Gambling and Society

Just had some random thoughts today about the issue of gambling. As you may know, I like to play a little poker from time to time, as do a number of my Christian friends. In the Christian circles I have been raised in such activities would certainly be seen as contrary to the Christian life. Truth be told, I've never heard a sound explanation on why gambling is something that a Christian ought to refrain from. Obviously gambling like many other forms of recreation/entertainment needs to be done in moderation and with certain "checks" so to speak put in place. These may vary from one person to the next, but I think this is an area where stewardship comes into play.

Let me briefly go through a few of my own personal "checks". If I'm going to a friends house for a friendly game of poker it needs to fit within a responsible management of my time and of my money. If there are other obligations that I need to attend to, then certainly they take precedence over a game of poker as they would over any other form of recreation. I have always thought of money that I play poker with as money spent. In other words, if I can't afford to spend it, then I can't play poker with it. I'll never even carry more money on me than that which I can afford to spend in case it should at some point become a temptation to use it unwisely.

Poker to me, and gambling in general for that matter, is no different than other widely accepted forms of recreation, yet it still comes under criticism in many Christian circles. For example, if I brought $20 dollars a week to a friend's house for a regular game of poker some would see that as a problem. However, if I went golfing once a week (I used to golf regularly in college) many of the same people would not have a problem. Golfing is not cheap. You have to shell out a couple hundred dollars on a set of clubs and greens fees are usually $25-$40 for 18 holes. That's money you have no chance of getting back. If you play the game of your life and shoot under par for the course, you can't walk into the clubhouse at the end of the day and get your money back. It's gone. Now if you play well at poker you'll at least keep your money and often make a profit. Providing you're keeping checks in place where you won't risk what you can't afford to spend, then what's the problem? How is poker a less acceptable form of recreation for a Christian than golfing?

In terms of gambling in general, I think there is another parallel. Say you're a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and you thought at the beginning of this last NFL season that they had a good enough team to win the Super Bowl. You knew the players on their roster, you knew the caliber of coaches, you saw their schedule of opponents, and at the end of the season you felt this was the team that was going to win the Super Bowl. You could've gone to any number of casinos or online sports betting sites and placed a bet on the Steelers to win it all. You probably would've gotten maybe 20:1 odds. If you had certain checks in place and weren't betting what you couldn't spend and you went and placed a bet on the Steelers, you'd have turned a 20-fold profit on your money. You bet $100 and now you have $2,000. A parallel may be made between these actions and that of a person buying stock. Say you were of the persuasion that Microsoft would be an up-and-coming business back in the late '80s. You had a little extra cash, say $1,000 in this case, and you "invested" it in Microsoft. Imagine the profit you would've turned! You'd be retired! And you'd be termed a genius and highly esteemed by all of culture, including Christian culture. Or say you had "invested" in a property and made a large profit, the same principle would hold true.

The point of all this is that the terms "invest" and "bet or wager" are really interchangeable. The process of researching a stock and researching a football team are parallel. The difference really lies in the light which society casts them in. The guy who "bets on" or "invests in" a football team has a problem, where the guy who "bets on" or "invests in" a stock is a hero. Why? What's the difference? As I mentioned earlier, I haven't heard a sound argument from Scripture against "gambling" or "investing". So, if anyone knows of one that might answer the questions I have posed, or even if the particular questions are not addressed, one that presents a solid biblical position against it feel free to let me know. Please do, I would actually love to read it in my spare time. These were just some thoughts I had today and over the course of the last few weeks.

I think it's also important to note how poker has taken off as a form of recreation. It's become something that Christians are going to be presented with, and will need to have a position on.