While gambling was once something that was largely confined to casinos and bookies, it now occurs on cellphones and in local gaming parlors and gaming rooms in restaurants. A 2018 United States Supreme Court decision striking down the federal ban on sports betting, along with the subsequent legalization of various forms of gambling across many states, has not only made gambling much more accessible to Americans, but has also led to more frequent gambling among an increasing number of people. In fact, some studies I found indicated that 57% of Americans gambled in the past year (up from 43% in 2019) and 25% of Americans place an online bet every day.
This widespread growth and accessibility of gambling, especially sports gambling, has led to discussions concerning its impact on the integrity of sporting events and people – particularly young men. It is not a topic, however, that I have seen discussed much in churches or among Christians in the recent years. Possible explanations for this lack of discussion could be that the Christian perspective on gambling is so clear and obvious that there is no need for it to be discussed or that the Bible does not offer any help or perspective on this particular issue. I don’t believe either of these two explanations are true, however. While the word “gambling” may not explicitly or directly appear in the Bible, there are various truths and principles taught in Scripture that have relevance for this subject and that Christians have historically pointed to in discussions about gambling. These principles, unfortunately, may not be widely recognized or known to Christians today in this time in which gambling has become so prevalent in our land.
I’ll explore those ideas in this post as I seek to answer the question of whether Christians can or should gamble, but first it will be important to clarify what is meant by gambling.
What Counts as “Gambling”?
The definition of gambling I have found in the Oxford Dictionary through Google is to “play a game of chance for money, or bet on the outcome of a future event such as the result of a race or game.” A wide variety of activities fall into this criteria, including card games, dice games, slot machines, horse races, fantasy sports, a family or work pool, a friendly wager for a dinner, lotteries, raffles, and much more. Something that would not be considered as gambling according to this definition is investing in stocks or other commodities. One can gain or lose money in the stock market and it can seem out of your control, but money is being exchanged for something in these situations for something tangible, whether it is a portion of a company or some entity. It is a business transaction rather than a bet.
While the activities listed above all constitute gambling according to definition listed above, there seems to be something different about people chipping in five dollars into a pool to see who can predict the most winners in “March Madness” versus wagering hundreds or thousands of dollars to an establishment (whether it be the racetrack, casino, or sportsbook) in hopes that you can win money from “the house.” There is something different about buying a lottery ticket in hopes of “hitting it big” versus buying a ticket to a 50-50 raffle in which the winner gets half the money and the other half goes to support a local organization.
What is different about those activities seem to be the motivation and the desire. Friendly wagers with people for a dinner or for a “first-place prize” is typically less about making money and gaining money at the expense of others and typically more about community and fun. In contrast, other forms of gambling typically involve a desire to make money largely by chance and at the expense of others. This latter form also is often part of a bigger industry and system that involves lots of people and the exchange of lots of money. Such a distinction and differentiation may be helpful to keep in mind as we look at what the Bible says and teaches regarding gambling.
How Gambling Goes Against Biblical Teaching
The closest reference within the Bible itself to gambling is the practice of casting lots found throughout the Old Testament and in a few places in the New Testament. However, I don’t think an examination or study of that practice will help us in thinking about the modern practices of gambling for a few reasons. One is that scholars aren’t totally sure how such an activity was practiced. Another reason is that such an activity seemed to be a time in the era before the Holy Spirit was given by which God would reveal His will to His people (for example, it is how the disciples determined who would replace Judas and an apostle in Acts 1). Thus, it seems to have a different purpose and function than the practice of gambling in our world.
Instead of looking for the practice of gambling within the Bible, we should look at the practice of gambling to see whether it coheres to or contradicts overarching principles that we see taught in the Bible. Some of the most common ideas I have seen Christians raise in their discussions of and evaluations of gambling in light of Scripture concern greed, hard work, stewardship, love of neighbor, and the potential for addiction.
The Bible’s repeated warnings against and condemnation of greed has relevance to gambling, particularly in light of the desire to gain more money. Money is not evil, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and those that seek to get rich fall into all sorts of traps (1 Timothy 6:9-10). The desire to get more money often leads to other kinds of evil such as lying and deceit and also mistreatment of others, and these things are often connected to gambling. In fact, the gambling industry often preys on those with less resources, promising them wealth when the system is really rigged against them; the pursuit of wealth leads people to unjust practices. If gambling arises out of greed and covetousness, then it is sinful. Gambling that does not begin out of greed may not be sinful but can easily go down that path because of the lure of wealth in this world.
