting something for nothing."
D) Betting money you do not have, such as the rent money or borrowed
money on a game of chance or investment with an unknown outcome.
E) An addiction or sickness.
F) An act of greed.
Let me take each in turn with the understanding that I am not
necessarily going to be for or against whatever you believe is
"gambling" at this point in the discussion. What I will do here,
in most cases, is show you the fallacy of using this definition in your
arguments one way or the other.
A) Betting something of value against
an unknown outcome.
A person puts a dollar into a slot machine and pulls the handle.
This is clearly betting something of value against an unknown outcome.
A person bets two dollars in a ten-horse race on horse number 5.
This is easily betting something of value against an unknown outcome.
However, is betting something of value against an unknown outcome
inherently wrong? If it is, we have a problem. What we are
talking about here is something called risk. Is taking risk with
something of value, such as money wrong? If it is, I would have to
begin preaching against...
---having a savings account in a commercial bank.
---buying a home.
---investing in just about ANYTHING.
---buying stocks or commodities.
---entering into a business.
---speculating on gold, silver or platinum.
---living in a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, fire, or volcano
zone.
---crossing the street during rush hour.
---driving a car.
---going hunting or otherwise doing anything with a firearm.
All of these involve risk. All involve putting up something of
value against an unknown outcome.
No, this argument alone is not enough to preclude the act of gambling.
To deny one is to deny and make them all wrong.
B) Walking into a casino or attending
a race track.
Some in the church feel it is abundantly wrong to even set foot into a
casino or at a race track. Clearly a personal belief but does it
hold up in logical debate? Casinos these days hold much more than
games of chance. They are destination resorts, hotels, spas,
five-star restaurants, fine lounges and showrooms for top-flight
entertainment of all kinds. Some house movie theaters, shopping
malls and even whole theme parks. Indeed, at some Feast sites
around the country and the world, brethren find their most affordable
housing at a casino near the meeting hall. I have even seen church
meetings and Holy Days taking place in meeting rooms at some of your
finer casino-hotels. I have personally attended end-of-the-year
Spokesman Club banquets at race track dining rooms. I don't think
I could count all the Feast breakfasts, lunch and dinners that I have
had at casino restaurants and coffee shops throughout the years.
Appearance of Evil
Someone might bring up the scripture on "appearance of evil" (1 Thessalonians
5:22) and how my stepping foot into a casino might apply in this sense.
However, it has not been established that the act of gambling or gaming,
as it is called, is inherently evil. Read your commentaries on
this verse. One says that the subject has not been fully explored.
Another says ...
Paul's negative command is actually: Abstain
from every kind of evil. Eidos (appearance,, AV) is often used in the
papyri of the Greco-Roman period to denote "class," "sort," "kind." It
has frequently been noted that while "the good" in verse 21 is singular,
evil is said to take many different forms
~from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary
Another says...
Sin not, and avoid even the appearance of it.
Do not drive your morality so near the bounds of evil as to lead even
weak persons to believe that ye actually touch, taste, or handle it. Let
not the form of it, eidos (NT:1491), appear with or among you, much less
the substance. Ye are called to holiness; be ye holy, for God is holy.
~from Adam Clarke's Commentary
Whatever the implied evil is, it must be biblically established as evil.
These commentaries are speaking of sin or the breaking of biblical law.
Biblical laws are not personal elements of belief which can vary among
the congregation. Biblical laws are absolute. They are from
the mind of God, not the mind of man.
C) "Getting something for nothing."
What is getting something for nothing? How are we defining
"something"? How are we defining nothing? Some say betting
five dollars and getting ten dollar in return is getting something for
nothing. Others say that the act of gambling serves no practical
purpose for society or man. Still others say that the gaming
industry is a magnet for gangsters, thieves, prostitution and other
crimes. Let us ask some questions.
Item One: Say you park a sum
of money in a passbook savings account or in a certificate of deposit or
other safe investment and don't touch it for a couple of years.
You go to collect and you get the principle with interest. Did you
not just get something for nothing?
Item Two: You buy a piece of
land for, say, $100,000. You invest no other money in the land.
Two years later, you sell that piece of land for $130,000. What
did you do to get $30,000?
Item Three: You invest in a hot
stock in the stock market. Three days later, it goes up
twenty-five cents. You sell. What specifically did you do to
obtain that increase?
Item Four: Your long lost aunt
dies and you are shocked to find out that she has left you $250,000.
Do you accept the check? After all, what did you do to obtain that
kind of money, other than being born?
Item Five: Someone gives you a
birthday or Feast gift. Did you not just receive something for
nothing?
Item Six: You were hungry and
someone gave you a meal. You were thirsty and someone gave you a
drink. You were a stranger and someone took you in. You were
naked and someone gave you clothes. You were in prison and someone
came to visit. What did you do for all these things?
Item Seven: You are a hopeless
sinner, worthy of permanent death, yet a compassionate, merciful, loving
God comes along and offers you an opportunity at salvation and eternal
life in the Kingdom of God. Yes, we must go through the Salvation
Process to attain the Kingdom but what did you do to get the
opportunity? It was free. You did nothing? It was a
gift? It was totally unwarranted. You did not work for it.
