The Lure of Gambling

The Lure of Gambling

When I was eight, my parents took me to a gaming facility on the Mississippi River. My mother wanted to eat in a restaurant located there. It was my first introduction to slot machines. I saw people playing slot machines, and I wanted to try them. I asked my mother for a dime to play the slot machine, and that was the price of a candy bar in those days. As she gave me the dime, she said, “Now you can use the dime to play the slot machine and probably lose it, or you can use it to buy a candy bar.” Her intent may have been good, but I put the dime in the slot machine, pulled the lever, and hit the jackpot. I was able to buy a whole bucket of candy bars. The lure of gambling became obvious.

Fast forward that story to 2016, when my wife and I took a certificate we received in the mail to Las Vegas, where we purchased a room in a hotel at a significantly reduced rate. On the desk in the room was a $10.00 certificate to use in the hotel’s gaming center. My wife took the certificate and went into the gaming center. She had no money on her as she entered the center, but her first pull on the slot machine proclaimed her a winner and gave her a $20.00 bill. She returned to our room saying that if she played the slots five more times, she would have $100.00 minus the $20.00 she now owned. Again, the lure of gambling showed its ugly head.

That story has been repeated many times. In 2020, Americans spent 21.5 billion dollars on legal sports betting. In 2023, they spent 121 billion dollars, according to the American Gaming Association. They expect the final figures for 2024 to exceed 150 billion dollars.

Our congregation in Dowagiac, Michigan, is across the street from a casino. We regularly hear from people who have lost their life savings to the lure of gambling. The various Indian tribes that operate the gambling facilities continue to offer specials, such as a new car, to those they want to entice to participate in the casino’s gambling facility.

An organization called “DraftKings” offers gambling customers a $1,000 bonus if they deposit $5,000 and bet $25,000 within 90 days. Researchers at UCLA and USC have released a paper showing that online sports betting has led to 30,000 bankruptcies and eight billion dollars in annual debt collections. The lure of gambling leads to destruction.

As our culture moves farther away from the teachings of Christ, we can expect a constant increase in money spent on gambling. In 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Paul writes, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

The lure of gambling is similar to prostitution. It takes something good that God has given us and turns it into a destructive, selfish addiction rather than using it for its intended purpose. The lure becomes the curse.

— John N. Clayton © 2025
Reference: Time magazine for February 10, 2025, page 46, and time.com

Gambling Epidemic in Today’s Culture

Gambling Epidemic in Today’s Culture

There are many causes of poverty in every culture. Some are caused by environmental issues, a lack of education, corrupt leaders, or addictions. Many Americans living in poverty today have wasted their money on lottery tickets, casinos, and sports betting. The gambling epidemic in today’s culture has expanded to the point where even children are encouraged to gamble.

Thirty-three states have legalized sports betting, and three more will be added shortly. There are virtually no restrictions on who can buy state lottery tickets. You can find get-rich-quick promotions in the media and “loot boxes” offered as prizes to players of online games available to all ages. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, up to 80% of high school students report gambling for money in the past year.

As our culture has become more materialistic and secularism has eroded moral values, the number of people with gambling issues has increased. Some states have recognized the gambling epidemic and are enacting laws to combat it. For example, Virginia passed a law requiring schools to have classes on gambling and its addictive potential. Gambling bills have been brought before the Maryland legislature, but so far, none have passed.

The problem for all ages is that gambling is a waste of money. Christians need to set the example and help people learn how to use the resources God has given us. In 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Paul tells Timothy, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…” The silence of the Church on the gambling epidemic has allowed it to saturate our culture. Let us listen to Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every appearance of evil.”

— John N. Clayton © 2023

Reference: Associated Press article by Wayne Perry for 6/45/23, in the South Bend Tribune on page 4A.

Sex Addiction – Medical or Moral?

Sex AddictionThe World Health Organization has just released its new International Classification of Diseases. The new classification of sex addiction presents a question. Is it a medical issue or a moral issue?

