Lotto Fever

When I returned to Florida after finishing college in 1990, I had to get used to something new: Florida now had a lottery. This meant, among other things, that a trip to the convenience store was suddenly far less convenient. Now it involved waiting in line behind at least one person buying lottery tickets. I remember chuckling at one elderly lady whose ticket had won her a whopping five dollars. “Let ’er ride!” she shouted with glee, and used her winnings to buy five more tickets.

You’ve no doubt noticed that lotto ads now conclude with an admonition to “please play responsibly.” This has come about because of two unpleasant realities. First, a great many people playing the lottery are hovering near the poverty line. Few things are more pathetic than to watch someone who can barely afford shoes belly up to the counter and buy a stack of lotto tickets. Second, as with any other form of gambling, the lottery can be addictive — literally. According to Focus on the Family, one hotline for problem gamblers said that over 40% of its calls were from lottery players. The “play responsibly” line just shows that states don’t want to take credit for contributing to the problems of poverty and addiction.

Let’s be clear: the lottery is gambling. A formal statement at the Florida Lottery website acknowledges this. You wager a certain amount of money on the chance that you will win a much larger amount. The vast majority of players lose their money, most of which goes to the tiny number of winners. Statistically, you stand a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery (especially in Florida!). It’s a virtually guaranteed loss. Maybe that’s why one pundit has called the lottery “a tax on stupidity.”

But for disciples of Jesus, the issue is not stupidity, but sin. The entire premise of gambling — from horse races to card games to state lotteries — is covetousness. It is the consuming desire for wealth. The term “covet” usually denotes wanting what belongs to someone else — and isn’t that exactly what moves people to gamble? Unlike earning money through labor or investment, in gambling a person can only win if others lose.

God commanded Israel, “You shall not covet…anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17). Jesus warned, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). Paul calls the covetous man an idolater (Ephesians 5:5) and says that such people will not inherit God’s kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:10).

A covetous heart can make a person do many evil things. Gambling is only one. Its being endorsed by the state in the form of a lottery changes nothing. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things…” (1 Timothy 6:9-11).