Regarding the Gaming Industry serving no real
purpose:
I am not here to justify gambling or the gaming industry. I am
talking about logical arguments and debate. The Gaming industry in
the US alone is a multiple billion-dollar business. It is
considered recreation. Indeed, the industry involves much more
than games of chance. It is a multiple faceted industry that
includes lodging, car rentals, entertainment, dining, transportation,
tourist attractions, spa and resort operation and real estate sales,
just to mention a few. Millions have jobs based solely on the
infrastructure raised up around this industry. Gaming has actually
become more and more a smaller slice of the income pie in such places as
Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Therefore the argument that the gaming industry serves man in no good
way, will not work in the debate. If it did, we could just as
easily condemn MOST of the industries of mankind. Of course they
will not have gaming in the World Tomorrow. Neither will they have
insurance, labor unions, aircraft and transportation industries, a
military, government bureaucracies, social security, medical industry
and many more I could mention. Many of these industries and
institutions are billion-dollar
concerns and have built most of the large cities we have throughout
the world. They are the benefactors of much of the infrastructure
we have.
We are not debating whether any of these industries or institutions are
good or whether they will be in the World Tomorrow. We are
addressing the single debating point of whether the gaming industry does
the economy any good.
Regarding certain industries being magnets for
crime:
Again, speaking from the standpoint of logical debate, condemning an
industry based on the alleged claim it attracts known evils such as drug
trade, crime and prostitution does not work, as it is not these
industries that attract these unsavory elements, ITS PEOPLE that attract
these things. Gather people together in any small area and human
nature will manifest itself. Build a military base and you will
soon have prostitution and drugs being sold in the area. Should we
condemn the military base because prostitution is evident near the base?
No, the argument of getting something for nothing and these other
related charges do not hold. That is, unless it is a personal
element of your faith. That is the point of this whole piece.
One does not necessarily need to defend a personal element of belief.
I am merely telling you that the traditional arguments most people use
are ineffective.
D) Betting money you do not have, such
as the rent money or borrowed money on a game of chance or investment
with an unknown outcome.
This act, in and of itself, is not recommended. The church is
justified in preaching against it. Taking the money for
necessities, such as shelter, transportation, food or health care and
using it for ANY other purpose would be morally wrong. However,
betting the rent money on a horse race does not make horse racing evil
any more than investing the rent money in a hot stock or commodity makes
the entire stock or commodities markets wrong or evil. The problem
here is the stewardship of and the character of the individual, not
where he is taking the rent money.
If one is taking money earmarked for rent or food and using it for
some other purpose, such as gaming, this would be wrong and a probable
indication of addiction. Go to the next item.
E) An addiction or sickness.
Addictions are sicknesses. People can and are addicted to any
number of things. There are addictions to alcohol, sex, chocolate,
eating, shopping and even one's career. The list of possible
addictions is almost endless. There is also addiction to gambling.
Does addiction to alcohol make alcohol evil? Does addiction to sex
make sexual intercourse evil? Should we rid the world of chocolate
because a few are addicted to it?
Clearly the church will not justify any addiction and will strongly urge
any member with an addiction to obtain professional help immediately.
It will not, however, preach against all the possible targets of
addiction.
F)
It is an act of Greed
A thing or an act, such as the act of gaming cannot, in and of itself,
be called an act of greed. Greed is something of the heart and
character and can involve just about ANYTHING including career, power,
position, sex, money, love, friends, food, possessions, your home or
praise and recognition. It's not the THING, it's the GREED for the
thing. Notice the commandment...
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house,
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbour's. –Ex 20:17
It is clearly the greed for and not the object or some act in and of
itself that is the problem. Matters of the heart also cannot be
implied. One cannot impute sin in his brother unless it is open
sinning and sin well established by the Word of God. If a man buys
three cars, can I claim before the congregation that he is greedy?
Hardly.
Back to the original question, "Is it
okay for a member to buy a lottery ticket?"
If it does not conflict with any of your personal elements of belief,
then I would say it is okay if you would like to buy a lottery ticket.
That is, I am saying that this is your call. The church is not and
will not say "yea" or "nay" on this question.
Point to consider: One need
only buy one ticket per drawing. There is no mathematical
advantage to buying more than one ticket. Moreover, since God's
will is first and foremost here, if God desires for you to have lottery
winnings, you need only one ticket.
I would not recommend playing the lottery or engaging in any other type
of gaming if:
a] it goes against any of your personal elements of belief.
b] if your spouse and/or other family members feel uncomfortable with
you doing so.
c] if you are using money already earmarked for necessities.
d] if you feel you have a gambling problem or addiction.
e] if you feel your motivation is covetousness or greed.
In all cases, NEVER let your involvement in gambling [of
any kind, including investments or the stock market] be a
stumbling block before anyone in the family or the congregation. I
once knew of a small group of brethren in a local congregation that
invested in the stock market and actually did rather well.
However, it actually became a problem for some, a stumbling block.
Gambling of all kinds is and will remain a personal element of belief
until Christ returns.
|
|