Chinese New Year
and Gambling

The lottery draw for this Chinese New Year (CNY) is $10 million. You can see long queues in the lottery booths everyday. During CNY period, people will spend their time playing card games, mahjong etc. in the homes of their relatives and friends. Some have their homes open for such sessions too.

Christians are also participating in such activities. The temptation to buy lottery is too great for some. The common excuse one will hear over this period is that playing a game of mahjong or card games involving a very small amount of money is okay. Is that so? Is gambling an innocent game no matter how small the amount of money is used?

What is gambling? In a booklet published by the Irish Reformed Presbyterian Church, there is this definition: 'Gambling is an act by which one party consciously risks money or other stakes in the hope of gaining at someone else's expense, without giving anything of value in return.' In playing slot machines or in buying lottery tickets etc., one gives money in the hope that he or she will get more money in return.

Gambling is contrary to the Word of God: Whether you put money on horses, in a slot machine, on a roulette wheel, or buy a lottery ticket, it is gambling, and gambling breaks at least three of the ten commandments. Consider these pointers from William Macleod (Free Church Witness), Banner of Truth.

It breaks the first commandment. The first commandment is: 'Thou shall have no other gods before me.' Instead of trusting God, the gambler turns to luck to solve his problems. The deeper is his need, the more he hopes for that one big pay-off. Gambling makes a god of chance. The Scriptures tell us that God will supply our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus - and these are not only our spiritual needs. Certainly, we trust in Christ for salvation and eternal life, but we must also trust Him for our physical needs. When we pray, as Jesus taught us, 'Give us this day our daily bread', we are placing our lives, our skills, our circumstances, our needs, and our commitments in God's hands and trusting that He will provide for our needs. But if we gamble, we are demonstrating that we are not recognising God's sovereignty, and are not fully trusting Him to provide for us.

It breaks the tenth commandment. The tenth commandment is, 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour. Basically, covetousness is greed. Greed is wanting what others have that you do not have.

It breaks the eighth commandment. The eighth commandment is: 'Thou shalt not steal.' Gambling is an attempt to get material gain without paying the price. Paul wrote, 'If a man will not work, neither shall he eat'. It is work and responsibility that develop character and prepare for the future. We should not be taking something for which we cannot give value in return. The gambler who wins is a thief even as he who steals your wallet is a thief. Just because the gambler is protected by law or a gentleman's agreement does not make him any less a thief.
From whom is the money stolen? The people most affected by the lottery and other forms of gambling are the poor and those whose resources are limited, and who see winning as the way out of their dilemma. It is their money that is being taken. The one who wins is stealing; the one who loses is stolen from. It is a regressive activity that bleeds money from those who can least afford it.

Pastor