An additional teaching of Scripture that speaks against gambling is the way that the Bible emphasizes hard work and making money honorably (Proverbs 10:4, 14:23; Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). Gambling, whether it is playing the lottery or pulling the slots, is essentially seeking to gain wealth without earning it. I know some would make the case that there are various forms of gambling that involve strategies (including “knowing the odds”), but at its heart gambling is essentially seeking to get something for nothing. In addition, the goal of gambling is to “get rich quick,” something that the Book of Proverbs speaks against (Proverbs 13:11; 28:20). The example of people who win the lottery or win lots of money gambling only to quickly lose it all are great pictures of how those who get rich quickly may not have the skills or discipline to keep and use the wealth that they possess well.
God calls for us to use the wealth that He entrusts us with wisely, good rather than foolish stewards, and gambling does not seem to be good stewardship, as the “house always wins” (this page helps explain why); I’ve heard stories of how gambling institutions will recognize if they are starting to lose money and can either change the way things work or can lock out people as a way to preserve their money. Therefore, the idea that a person is going to make lots of money and keep doing so while gambling is not grounded in reality; the odds are ultimately never in your favor, as gambling is more likely to lead to debt and bankruptcy than to increased wealth. In fact, recent studies have shown the large number of people who have been unable to pay bills and are now in debt is due to sports betting, and it does not seem to be a coincidence that bankruptcy rates are increasing in the time since sports betting became legal.
Some people view gambling not as an investment strategy but rather as a form of entertainment, so the money they lose is just like money they spend on a show or activity. Others have questioned whether spending money this way would be good stewardship in light of some of the wider effects of gambling on society and culture, as the money one is spending is further fueling such harmful effects.
A further concern with gambling is that it does not seem to be a good way of loving one’s neighbor. In order to win money in gambling, someone else has to lose. Again, this is different from making money through buying and selling things – in those situations, you are making money by exchanging things that you have that others desire; there is a mutual benefit. In light of this, many Christian theologians over the years have argued that gambling is essentially a form of stealing or swindling people out of their goods and breaking the commandment not to steal (8th commandment); for example, the Westminster Larger Catechism (Q &A 142), written in 1647, lists “wasteful gaming” as one way that we break the commandment not to steal. But it is not just those who lose their money in gambling that lose as the growth of the gambling industry has also had detrimental effects on many people, including but not limited to those who get addicted to it and their family and friends who then have to deal with those consequences.
A final common concern that Christians have with gambling is its addictive nature since we should not be mastered by anything in this world (1 Corinthians 6:13). While not everyone who gambles gets addicted to it, many do and all should be on the lookout for things that can enslave us. The nature of gambling itself has addictive potential, and the way that it is being conducted in our world only further feeds into that addictive potential. Thus, it is unsurprising that gambling addictions are on the rise just as gambling is; I haven’t done a deep dive of statistics on gambling addiction versus gambling in general, but I suspect that gambling addictions are rising at a rate even higher than the general increase in gambling.
Concluding Thoughts
The reasons listed above all lead me, and many other Christians through the years (including Church Fathers like Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian, Protestant Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin, and influential preachers like John Wesley and Charles Spurgeon – to only name a few!), to oppose gambling. Even if it is not expressly forbidden in the Bible, it does not seem a wise or profitable practice for Christians, particularly in the legalized and institutionalized forms it is taking in our country at the moment. While others may extend their opposition to gambling all the way to smaller forms – like playing a game of bingo at an event or participating in an NCAA bracket pool for a few bucks with some friends – I would not when those are done in the midst of a community of people not seeking to make quick money at the expense of others. This is because it would not seem to necessarily or inherently violate the key biblical principles noted above and stands outside of the wider gambling industry. That said, if one finds that participating in such activities stems from greed or creates a thirst for more, then I would encourage that individual to avoid it and those around them to consider if it has a wider or detrimental effect on the people they know.
Above all, I would encourage Christians to think deeply and biblically about this growing practice that Christians have historically opposed and that many people (Christians as well as non-Christians) are becoming more concerned about as well.
Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also email to be added to the list that receives weekly emails with our blog posts.
