Not a Loser

Every morning after sipping on a cup of coffee, I call the local weather station. It has a computerized answering device that gives the day, the date and the current temperature. It then gives a recorded advertisement before proceeding to the forecast. Recently the advertisement has been that the caller can ride a bus very conveniently to the new “racino.” Nothing is said about the possibility of losing all you money and having to walk back home! The Bible does have principles that speak to gambling – and none condone it. Now, I am aware that, as I have been told, getting in your car and driving on the highway is a gamble. But, of course, that kind of rationale encompasses all of life. This article is not discussing a drawing to help a charity or a $1 bill stuck in a jar at work with coworkers to buy a group raffle or lottery ticket. The former could be considered a charitable cause and the latter is a desire to maintain cohesion and team unity in a work environment. What I have in mind is institutionalized, commercial gambling - the expenditure of a sum of money in hope of returning an instant larger return, and done at a gaming facility. You know, the internet cafes, the race tracks, racinos and casinos. The inherent dangers include: loss of money necessary to sustain life (known as gambling the milk money), an adrenalin rush that excites so much that the gambler wants it repeated (addiction), and with the above two always at work, the loss of family, career and even, in some cases, life. This is not an exaggeration. There is a reason that “Gamblers Anonymous” exists, after all. But what principles from God’s Word address this issue? What can we assume God thinks of the institutionalized, commercial ventures that we call “gambling”? The toil assigned to Adam by God in Eden (Genesis 3) makes it safe to assume that working and saving for the acquiring of wealth is God’s plan. This is the opposite of the “get rich quick” approach of the gambling establishments. Here is a Biblical principle not to be overlooked: “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). I realize this verse says nothing directly about gambling, but it says a mouthful regarding the importance of work and implies that gambling is not the way we are to earn our keep. Working and saving is God’s appointed way of getting ahead financially, not gambling. Then too, the Bible warns that people who inherit wealth suddenly are those who frequently have not learned how to manage money. Consequently, they can (and often do) lose it quickly. Proverbs 13:11 states, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle.” I have read that ninety per cent of lottery winners are penniless within five years. How can this be? It is because they never learned the rules of money, i.e. how to manage it. The Bible, incidentally, transmits those rules to the reader. Then too, God’s Word has told us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). Let me use myself as an example. For me to win at gambling means that a lot of other people have to lose. Hoping or even praying for their failure is not loving them. Stop to think about it for a minute: other gamblers want to see you lose. You have to lose so that they can win. How does it make you feel to know that others are hoping you lose your money? It is a pretty lousy feeling. Then why do it to others? Statistics show that those who gamble are disproportionately from the ranks of the poor or struggling. Addiction and criminal activity are associated with gambling; suicide rates for gamblers are the highest of any addictive group. Is your contributing to all these personal and social problems an act of loving your neighbor? Is your wanting to see them become losers a way of loving them? No, of course not. The old saying is “the House never loses.” The gaming establishment excites with false promises of instant wealth. But it loses just enough to keep people coming back. At the end of every day, the customers always lose and the House always wins. I don’t intend to take a bus to the racino. I don’t want to lose my money and I don’t want to walk home. I will not be a loser.