Question on Gambling

I had a question posed on the Biblical stance on gambling, so I thought that I would share my response with you. It is kind of a mind dump, so give me a break on the disorganization.

The Bible does not directly address the term gambling, so we look for Biblical principles and use our common sense that God gave us to come up with some answers.
Here was my discussion.

1. Some of the problems with recreation gambling are very similar to drinking alcohol; while not necessarily evil, it is bad stewardship of God's resources.
2. $5 on the lottery can easily become $10 and so on and so on. Easy to become addicted. Playing once a week is addiction. Addiction is idolatry and, therefore, sin.
3. Gambling in public can be a stumbling block to both believers and non-believers witnessing the act.
4. What every person really needs to analyse is why did he does it. If there is a hint of that he wanted to win and willing to put his trust in a game of chance over putting trust in Christ to take care of your needs, it is blantant sin. We all kinda work on this "I deserve for things to be easy. I deserve for things to be fun." That is false -- what we deserve is a cross and God will bless at His discretion and for His glory, not our comfort or recreation.
5. 1 Timothy 6:6-11 says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 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. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."
There is a lot of evidence that the griefs from verse 10 right there are well documented. Losses mount up and damage is extreme.

6. God spoke through Isaiah about the nation of Israel putting trust in fortune rather than Him. I have never looked at these comments in a large context. Here is how God dealt with the Israelites on their gambling issues and looking to Fortune as their guide in Isaiah 65:11-12 --
"But as for you who forsake the LORD
and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all bend down for the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me."
I think in this case the placing of trust in Fortune is a mirror of a heart that is far from God. All hearts far from God are destined for the sword.

Proverbs 16:33 says this:
"The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the LORD."

7. Basically, gambling is covetness. There is a pool of money out there and we don't trust that God will give us a sufficient amount of it to be able to live in Biblical contentment (or it is greed because we think that we deserve to live better), so we attempt to increase our material ability without Him. God does not use gambling to issue His wealth. He will always choose solid distribution methods.
8. We need to take our resources and "love our neighbor" from the Great Commandment.
9. The church would have to refuse the money from a lottery win if we knew of the source. When churches have accepted gambling money knowingly, God has put them out of business. Would we enact church discipline on someone who wanted to give lottery winnings to the church? I don't know about church discipline, but it would be a little embarrassing having a member accepting a big lottery check.
Commentary from gotquestions.org:
"Many people claim to be playing the lottery or gambling so that they can give the money to the church, or to some other good cause. While this may be a good motive, reality is that few use gambling winnings for godly purposes. Studies show that the vast majority of lottery winners are in an even worse financial situation a few years after winning a jackpot than they were before. Few, if any, truly give the money to a good cause. Further, God does not need our money to fund His mission in the world. Proverbs 13:11 says, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” God is sovereign and will provide for the needs of the church through honest means. Would God be honored by receiving donated drug money, or money stolen in a bank robbery? Neither does God need or want money that was "stolen" from the poor by the temptation for riches."

I guess we could take the approach that 'Satan has had that money long enough." HA!

This is a pretty solid commentary: --
Click Here.

gotquestions.org:
"Gambling is a difficult issue because if it is done in moderation and only on occasion, it is a waste of money, but it is not necessarily "evil." People waste money on all sorts of activities. Gambling is no more or less of a waste of money than seeing a movie (in many cases), eating an unnecessarily expensive meal, or purchasing a worthless item. At the same time, the fact that money is wasted on other things does not justify gambling. Money should not be wasted. Excess money should be saved for future needs or given to the Lord's work - not gambled away."