There are all kinds of good reasons to oppose the lottery. It is a terrible form of gambling that tends to appeal most to people who can’t afford it. I’ve heard it described as a tax on stupidity – you’ve better odds of being struck by lightning than winning the thing.
Then suddenly the Mega Millions (is that the right one?) jackpot reaches an estimated 1.6 billion (yep, that’s with a b) for the next drawing and suddenly even a Baptist preacher like me who has never played the lottery in my life finds myself tempted to buy a ticket. Sure, I know the one-time payout on the 1.6 billion might only be around a billion and then there’d be taxes. Who knows? I might not walk away with more than 600 million or so when all is said and done.
No, I do not plan to buy a ticket. But my ruminations started me wondering. “Back in my day” Baptist churches were among the strongest opponents of gambling there were and while as many of our members gambled as drank, it was not acceptable.
My view on gambling is that it is not inherently sinful since there is no scripture that addresses the topic. However, there are some biblical principles that make it unwise and undesirable. The lottery tends to exploit the poor and cause untold damage in families who spend money they don’t have chasing an elusive dream. Scripture would seem to militate against profiting at the expense of others – isn’t that kind of the sine qua non of gambling? Someone else loses so you can win? I don’t condemn someone as a child of the devil because they buy a lottery ticket, but I think it is our best choice not to do so.
I believe that if I won the lottery I would likely lose my job – don’t know for sure, but I believe I would. The 1.6 billion might soften that blow financially but losing the job God called me to because I chose to gamble is not something I want to risk. I would certainly have some folks who think less of me.
So, I have some questions.
1. What is your moral stance on gambling? On playing the lottery? Would you buy a ticket?
2. What would happen in your church if a pastor or deacon won the lottery? Would that be an offense that would inspire disciplinary action, or would it be overlooked in the hopes of a payday in the offering plate?
3. Would your church receive offerings from a lottery winner or any other form of gambling winnings?
4. What would you think of a Baptist preacher who won the lottery?
How unspiritual to promote the lottery on Voices…oh…it’s what all of our church members were talking about yesterday behind our backs.
If you will remember, you and I were both revealed as unspiritual in your recent post, so…
Dave Ramsay says lotteries are a regressive tax on the poor and government exploitation of the stupid. We were living in Kentucky when the state lottery began. An elderly lady in western Kentucky won several million dollars. A reporter asked her what she planned to do with the money. She answered, “I’m going to give a tithe to my church.” I did hear how her pAstor responded.
I saw the word militate in this post and I looked it up. It’s not a word, but I thought it might be a cool derivative of your last name, I.e. Dave Milller was so angry about the lottery, he militated against it during his sermon. The lottery? I’m torn. I won’t buy a ticket, but I used to have a deacon who was a tithes and generous to a fault and bought a lottery ticket each week. I’ll preach and teach about how wasteful it is, but if someone wanted to give lottery winnings to the church, I’d accept… Read more »
I stand corrected, militate is a word. It means to stand against. This is what happens when you respond to blogs before you’re fully awake.
And here I was gonna invite you to lunch tomorrow
I shall never question your word smithing abilities again, nor will I respond to blog posts before six in the morning.
Here is the sad truth.
Many churches would suddenly change their views on the lottery if their pastor won and they were in line for millions in tithes.
Dave- Do you think any church would feel different if it were a church member who won? My reasoning for the question: Where’s the pastor whose church receives a large contribution via a one time gift, inheritance, or in multiple large gifts, that requires disclosure on the money’s origin? True that the optics of a gift from the lottery are more closely connected to the timing of the winning…but that seems to be the only connection. If a person won the lotto, diversified the payout in investment accounts and then made year end gifts to minimize the optic, no church… Read more »
I am old and cynical perhaps. I am afraid a lot of convictions might change if vast amounts of $$ were at stake.