The WHO identifies compulsive sexual health disorder as “a persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in repetitive sexual behavior.” The lead “expert” on this change is Robert Weiss who says that classifying sexual addiction as a medical issue and not a moral issue “takes it out of religion.”

Weiss and his supporters make comparisons between sexual addiction and gambling, drug, and alcohol addictions. They hope that therapy sessions will solve sexual addiction. Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey are undergoing treatment at a facility for the sexually addicted. It would seem that this change in classification will create a whole new industry.

We would suggest that these comparisons are invalid and that this new system will be used to excuse the sexual abuse that we see on the front page of our newspapers. Sexual abuse involves how we view members of the opposite sex. It has been known for a long time that rape has very little to do with sexual satisfaction. We do not find the most satisfying sexual relationships in abusive sex, premarital sex, or any other sexual conduct outside of marriage to one committed partner. The media and the “experts” are missing the purpose of sex and the beautiful relationship it nurtures between two individuals.

The New Testament trumpets the heart as the central player in relationships, personal conduct, and values. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” Matthew 6:21. “..those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart: and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts… fornications..” Matthew 15:18-19. Sexual conduct IS a moral choice. We are not robots or puppets. Alcohol and drugs can alter the mind and have a very negative impact on the making of right decisions, but how we use our money and our bodies is a different issue.

People who sexually abuse children and members of the opposite sex will be delighted to blame their sex addiction on psychological baggage that others forced upon them. How we conduct our lives and the choices we make are under our control, and while people may excuse aberrant sexual behavior on medical issues, God will not.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
Reference: USA Today, July 13, 2018, page A-1.

Legalizing Sin Industries

Legalizing Sin Industries - Gambling
We now have casinos in virtually every state in the United States. The government will soon approve online gambling. The push for state-sanctioned prostitution is gaining momentum. Legalized marijuana is now a major industry. The trend is certainly toward legalizing sin industries.

Here in Michigan, local governments are being swamped with applications for permits to open marijuana shops and dispensaries. From a biblical and logical viewpoint, we seem to be on a collision course with total collapse. Students of history tell us that the fall of Rome did not come from without but from within. The moral temper of the people became so bad that the entire structure collapsed.

The usual justification for legalizing sin industries is that the government can control (and tax) the industry when it has a legally sanctioned framework. Following that argument, prohibition was a failure because those promoting alcohol just went underground and the use of alcohol continued. The comparison is made to marijuana by those promoting the legalization of marijuana as a recreational drug. As is our usual approach to any issue, we ask the question, “What is the evidence?”

1. Does legalization result in control and produce fewer problems? We rarely hear any comment from the “little people” about what prohibition was like. By “little people” I mean folks who work a regular job, raise kids and try to be active in local affairs. What we read about in the media are the rich and famous who had the money and the time to go to the “speakeasy,” those and who were involved in organized crime, and the “high rollers.” The men and women who worked on the assembly line or as clerks would testify that prohibition did reduce drunkenness in all age levels. The alcohol-related crime was high among the high rollers but not among the everyday people.

2. Already we see the failure of the recreational marijuana craze in Los Angeles. Marijuana at the government approved stores is selling for $25.00 per gram, and on the street, the same thing can be purchased for $5.00. On the street, you are not paying state excise tax.

3. The problems of lung damage continue to exist, and smoking marijuana is illegal in smoke-free areas or any other place where tobacco is banned. Legalizing marijuana does to eliminate the health hazards.

4. Legalization of marijuana increases usage which in turn produces sharp increases in cases of car accidents, abuse of other people, the neglect of children, and crime. Statistics from police agencies show sharp increases in these areas when marijuana is legalized. We also see cases where children ingest marijuana that is left unsecured around the house.

5. The use of any drug puts the person at risk of being led to another more effective drug. Gateway cases with marijuana are increasing, and the cost is already creating a burden. States adjacent to states where marijuana is legal have been threatening lawsuits because of the increased burden produced by people carrying drugs across state lines. This also creates problems for families and businesses where recreational drugs have created financial hardship and psychological problems.

Legalizing sin industries has never worked, and for Christians it is especially important to “avoid all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22).
–John N. Clayton © 2018