Faith: Bible speaks to issue of gambling, gaming

It will shock no one to hear that the topic of gambling is a hot item in this region. What does the Bible say about gambling? Is it a sin? If it’s a sin, should it be criminalized?

At the beginning, we should define our terms. Let’s agree that gambling is playing at a game of chance by risking your own money for the opportunity to win more money back.

Further, the biblical definition of “sin” is the transgression of God’s commandments (1 John 3:4). If the Bible doesn’t say that Activity A is a sin, then we don’t get to call it that. If there’s no biblical principle that is being violated by Activity A, then Activity A is allowable.

Finally, we should recognize that the Bible teaches that there is a difference between sin and crime. Speaking from a scriptural standpoint, crime is defined as that category of sin that requires a response from civil government. All crime is sinful, in that it breaks one or more of God’s commandments; but, not all sin is criminal, in the sense of being punishable by a Bible-based code of civil law.

An example is that murder is to be punished by the death penalty, but covetousness (or, greed) is not met with a civil penalty. Greed is still sinful, and God himself will repay that sin, but God doesn’t require or allow government to punish greed. So, while greed is sinful, it is not criminal. Murder is both.

Using these definitions of our terms, right off the bat we can say confidently that gambling should not be classified as a crime, because there is no place in the law of God where a specific, civil sanction is to be applied to it. In short, gambling is not a matter for government oversight or regulation. When governments take it upon themselves to regulate and control gambling, this is one more instance of their ubiquitous grabbing at authority that God never gave them.

The question of whether gambling is a sin is less straightforward, simply because we are given no commandment like, “Thou shalt not gamble.” In fact, the topic of gambling is rarely if ever mentioned in the Bible, one way or the other.

That doesn’t let gambling off the hook, though. Although we have no direct command that forbids the activity, we do have the positive concept in the Bible that you and I are expected to be good stewards (or, managers) of whatever resources God has given us. This is clearly illustrated in the parable of the talents, which Jesus taught in Matthew 25:14-29. We will give an account for how we used what God gave us, including money. The book of Proverbs is similarly filled with the idea that the wise man deals prudently with his money; and, the foolish lose what they have through their foolishness.

So, technically the answer is, although the Bible does not come right out and speak against gambling, gambling does violate several biblical principles, including some in addition to the stewardship principle mentioned here. It is thus rightly labeled sinful.

Christians should consider how to stir one another up to increasing love and good works (Hebrews 10:24). This ought to include the wise, responsible use of all our gifts.

Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at: [email protected]