For this #CoaliciónResponde entry we answer the question, “Can a Christian play the lottery?”.
The Scriptures speak of visible sins and secret sins. The secrets are in two aspects; on the one hand, when they are committed hidden from the eye of others, except whoever does them, and on the other, when certain activities with the appearance of innocence become a sin due to a bad motivation. Playing the lottery becomes a sin because of your circumstances or motivation.
In general, playing lottery numbers is a sin because in such a case the individual wants to get rich without working, which violates the divine order: “…have as your ambition to lead a quiet life, and mind your own business and work with their hands, just as we commanded them” (1 Thes 4:11). We are called to live in tranquility, not in wealth, peace of heart is a gift from God, not a fruit of material possessions.
In particular, we must consider two texts that point out two reasons why a Christian should not play lottery numbers: 1 Timothy 6:9 and Proverbs 28:20.
The problem with wanting to be rich
The first reason is because wanting to be rich is a disgrace: “…those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and perdition” (1 Tim 6:9). . This text can be broken down into two parts. On the one hand, the description of people: “…those who want to get rich”; The evil is not being rich, but those who want to be, which would be more indicative of worldliness than of Christianity. Notice again the sin in the motivation or internal circumstance.
On the other hand, the danger of such: “they fall into temptation and snare and many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and perdition.” The devil first tempts them and then puts a rope around their waists, enslaves them with the desire for money, or binds them with the desire to be rich. Contrary to what they think, the end of such is said like this: “they plunge men into ruin and perdition”. This motivation is like shooting an arrow, in that the archer fixes his sight on the target and then shoots the arrow to try to hit it. The person puts his aspiration in the amount of the lottery, or what is the same, as if his happiness depended on the possession of material goods, his motivation is the amount of the prize or money.
The bad thing is not having, but that our feelings are affected by possessing great things: “Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; I do not go after greatness, nor in things that are too difficult for me” (Ps 131:1). It is wrong to prefer our own will to God’s will. Christians are pilgrims, they do not live on earth, but go to heaven on their way.
When our eyes are on the ground
The second reason why a Christian should not play the lottery is because he puts earthly interest above conscience and duties: “The faithful man will abound in blessings, but he who hastens to get rich will not go unpunished” (Prov. 28:20). When the purpose of the heart is money, the individual will not care about the means to obtain it, he will not give importance to how he makes money. Greed is inconsistent with the Christian faith: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, and he who loves abundance will not. will be satisfied with Profits. This too is vanity” (Eccl 5:10). When men live with the necessary bread, their aspirations are modest, but when they love money they become insatiable. It could be said that when someone buys lottery tickets to be rich, then he is asking to get away from God. They are like mighty rivers, which need the help of many streams to maintain their course.
Someone will say: “Then the Christian must be a conformist.” No, by no means, but he must be a man who pursues contentment from the heart. The children of God do not live according to the world, where the end justifies the means to achieve it, but rather their aspirations for prosperity and progress are pursued in the exercise of legitimate means and with the specific purpose that Christ is not blasphemed for his conduct. , but pleased in everything. Conformism tends to create negligence, instead the believer is commanded by God to the contrary. These texts speak of the Christian’s attitude towards material prosperity: “Poor is the one who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent enriches…. The schemes of the diligent certainly are advantageous, but everyone who hastens certainly arrives to poverty” (Pro 10:4; 21:5).
Be rich with God, not with men
When an individual takes the shortcut of the lottery, the endurance raffle, the caraquita, the lottery in general, it is because he wants to be rich towards men, and not towards God. But the Christian has another mind: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” (Mt 6:19-21). Money has a strong spell to bind the heart to this land; it is so much, so the Bible calls covetousness as idolatry: “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to fornication, impurity, passions, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col 3 :5). Amen.
#CoalitionRespond is a series where pastors and church leaders respond to concerns that reach Coalition for the Gospel through various means, and which are part of the concerns that characterize the church in our region.